Huesario.

“Arrow” ha anunciado la incorporación del actor británico Vinnie Jones como el villano de DC 'Danny “Brick” Brickwell' en la tercera temporada de la serie.

En el canon de los cómics, “Brick” es un villano de 'Green Arrow' que tiene una piel gruesa e invulnerable. En la serie, 'Danny Brickwell' es un despiadado líder de gánsters que hace que el gobierno de Star City se arrodille ante él. Es conocido como “Brick” en las calles porque le han disparado docenas de veces pero nunca lo han matado.

Jones aparecerá en los episodios will appear in episodes 3.10, 3.11 y 3.12.

Su personaje hace su debut en vivo, aunque ya ha aparecido anteriormente en las series animadas “Young Justice” y en un corto animado de la DC Nation centrado en Green Arrow de la Cartoon Network:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NODI-073Fiw


El productor ejecutivo de “Arrow” Andrew Kreisberg ya uso al villano durante su etapa como escritor de los cómics de Green Arrow y su nombre fue anteriormente apuntado en la serie como uno de los hombres de negocios corruptos cuyo nombre aparecía en la lista de objetivos de Oliver Queen.


http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/arrow-c ... 201334400/

Brandon Routh Habla sobre 'Arrow,' Su Superhéroe Favorito y su Conexión con Jason Momoa
Por Erin O'Sullivan 20 Octubre, 2014 02:21 PM EDT

Brandon Routh has returned to the superhero world playing Ray Palmer/The Atom on The CW's "Arrow," but will his character follow the DC Universe's storyline, with Ray as one of the good guys?

Brandon stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Monday, where the former big screen Superman opened up about Ray, and whether the new Queen Consolidated CEO will be a friend or foe to The Arrow.

"Mysterious. Let's go with mysterious," Brandon told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover, when asked if Ray if "good or bad." "Ray is new on the scene in Starling City and in the comic book lore… he is a good guy, he is a hero, he's part of the Justice League of America. But brought into the world of 'Arrow,' he may be up to no good.

"We don't know yet," he continued. "That's part of the fun of playing this character."

Fans were shocked at the sudden death of Sara (Caity Lotz) on the Season 3 premiere – she was killed by a mystery archer as Brandon's character made his "Arrow" debut.

Is Ray somehow connected to Sara's death?

"That's part of the mystery. This new guy comes into town, is he a part of all this other business that's happening? That's one of the big mysteries of the season that will develop and unravel as we go on," Brandon hinted. "I say there's a possibility for everything. Ray has big plans."

The actor, who said his favorite superhero is the Man of Steel, also confessed he wasn't a big comic book reader as a child.

"I love the movies. I love the escapism quality of it. I didn't grow up reading comic books – I was into science fiction lore," he said. "I went more to the fantasy, 'Lord of the Rings' type stuff. Since being in this business, I definitely have looked at a lot more comic books and read a lot more… But, it's what is 'in,' and geek and nerd things are becoming cool and more normal, which is awesome because I think it's great to let everybody have that geek and nerd part of them come out."

And Brandon, who now has two superhero roles on his resume, has a connection to a newly-cast DC superhero – Jason Momoa, who is rumored to appear as Aquaman in the upcoming "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and then star in a standalone movie.

"Jason and I went to high school together. He was a grade above me, we played soccer together. So I played Superman, and now he's playing Aquaman," Brandon said with a laugh, adding that he and the former "Game of Thrones" star were not extremely close, but "friendly." "We were soccer teammates. We weren't in the same grade level so we didn't hang out outside of [school]."

So who was more popular with the high school girls – Brandon or Jason?

"I know I didn't do well with the ladies, so… I was a bit nerdy," Brandon said. "I was OK. But I was kind of a mama's boy – my mom was a teacher… I think everyone was afraid I would tell on them if they were drinking under age or doing whatever, so I didn't get invited to the parties. But I was in a lot of activities so I had friends at school. "

Video: http://bcove.me/ryrg29b4



http://www.accesshollywood.com/brandon- ... icle_99852

David Ramsey sobre Corto Maltese, la Familia, la Identidad y el Suicide Squad
Por Russ Burlingame 20/10/2014

When John Diggle left Team Arrow at the end of the Season Three premiere two weeks ago, it was impossible for him to know that within 24 hours he would be sucked back in following the death of his friend and team member Sara Lance, better known as The Canary.

In this week's episode of Arrow, titled "Corto Maltese," the character played by David Ramsey is in the thick of the story, chasing down A.R.G.U.S. Agent Mark Shaw, who harbors dangerous secrets in the episode's titular island nation, and helping Oliver locate the gone-missing Thea.

Ramsey joined ComicBook.com to speak about the episode.

When I spoke with Jesse L. Martin recently, he said "every episode is a Joe episode." So...what makes this one a Diggle episode more than any others?

Diggle specifically goes to Corto Maltese with the team because he's looking for Mark Shaw, who's connected to Lyla. There's a past relationship they have, so I'm sent there by A.R.G.U.S. -- particularly Lyla -- to find him.

When I do find him, I find out what he's involved in puts not only A.R.G.U.S. at risk but particularly my family, Lyla and my child. So there's a personal investment that Diggle has in getting to the bottom of whatever Mark Shaw's involved in. There's risk involved.

This season started off with Oliver trying to find his humanity with Felicity and immediately we saw that relationship has its own set of risks once he allows himself to fall in love with her. If she's in the field, she gets hurt or gets in danger, what that does to him as a crimefighter? I have some of those same risks with my child and with Lyla.

So we explore some of that in "Corto Maltese," and those will be recurring themes through the season: identity, finding out who we are and how our personal lives relate to our lives as crimefighters, particularly for Diggle and Oliver.

Lyla is very different from her comic book counterpart. How different will Mark Shaw be?

How close Mark Shaw becomes to becoming the iteration he is in the comics? That's something they want to explore.

In this episode, in terms of the Manhunter connection...the show takes its time, you know that. The relationship with Felicity and Oliver, and my relationship with Lyla, it takes its time. So you're not going to see that full-blown iteration here. But it's, again, something they plant.

