Chris Wood Reveals Why ‘Supergirl’ Came At The Right Time In His Career

Chris Wood shared how he ended up playing Mon-El in “Supergirl.”

In an interview with Empire, Wood revealed that he was looking for a lighter role to play when he was offered the opportunity to portray Daxamite in the Melissa Benoist-led series. Around that time, the 28-year-old actor just finished filming “Containment,” and given his emotionally demanding role on the limited-run CW series, Wood agreed to play the alien refugee.

“I left ‘Containment’ for the first time understanding the exhaustion some people have after they’ve done a really demanding emotional and physical project. I wanted a break, to be honest with you, and I needed to recover,” Wood told the magazine. “And then to not see the show come to a place where it was received with the enthusiasm that I had for my experience working on it … it definitely created a moment where I was okay with seeking something that was going to be a little bit lighter.”

Since Mon-El — as Wood described him — is “by and large, kind of a goofy, funny guy who’s [just] trying to adjust to a new planet,” the actor thought that it’s an interesting role for him to play after “Containment.”

“I was, like, ‘You know, it’s going to give me an opportunity to not torture myself for 22 episodes, nine months out of the year,” he recalled of his reaction when he first found out about Mon-El’s journey in the current season. “The pitch was timed appropriately where I was, like, ‘Yeah, you know, I could go do that. I could go hang out and be that guy for a second.’”

Wood played police officer Jake Riley on “Containment.” In an interview with TV Insider last July, Wood admitted that the series was a tough show to do. “[It’s] definitely an exhausting show emotionally [because of] some extreme lows for Jake over the course of the season, and a massive overall change.” he said. “Not to mention all the heartache this guy had to go through… I needed a beer and a ballgame (or two) when we wrapped.”

Aside from “Supergirl,” Wood’s another post-“Containment” gig is “Mercy Street.” He is set to appear as Captain Lance Van Der Berg in Season 2 of the PBS Civil War drama, which will premiere on Jan. 22, 2017 at 8 p.m. EST.

“Supergirl” airs every Monday at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.