It's kind of like the relationship with me and Deadshot and H.I.V.E., the organization that hired Deadshot to kill my brother. That was planted last season and it will begin to be explored a little bit this season. So now, you don't get the full-blown iteration and realization of who Mark Shaw is in this episode but my thought is, that's just one more nugget that will become full-blown in other episodes.

With you and Lyla playing a more active role in A.R.G.U.S., will Suicide Squad play a role this season?

That's a good question. That's really a producer question but I do know that's been just a huge, huge response. The Suicide Squad episodes were almost like backdoor pilots, tonally I mean.

I don't think it's any small secret that part of the reaction to that led DC to kind of think about some things in terms of the features. That's not to say they didn't have that planned the whole time because I'm sure that they did -- but it certainly must have helped that the TV iteration of Suicide Squad was responded so well to. It must have made them feel great in moving forward with the feature plans that they had.

In answer to your question, that will be explored this season, we will be touching on the Suicide Squad this season. Diggle's part in that is big. A.R.G.U.S. and Diggle and the Suicide Squad are just one of the things that Diggle will be part of this season. The bigger part of that, since this season is all about identity: where does Diggle fit with the Suicide Squad, with A.R.G.U.S., with Team Arrow, as a family?

There's a lot of that. Even though Diggle seemed very strong in that second episode with "I'm my own man, I know what I'm doing, this is what I want to do," Diggle is going to have more options this season to redefine himself than he ever has up until now.

It seems likely that you'll be butting heads with Amanda Waller, no? Is that something that we'll see early on?

Amanda Waller and Diggle, there's no secret they have a contentious relationship, as most people do with Amanda.

Now that Lyla's moving up in the ranks at A.R.G.U.S. and to some degree works hand-in-hand with Amanda, we'll see how that affects Diggle as well.

In later episodes, we will be exploring more Amanda, Diggle, and Lyla and what all those degrees of separation mean. There will be direct conflict; you haven't seen the last of Amanda Waller in the present day and since Diggle will be working with the Suicide Squad, he'll obviously be working with Amanda. So yes, there will be conflict in the later episodes.

Is it nice to be able to flex some muscles this year, with Diggle and other members of Team Arrow getting more screen time and even some episodes that center around you?

As an actor, it's always fun to get that stuff to chew on. Felicity has a backstory episode coming up as well, Emily [Bett Rickards] does, which will be fun. It's always good to get that stuff to sink your teeth into.

I think there's a lot of story to tell with Diggle. Diggle has the whole Afghanistan story that we've hardly brushed on. There's the story with H.I.V.E. and his relationship with his brother.

Diggle takes to Oliver almost like a little brother that he wants to save. That relationship kind of connects us to the relationship he had with Andy, the brother he couldn't save. That relationship is something we haven't explored in the past. That's another part of Diggle's history that we never really explored. H.I.V.E., the organization that hired Deadshot to kill his brother, we never really got into that yet, which we will be getting into.

So yes, David loves Diggle-centric episodes but there's a lot of story to tell I think is the point and so I'm always looking forward to that. This is a very interesting, intricate character. There's a big story to Diggle that I'm always looking to see the pieces of.

http://comicbook.com/2014/10/20/arrows- ... -and-suic/

Una Charla con J.R. Ramirez – Wildcat de ‘Arrow’
Por Alamin Yohannes 20/10/2014

EXCLUSIVE | J.R. Ramirez is an actor on the rise. The Cuban born Ramirez left the country to be raised in Florida, which is where he “caught the bug” and found he wanted to become an actor. “I started modeling in my late teens and got into doing commercials. I liked being in front of a camera, so I went on to do some theater and take classes.” After roles on House of Payne, 90210 and Emily Owens, MD Ramirez moved on to two big profiles television roles. He is returning to Starz’s Power as a series regular after recurring in the first season and has joined The CW’s Arrow as Ted Grant for an arc that begins this Wednesday. I got to talk to the very humble and interesting actor about both of these roles.

On Arrow Ramirez will be playing Ted Grant, best known in the comics by his superhero identity Wildcat. The character destiny is to be the who trained Black Canary. Ramirez’s Ted Grant is a ex-boxer who now runs a gym for under privileged youth. “Ted has gone through a lot in his life. He has had a lot of hardships and was in and out of the system. I was really looking forward to diving into the character and discover the reason he is taking the steps that he is to help the kid and give back.” He could not reveal much about his character’s story, but did say “they carved out a nice little arc for me.”

Fans can guess what part of his arc will entail because of the events so far in Arrow’s third season. The death of the show’s original Black Canary Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) left her sister Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) with a new reason to join the fight. Ramirez only had positive things to say about his one confirmed scene partner, calling their working relationship “amazing” and great.” “Before I showed up to Vancouver I had an email from her just saying ‘How’s it going? Give me a buzz if you need a chat.’ She was very warm and welcome. It was super easy to bounce ideas off and collaborate with her.” The positive sentiment applied to the cast and crew as well.

When asked about how he prepared for the role he said, “I did not know who I was playing when I went out for the role. They released a different name and gave a very vague description of the character. I found out I was playing this big comic book character after the information was released at Comic Con. Then I started doing research, they sent me a lot of stuff and that is when I started to get really excited about the whole thing.”

Ramirez is also on Starz drama Power, where he has recently been upgraded to a series regular. The show stars Omari Hardwick as Ghost, the head of a drug expertise who is trying to transition into more legitimate enterprises. “Julio is the second in command to Tommy and Ghost. He is an extremely intricate part of the whole organization. Julio is the only one who has met Tommy or Ghost in person, he knows their families. No one else has that close proximity to them in the organization. There is a reason they trust him and you are going to start seeing where Julio comes from and why he is so trustworthy. That is what I love so much about the character, his loyalty. In season 2, the trust will definitely get tested to say the least. It’s an extremely fun role.” An increased workload and getting to interact with new cast members were the changes Ramirez found as a result of his series regular status. “Julio is definitely going to start meeting everybody. This year there is more back story and interaction with everyone surrounding Ghost and Tommy’s lives.”

Returning to Power for production was something Ramirez highly anticipated. The cast formed a bond over the course of the first season, which was wonderful for the actor to go back to. “From the get-go everyone has been super freakin’ cool. It really is like a family, everyone is super close and we hang out all the time. I was just excited to get back and get started on the new season. I had never been a part of something from the beginning, so being able to create something from the beginning and come back to expand from that was something I was looking forward to.” Speaking of the new season, “They are raising the stakes this season, making the show a lot darker too.” When asked about dream guest stars Ramirez praised Oscar Isaac’s phenomenal work in films and a fellow Hispanic actor he would love to have on Power.

Shonda Rhimes and Walter White got high praise from Ramirez. The AMC drama was one of the actor’s favorite shows of all time. In addition to Breaking Bad, Ramirez would love an arc on a Shondaland drama. “There is something about Shonda and the way she writes.” Maybe he could call on Olivia Pope for help or share a scene with his Emily Owens co-star Aja Naomi King on How to Get Away with Murder.

Definitely keep an eye out for this talented actor. I found him to be humble and extremely gracious about his success. You can follow him on Twitter @JR8Ramirez or see his Arrow debut this Wednesday on The CW.

http://thehollywoodbillboard.com/j-r-ra ... s-wildcat/

Katie Cassidy sobre la Season 3, Ésa Muerte y el Futuro de Black Canary
Por Craig Byrne, 20 Octubre, 2014

Last week, we visited the set of The CW's Arrow and spoke with members of the cast, including Katie Cassidy, whose character Laurel has become more and more of a part of the action, especially in the wake of the death of Laurel's sister, Sara.

We have video of the interview which you can find at the bottom of this article; if you're a reader, though, we have highlights for you, beginning with some talk answering the question of "how did Laurel get Sara's bodydown to the Foundry, anyway?"

Surprisingly, due to technical issues, the sequence had to be reshot, and it was originally staged in a different way. "Having to reshoot a scene like that is very, very difficult, and I was like 'oh, great. Let's go through this again'," Katie told us, alluding to the emotional drain that comes with a character losing her sister and friend, in this case for a second time. "Originally, I had Caity in my arms, and I was crying, and walking with her, but obviously that wasn't in the show, and that happens with timing and stuff, they have to cut stuff, but I actually could carry her, believe it or not. It was really awkward and hard, but it helped my performance. And Laurel's been training, so she's kind of buff," she continued.

That training with a new character named Ted Grant, played by J.R. Ramirez, involves Laurel learning how to box. In the comics, Ted Grant, also known as Wildcat, trained Dinah Laurel Lance to become the Black Canary. Laurel's quest to get her sister's killer is not necessarily going to get Oliver's support. Having said that, "Laurel is very strong, and I think that she stands for what she believes in, and she's a warrior. She's a survivor. And I think hopefully, she will be able to prove it to him, and I think hopefully, he will be on her side, and support her, but who knows," Katie said. We also shouldn't count out future appearances by Caity Lotz as Sara. "I'm not sure exactly where or what, but I know that Caity - she is a very big part of this season, and their relationship, and Laurel's journey, I'm not sure in what aspect they're having her back, whether it's a flashback or not, I haven't seen anything. I'm sure that the writers have a lot planned for her, but they don't necessarily always tell us," Katie explained.

Could all of this lead to more interactions with Team Arrow? Katie, whose schedule has completely flipped to include night shoots, certainly hopes so. "It's really cool and it's really fun, and I'm really happy to get to be a part of more of the A story, and the action, and being in the Foundry. It was interesting, last season, when I first started shooting here [in the Foundry set], because I didn't even know where the Foundry was on the stage, because I never shot here. It was always Laurel's apartment, which was always torn apart and then put back together the following week!" she exclaimed. "I certainly hope that she will continue to be a part of Team Arrow, and more significant."

"Honestly, I am so grateful, and so lucky, and so happy," Katie said about Laurel's journey in Season 3. "I'm having a blast, and it was really crazy one day and all of the sudden I had biceps! I was like 'oh! Okay. I have shoulders and biceps! This is awesome'!" The next step after those biceps is to actually become the Black Canary, right? If so, how will Katie's version of the heroine differ from the one played by Caity Lotz?

"The thing is, Caity was the Canary, and that was her take on it," Katie said. "I think she very much possibly inspires Laurel to take over the role of the Black Canary. With Laurel, I think from Season 2 to Season 3, you can see physically a change in her, and then also, I mean, yes, [Laurel] is emotional, and cries a lot, but I do feel like she's a very strong person, and I do feel like she has the drive, and the strength, and I think that she would have that strength that Caity was, but more internally."

http://www.ksitetv.com/green-arrow/arro ... ture/43387

¿Será llamada Speedy? Y otras charlas sobre "Arroe" con Willa Holland
Por Craig Byrne 21 Oct, 2014

Willa Holland‘s Thea Queen makes a bigger return to Arrow with Wednesday night’s new episode, “Corto Maltese.” The episode will flash back to what’s happened since Thea got into that limo with her father Malcolm, and it will likely bring her back into contact with older brother Oliver.

We spoke with Willa last week on the Vancouver set of Arrow for a little bit of what we can expect.

“You’re going to see a very interesting father and daughter relationship,” Willa teases about the Thea-Malcom dynamic. “The Thea Queen and Malcolm Merlyn relationship is not going to be anywhere near normal, and I don’t think anybody would expect it to be. You’ll definitely see in the next episode, it’ll pretty much explain their relationship the way that it is right now,” she says.

Will that bond be so strong that she won’t be coming back to Starling City? There might be someone that could get her to return. “I think the one thing that could always pull her back is Oliver and her love for him and that side of her family, as well as Roy. She has a lot in Starling City, of course It’s her home. But right now, I don’t think she has anything in her mind to go back. I think she’s kind of found a new Thea Queen and is very happy with who she is at the moment,” she says.

And as for who she is — if Thea were to take on a superheroic codename, would it be Speedy, or could it be another archery-related DC Comics alias like Artemis? “It’s always been teased to be Speedy, but it’s very up in the air, I fee like,” Willa admits. “Especially in our version of the DC universe, when it comes to being on our pages, it’s sometimes rewritten and changed. I don’t quite have the answer to that. But I wish I did. And if I did, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you anyway,” she laughs.

You can see Willa as Thea in “Corto Maltese” Wednesday night on The CW. You can see video of our interview below, where we can also find Willa talking about a number of different topics, including more with Roy and that upcoming Arrow-Flash crossover:

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/will-she-be ... land/19471

David Ramsey contesta a 5 preguntas de la S3
Por Philiana Ng 22/10/14 6:00 AM PDT

Diggle made his return to the Arrow crusade when Sara's untimely death changed his immediate priorities, a decision that wasn't difficult for the Afghanistan veteran to make. "When Diggle comes back to the team in hopes of finding Sara's killer, he's back in full-duty mode, he's fully active," David Ramsey tells The Hollywood Reporter. "In his mind, all those worlds can co-exist."

When Arrow returns Wednesday, Diggle will travel to thousands of miles away — the island of Corto Maltese to be more specific — to help Oliver bring back his sister, Thea, to Starling City and investigate the off-the-grid A.R.G.U.S. operative Mark Shaw (David Cubitt), who has surprising ties to Lyla.

Ahead of "Corto Maltese," Ramsey answers five questions about season three for The Hollywood Reporter.

With Diggle back on Team Arrow, mainly to help find Sara's killer, is there a limit to how far he'll go now that he has a family to think about?

The short answer is there is no limit. There's never been a problem with Diggle and the mission per se; Oliver [is the one who] has the problem. For Diggle, there's a world that exists where he can have a functional relationship with Lyla and their child, and be a crime fighter. There's no conflict for Diggle. Oliver, because he hasn't come to the same place yet, is still dealing with that and he's — to a great degree — projected that problem onto Diggle. Diggle's crucible was Afghanistan and he's become much more adjusted to his life than Oliver has [to his].

There is an evolution to Diggle and Oliver's dynamic, where the two haven't been seeing eye to eye on a lot of fronts, most notably Diggle and his conflicting responsibilities between Team Arrow and his immediate family.

The conflict Oliver has with Diggle being in the field again, even while having a family, is going to be less [of an issue] between Oliver and Diggle because Diggle really is his own guy. Unless you lock the Foundry door and change the key code, you're not going to keep him from going down there. Oliver's argument that you saw in the second episode — "Listen you can't do this because you have a family" — that's not going to be a way to keep Diggle off the team. Oliver isn't going to undermine Diggle. Diggle came back to the team because he saw that Oliver needs him. He's seen that Oliver has needed him since the very beginning — and Oliver really does understand that.

Speaking of last week's episode, there was a moment between Diggle and Oliver in the Foundry where Oliver reveals his vulnerability when he admits that he "doesn't want to die down here." Is there added motivation for Diggle to keep Oliver from veering off?

I think so. There's a great moment when Diggle says to Oliver, "You'd be dead 10 times over if it wasn't for me." There is a sense of responsibility that he holds and a certain affection where Oliver needs to be protected and needs to be helped. Oliver didn't see that in the beginning and now he's seen the worth of Diggle. Is there some extra motivation to help Oliver through this time? Absolutely. Diggle has seen from the beginning that Oliver has suffered from post-traumatic syndrome in the worse way. Diggle had a great line to Oliver when he joined the crusade, "You don't know what killing people does to your soul, how it scrapes away a little bit of your humanity," and that's always been his purpose with Oliver, to guide him to this place where he can be a human and a crime fighter. That conversation in the Foundry in the second episode where Oliver says he doesn't want to die there, it's really that simple in Diggle's mind: You can make a choice to be better than who you are. If anybody can see through the fog with Oliver, it's Diggle. There isn't a new motivation, except maybe, "How do we keep Oliver on course?"

In this week's episode, the team travels to Corto Maltese to bring Thea back and along the way they encounter rogue A.R.G.U.S. operative Mark Shaw. What is Shaw's history to Diggle and what is their interaction like?

Shaw had a friendship and a relationship with Lyla in the past and Diggle is sent there by Lyla to find him. We find out through the course of what's going on with Corto Maltese and Shaw that A.R.G.U.S. and Lyla could be compromised, so there's extra motivation for Diggle to get to the bottom of this.

Should there come a point where Diggle is forced to choose his Arrow family or his immediate family, where would he fall?

That's a great question. That's always a thing when you bring these very close-to-the-heart relationships into situations where the stakes are so high. When Oliver and Felicity get together, the stakes go higher because she's in the field and he's also in love with her. Diggle is crusading with Oliver at night fighting crime, but at the same time he he has a child at home. The stakes get higher. David Ramsey can project onto Diggle what I think he'd do but I'm not sure yet what those choices will be. I would hope that Diggle would never have to choose between his family and his surrogate family.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... n-3-742286

Ramsey Explica Cómo la Misión de Diggle se hace personal en "Arrow"
Por Bryan Cairns, 22 Oct 2014

Just a handful of episodes into the third season of "Arrow," it's already apparent -- John Diggle is experiencing a bit of an identity crisis.

An ex-soldier, Diggle started off the series as Oliver Queen's bodyguard, before discovering the billionaire playboy he had been tasked to protect turned out to be a hooded vigilante. Since then, he's become a vital member of Team Arrow, even when he found himself having to step in as leader of the Suicide Squad. Lately, Diggle seems to want to put those adventures on the backburner and focus on being a devoted father and boyfriend. Unfortunately, all those worlds are about to collide in tonight's episode.

David Ramsey spoke to CBR News about the action-packed happenings of the latest "Arrow Installment, titled "Corto Maltese." We discussed Diggle's hunt for Mark Shaw -- better known to DC Comics readers as Manhunter -- his shift in priorities from heroism to fatherhood, and the impending "Arrow"/"Flash" crossover.

CBR News: Now that Diggle is a family man, what is his mindset when it comes to Team Arrow?

David Ramsey: That's really the question, isn't it? Up until now, his mindset has been as it always has been. There's no conflict in Diggle. What you saw in the second episode with being confronted by Oliver -- you saw a stoic Diggle, one who is sure of himself and sure what his purpose was. He told Oliver he's his own man, that he can make his own decisions and he's with the team.

The theme of the season is identity. If there's any two people you are going to see redefine their identities, it's going to be Diggle and Oliver. Diggle is going to have a lot of options in terms of his identity as a father, as a boyfriend and a part of Team Arrow. Is he part of A.R.G.U.S.? What's his relationship with the Suicide Squad? All these things are going to be part of finding out who Diggle is and where he feels he belongs.

How does Diggle end up on this mission with Oliver and Roy in tonight's episode?

He gets the call from [his girlfriend] Lyla. Lyla asks him to go to Corto Maltese to find Mark Shaw, who was part of A.R.G.U.S. He had a past relationship with Lyla. He's gone off the grid. Diggle is sent because this is a very covert operation. They don't want anyone else at risk from A.R.G.U.S. Team Arrow has a way of doing things under the radar, so she asks us to go in. We find out through the course of getting in contact with Mark Shaw that not only is A.R.G.U.S. at risk, but there's a personal risk in terms of Diggle. Lyla, and particularly our child, Sara, have also been put in danger. There's some personal investment that Diggle has in finding Mark Shaw. I need to get to the bottom of whatever he's involved in.

The name Mark Shaw should be familiar to comic book readers. Is there any reference to Mark being Manhunter, and is that legacy woven into the story?

Well, it doesn't weave directly into this episode, but you know how "Arrow" has consistently been dropping nuggets that they don't revisit for another four or five episodes, or even a season later? That nugget will be dropped, but it will not be fully explored in this episode.

How much will Diggle rely on his military training?

There will be a significant amount. I always love when Diggle gets to be physical. We're going to see some of that in this episode -- I would say more than you have seen in past episodes, but we can always use more.

Diggle gets to run down a vehicle and then gets very physical with Mark Shaw. You aren't quite sure if Diggle is going to lose it once he does get ahold of Shaw. By this time, he does understand his family is at risk and that Shaw is really responsible for that. So, what does he do with Shaw? How does he lose it? It's not just a physical scene, but a very emotional scene for Diggle.

This sounds like a meaty episode for you. Will there be any long-term repercussions?

It is a meaty episode for Diggle and, yes, there are going to be some long-lasting repercussions. That recurring theme of A.R.G.U.S./Suicide Squad/Diggle will be mentioned yet again. That's something the producers really want to play with this season. We really hinted at Diggle and the Suicide Squad and A.R.G.U.S. last season, and it got a big response. Again, where does Diggle fit into that organization? We're going to touch on that this episode and the repercussions of that will be played out later on this season.

What, in particular, have you enjoyed about Diggle's association with the Suicide Squad?

Diggle has always had this idea of, what we do is right on Team Arrow. We're on the right side of it. We really get to understand through the Suicide Squad and A.R.G.U.S. that there are a lot of shades of right. Diggle has to come to grips with that, that this justice we're serving is more gray than it is black and white. The Suicide Squad is a big part of that. Criminals that you manipulate into doing the right thing by planting explosives in their head? It sounds incredibly crazy, but somehow or another, Diggle, who has always been straight as an arrow in terms of his morality, gets involved in this. That's great to see, because there's a conflict that he has with this brand of justice. But, somehow or other, it works. We saw that last year with him befriending Deadshot, the man who was hired to kill Diggle's brother. It's great to see this character, who has a very clear view of what is right and wrong, have to redefine that notion and come to grips with it.

The other part is, it's just great being part of the Suicide Squad and A.R.G.U.S. As a fan of it, for all intents and purposes, last year could have been a backdoor pilot. It just had that type of tone to it. It's always great to see that kind of writing and see it played out. I'm proud to be part of that. It's a dream come true to play a character like Diggle, and involve him in an organization like the Suicide Squad.

Can you give us a hint as to where Diggle fits into the "Arrow"/"Flash" crossover event?

It's funny -- Diggle comes off pretty humorous in the crossover episode. His reaction to Barry's superpowers is nothing short of hilarious. We get to explore that a little bit. Central City is light and airy and there's sunshine and sunrays and beams of light everywhere. Starling City is this dark, broody place. We come there with this weight, this crime-fighting, "How do we solve the crime and find our man?" type of attitude. We're met with this light and airy Central City, where it's, "We name our bad guys little fluffy criminal names." That drama all by itself is funny. But Diggle's reaction to Barry is a real treat. He's very surprised at this world of superpowered humans in Central City.

David Ramsey habla sobre papá Diggle, Deadshot, Suicide Squad
Por Laura Prudom 22 Octubre, 2014 | 10:16AM PT

The CW’s “Arrow” has already demonstrated that it’s not pulling any punches in season three, unexpectedly killing fan-favorite character Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) in the final moments of the season premiere and propelling both Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Sara’s sister Laurel (Katie Cassidy) on a new quest for justice.

Danger is hitting close to home for everyone on Team Arrow, prompting Oliver to pull back from Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and try to dissuade new father Diggle (David Ramsey) to step back from the battle. Thankfully, every member of the crime-fighting gang is dedicated to avenging Sara’s death, and when Variety spoke to David Ramsey ahead of Wednesday’s new episode, “Corto Maltese,” the actor promised that Diggle’s not walking away from the fight any time soon. Below, Ramsey discusses Diggle’s paternal instincts, his take on “Olicity” and the upcoming exploration of DC Comics staples like ARGUS, HIVE and the Suicide Squad.

Last week, Diggle agreed to stay with the team until Oliver finds Sara’s killer — as far as he’s concerned right now, is he done after they’ve accomplished that?
The short answer is no — you’d have to change the locks to keep Diggle away from the Foundry. [Laughs.] The confrontation Oliver had with Diggle [last week]… Diggle reflected, to him, what his own inner problems were. Once they begin the investigation for Sara’s killer, Diggle’s on Team Arrow for good. But the current theme of the season is identity, so he’s going to be exploring what his identity is with Team Arrow.

How is Diggle truly feeling in the wake of Sara’s death? Obviously he’s always been aware of the stakes of Oliver’s mission, but this is a painful blow for the team.
Oliver didn’t really break in that episode until he was with Diggle, at the end when he said he didn’t want to die down there. I think there’s a sharing that he can do with Diggle in that moment that he probably couldn’t do with anyone else. I think Diggle’s approach to that is what it always has been: “You have a choice. You can decide to embrace your humanity, or you can decide to go back into the hole and die.” And it’s always been that simple with Diggle, and part of the guiding that Diggle has done for Oliver during the past two seasons has been about embracing your humanity. And part of that was [Oliver's] date with Felicity; he told him, “you can be a crime-fighter and be in love with Felicity at the same time.” So he feels very hurt with Sara but as a soldier, he can place that hurt in a certain place.

What’s his take the ongoing Oliver and Felicity saga — does he just want to smack their heads together at this point?
I think so. I think he does — you’d have to be blind not to see it. Diggle’s crucible was Afghanistan, Oliver’s crucible was the island, and Diggle is much more adjusted at this point. There’s no conflict in being able to have a wonderful relationship with Lyla, being a father and fighting crime at night for Diggle. Oliver hasn’t reconciled those things yet, but he will.

What can fans expect in this week’s episode, which features something of a standalone story for Diggle?
I’m sent on a mission by Lyla to find Mark Shaw [aka DC Comics' Manhunter] — who had a past relationship with Lyla. He’s part of ARGUS, he’s an agent who has gone possibly rogue but certainly missing, so she sends Diggle. ARGUS doesn’t want any other people in the field, so it’s a covert operation to find this missing agent. In the course of it, however, I find out that the things Mark Shaw is involved in not only threaten ARGUS, but more specifically threaten my family, Lyla and Sara. So there’s a personal, vested interest Diggle will have in getting to the bottom of whatever Mark Shaw’s involved in. He’s only on the mission as a surrogate operative of ARGUS, and we’re going to see more of that this season, too: what is Diggle’s involvement in ARGUS, and more specifically the Suicide Squad, and how that ties into who Diggle is.

So far, we haven’t seen too much of Diggle and Lyla’s home life — is that something we can expect more of now that they’re parents?
You will get to see a little more of that, even in this upcoming episode, and this season in general. It’s a great relationship; Lyla’s very involved in ARGUS, but there’s also a conflict because she works very closely with Amanda Waller, and Amanda has a certain way of doing things — she plants bombs in criminals’ heads to manipulate them — and Lyla works hand in hand with that. There’s conflict inherently in how Amanda and Lyla do things and how Diggle does things, so we’re going to explore that… Somehow or another, these two are in love, and her and Amanda’s brand of getting things done is probably closer to how Oliver was in the first season: you get the job done, and if bad guys die in the process, then bad guys die. I don’t think Diggle has a problem with killing — but he’s much more reserved in how that is executed. It’s a great story between he and Lyla, how they love each other but absolutely conflict on some views.

Obviously being a parent has realigned his priorities — but has it shifted the way he operates in the field? Will he be more likely to take a kill shot if he needs to?
You’ll see some of that this episode because his family is in the direct line of fire, so you’ll see emotionally what that does to Diggle. Any and every time you make these kinds of relationships, Oliver and Felicity, Diggle with his child, you’d better believe the writers are going to put that at risk, because the stakes are so high. The stakes are very high for Diggle this season.

We still don’t know much about Diggle’s brother, Andy, and exactly why Deadshot was hired to kill him — is that story coming up any time soon?
The producers plant these nuggets and you don’t think of exploring those nuggets until eight episodes, maybe a season later. So we found out that Diggle’s brother, Andy — we’re not really sure if he was involved in some shady things because Deadshot was hired to kill him by HIVE. So who that organization is, HIVE, we’re going to get into that. The past relationship Diggle had with Andy, we’re going to get into that — there’s a lot of Diggle to explore this season. [Laughs.] The writers do not hurt for story with all these characters. We’ll be getting into HIVE, we’ll be getting into the relationship with Deadshot and Diggle, Suicide Squad, ARGUS, all of that this season.

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/arrow-c ... 201336414/

John Barrowman, Stephen Amell, & Willa Holland hablan sobre el viaje de Thea y las mujeres de Arrow
Por Jill Pantozzi 22 Octubre 2014 at 6:57 pm

In last week’s episode of Arrow, we found out what Thea Queen has been up to the last few months. And it’s just what we hoped for. We spoke with the cast of the show to find out more about the direction of the character this season and get their thoughts overall on the women of Arrow. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim also chimes in.

The Mary Sue was part of roundtable discussions with the Arrow crew at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. We were itching to speak with them about the women of the show, both based on DC Comics characters and not, so we dove right in asking Guggenheim about their approach to the fantastic women in their ensemble cast.

“One thing that we really strive for in the show is diversity of all forms. We’re very proud of our racial diversity on the show, very proud of our gender diversity and having female characters on the show who aren’t just sex objects, who have agency, who are tough. I mean, Felicity Smoak, she’s by no means an asskicker, but she’s very tough. And she has an inner steel to her. Same thing with Thea; this year, obviously, Thea’s going to be going through some changes because of her association with Malcolm Merlyn, and that, I think, will bring her into more of the asskicking side of the spectrum,” he told The Mary Sue. “And Moira, you know‚ we try with all the female characters to give them a strength, but not make that strength limited to kicking ass. Though we have plenty of that, obviously. And I think people will be very happy with Laurel’s trajectory, specifically, this year, in that regard. She’s gonna start trying to walk the path that her sister walked, which is sort of something we set up in the season finale. I think people are gonna be really excited to see where that goes.”

The Arrow himself, Stephen Amell, echoed those statements when we inquired about the same topic with him. He told us, “One of the coolest things on the show is introducing a character like Canary and having Caity Lotz just be such a badass. She kicks ass, and let’s get as many people on the show that can kick ass—men, women, gay, straight—let’s get as many people that can kick ass as we can.”

John Barrowman, no stranger to playing opposite strong female characters from his time on Doctor Who and Torchwood, told us how much he enjoyed the well-rounded characters involved with Arrow.

That’s what I think is great about this show, and I come from a show also where we never judge people on their… when I say sexuality I don’t mean gay or straight, I mean that they are being a male or a female… [TMS: Gender]. Their gender. We don’t do gender judging. And this is the same thing because there are some kickass females, you know what? And there are some emotional females. There are some kickass males, and there are some emotional males. Everybody’s got a bit of it and you know, Tommy wasn’t kickass but he was emotional. So we’re kind of covering the whole spectrum and everybody is equal. And how great that finally we have a show on television that young girls can look at and go, “Yeah! I can be kickass! I can be a hero because look, that girl, that woman is a hero also! So I don’t have to be afraid of”—dare I say—”wanting to be jockesque.” Does that make sense? It’s a great thing to have, so working with all these girls and ladies and women is amazing.

It’s interesting for me also, because I’m at a point in my life now where I’m not gonna be the kind of—I have been the hero and the younger character and I’m now the dad. Which is really great because I get to kind of relax a little bit. I get to go home at night and have that… two glasses of wine. I was gonna say one but that would be a lie! [laughs] you know, cuz I’m not gonna be the one taking my shirt off, you know? Although I still could, right? But I don’t have to worry about that anymore, you know what I mean?

Considering Thea is going to take on a larger role this season, we also asked for Willa Holland’s take on the women currently kicking ass. She told The Mary Sue, “It’s amazing to be able to have all these women, I mean Katie Cassidy character’s Laurel, she plays such a strong, independent woman, same with Sara Lance, there’s just too many good roles on the show for females, and if anything maybe Thea was the lesser of, but now, maybe she’s going to be the best one. Who knows!”

Holland told the group she’s excited for Thea’s arc: “I can say that the Thea we see leave at the end of Season 2 is definitely not the Thea we see enter back at Season 3 and she’s definitely, she’s gone through some stuff. And maybe taken out a little anger on the gym, you know?” Holland said. “She was so broken in Season 2 at the end, to the point that Season 3, where her head space is at is she’s just not ever going to let that happen to her again. She’s at a place where she is not going to let anybody hurt her ever again, and that’s all I can really say about that. I’m not allowed to say much. What I can say it that obviously Season 1 was all about Oliver’s time on the island, Season 2 was almost like an homage for Roy being on an island, or his version of the island, and I’ve been teased about and getting quite excited for maybe Season 3 is kind of Thea’s version of the island.”

The Mary Sue asked Guggenheim to expand a bit on where Thea is headed. “Well I think one of the things that’s safe to say is this season’s really gonna be a battle for Thea’s soul. So it’s not necessarily, it’s Arrow, so it’s not necessarily gonna have a happy ending to it,” he told us. “Certainly there is the potential in her name‚ we’ve been calling her ‘Speedy’ since the pilot. But one of the things that we like to do is play against that expectation. So, hopefully, the ups and downs of Thea’s arc this year will be compelling but also surprising. Obviously, we always want to surprise you guys.”

Unsurprisingly, Thea’s place this season is squarely next to her newly-discovered father, Malcolm Merlyn. Barrowman told the group, “The relationship between Malcolm and Thea is gonna be the most amazing and awesome and shockingly dysfunctional relationship that’s probably gonna be on television. That’s all I’ll say.”

But of course he couldn’t stop there.

“I think Malcolm has a very difficult time in showing love, but what Malcolm has learned over the course of time—let’s just go back to when he lost his wife very early on and then he was surviving to provide for his son, but deep down knowing that, he knew that Thea was his daughter. He then lost his son. Why? Because Malcolm can control people with money, power, and also with his destructive techniques,” he said. “What he hasn’t been able to do because he lost Tommy that way was —Tommy got emotionally involved with the girl. Love destroyed him. He also lost Moira that way. She sacrificed herself for love, right? He has only got Thea left. He’s got to control her by controlling her emotion, so that’s the way he’s gonna look at it. now. And that’s gonna be so—he will love her, but in a very different way.”

For his part, Amell told us he’s “fired up” to see what his fictional sister can do, suspecting she’ll “nail it.”

“Willa is so capable, and such a wonderful actor and the fact that we’ve had her for 46 episodes and we haven’t had a really Thea-centric episode… It’s like we’ve cultivated this character and the audience has gotten to know this character for two years and then we’re going to give her the car keys this year,” he told us. “Season 3: Thea’s Graduation. Metaphorical, not actual.”

From our time speaking with her, Holland seemed slightly daunted by the training ahead of her as an actor, but certainly excited. She said, “Right now they really just want me to bulk up and limber up as well. They emphasize a lot on being limber, and I’m like ‘ok,’ but they’re not telling me why. That’s the other thing, I’m also doing wrestling and boxing. I haven’t started any of the wrestling yet but my personal trainer does do wrestling and just got a phone call from them asking for him to teach me some take downs. So I’m like ‘ok, I’m down.’”

But if there’s one piece of advice she’d give to those who may follow her path? Holland told the group, “Wear a mouthguard. Yeah. Wear a mouthguard at all times.”

Are you looking forward to Thea’s journey on Arrow this season?

http://www.themarysue.com/john-barrowma ... -of-arrow/

Stephen Amell, su opinión sobre 'Arrow,' Felicity y Más
22 Octubre, 2014

ExtraTV.com was on the Vancouver set of “Arrow” last week, pretending to ride Oliver Queen's Ducati, trying to climb the infamous salmon ladder (#fail), and quizzing Stephen Amell for scoop on Felicity (or should we say Olicity), Thea and more.

Stephen, who joined reporters in the foundry for a candid chat about the CW show, opened up about everything from Oliver’s identity crisis, his feelings for Felicity and his mission to find Thea.

Q: Oliver wants revenge for Sara, but he doesn’t want to lose his own life too. Is he looking to life after the costume?

A: The theme of the season is identity… he's thrown into this conundrum because of Sara's death… Right now, Oliver can't see past the idea of being the Arrow. That's it. One of the cool things we're doing this year is we're setting up a world by the end of the season where ultimately he will have that choice and one way or another he will make it, but vengeance and revenge is certainly on his mind at the moment.

Q: Oliver and Felicity seemed okay at the end of the premiere, but are things going to get awkward?

A: Sure, but I've always strived for, on the show, making sure relationships are adult relationships. You can kiss someone and you can profess something to them, but that doesn't mean you avoid eye contact with them. There is a bigger goal and a much bigger circumstance in play, so I'm sure things are awkward, but they've got work to do.

Q: Oliver is on a mission to find his sister Thea. How much does he know about what she’s been up to?

A: He knows very little about what she's done other than she's lied about where she is… and Oliver calls her on that immediately, but Oliver comes to the realization that the only way to bring her home -- when it was lies that drove her away -- is to tell her the truth. How much truth he has to tell her is one of the crucial points of the episode.

Q: What about Oliver’s reunion with Malcolm?

A: We had 200 extras there. That was exciting. It is a costume-less, weapon-less, fisticuff-less exchange. Concurrently, it's probably the most charged exchange that we've had in the show

Q: What will we see in upcoming flashbacks?

A: So we're in Hong Kong, which has been a very cool dynamic for the show. This week's episode is going to focus on the time between Thea getting in that limo and when Oliver and the team arrive in Corto Maltese, so I'm not in the flashbacks this week. Episode 5 we have Felicity's flashbacks. We've had a couple of episodes this year, so far that are very different than your standard episode of "Arrow." I would put Episode 2, Episode 5, Episode 10… I would put them all in that category of being a departure from the norm, which again is important when you're into your third season.

Q: Do you love Arrow’s new hi-tech bow, or do you miss his wooden bow?

A: I'm really excited for the point in the flashbacks where I either get it or make it. I miss it. It was so much fun. It was a much more fun bow. This bow is kind of cumbersome, like it's heavy and it hurts. But no, the new technology is cool. There are certainly some interesting trick-arrows this year, but that's more of a service for the fans. I like Oliver’s wooden bow. We do make some changes to the costume in our fall run, as well, and I was such a grouch when it came to making changes. I'm like, "I like it how it is."

Check back in coming weeks for Stephen’s thoughts on the “Arrow” and “Flash” crossover episode and the introduction of Ra’s al Ghul!

http://extratv.com/2014/10/22/stephen-a ... -and-more/

Las estrellas de ‘Arrow’ Stephen Amell y Willa Holland Adelantan su Reunión: Se Desvelarán Secretos
Por Travis Reilly 22 Octubre, 2014 @ 5:01 pm

The CW's “Arrow” finds Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) traveling to the Almafi Coast on Wednesday, but he's not there for a relaxing vacation. The bow-wielding superhero will attempt to retrieve his half-sister Thea (Willa Holland), who fled Starling City in part because she was tired of Oliver's lies.

“[Oliver] comes to the realization that the only way to bring her home — when it was lies that drove her away — is to tell her the truth,” Amell explained to TheWrap and other press on “Arrow's” Vancouver set.

The truth, of course, includes that her brother Oliver is a corporate playboy by day but a bow-wielding superhero by night. Many characters are now in on his big secret, but his sister isn't one of them. Will she find out Wednesday night?

“How much truth he has to tell her is one of the crucial points of the episode,” Amell teased.

Wednesday's new episode “Corto Maltese” follows Oliver and his partners in crime-fighting, (David Ramsey) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), as they travel overseas with the hopes of bringing Thea back.

But what else might the group find when it arrives?

At the end of last week's episode, audiences learned Thea had been training with her often-murderous father, Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman).

“She's been there since she hopped into that limo with Malcolm,” Holland explained. “As you can see, he's been putting her under his wing a little bit for the last five months.”

For the first time in the series, her character is shifting toward a more action-heavy role.

“I've been doing a lot of weight lifting, hitting the gym a lot with my trainer,” she said. “It's probably my favorite part about my job. It's half the reason why I signed on to ‘Arrow’ in the first place.”

But Oliver and co. still don't have a clue Malcolm is still alive and kicking.

“He knows very little about [what Thea is doing] other than she's lied about where she is,” Amell explained. “We find out very early on in Episode 3 that she's been saying she's in the Amalfi Coast and she's not. Oliver calls her on that immediately.”

Even if Oliver comes clean with Thea, it's possible he won't be able to lure her back home. But Holland revealed how it might be possible.

“I think the one thing that could always pull her back is Oliver and her love for him and that side of her family, as well as Roy,” she said. “She has a lot in Starling City, of course It's her home. But right now, I don't think she has anything in her mind to go back.”

“I think she's kind of found a new Thea Queen and is very happy with who she is at the moment.”

http://www.thewrap.com/arrow-stars-step ... e-spilled/

3.06 "Guilty" (12/11/14): TED GRANT ES ACUSADO DE ASESINATO — Después de que un cuerpo sea encontrado ahorcado en el gimnasio de Wildcat, Ted Grant (J.R. Ramirez) se convierte en el principal sospechoso. Oliver (Stephen Amell) y Laurel (Katie Cassidy) discuten sobre la inocencia de Ted. Mientras tanto, en flashbacks, cuando Maseo (Karl Yune) necesita que Oliver recuerde dónde almacenó información clave un informante de China White, le pide a Tatsu (la estrella invitada Rila Fukushima) que le ayude a refrescar la memoria de Oliver. Roy (Colton Haynes) comparte un secreto con Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). Peter Leto dirige el episodio escrito por Erik Oleson & Keto Shimizu (#306).

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-3-6-g ... tion/19667

Emily Bett Rickards Sobre el Aparecer en The Flash y qué es lo Próximo para Felicity en Arrow
Por Eric Goldman / 27 Oct 2014

Felicity Smoak is everywhere these days. On Arrow, the character continues to play a crucial role on the team, while she also now has a new day job working alongside Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). And this week, Felicity will also be seen on The Flash, as Emily Bett Rickards guest stars on the spinoff series, after Felicity goes to visit Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), following their initial friendship and flirtation when Barry was introduced on Arrow last year.

I spoke to Rickards about her guest role on The Flash and how Felicity gets along with that group of characters – which we’ll see even more of in a few weeks when The Flash and Arrow have a bigger crossover event involving the casts of both shows across both series. We also discussed Felicity’s current dynamic with both Ray and Oliver Queen, next week’s Arrow -- which will reveal more about Felicity’s origins -- and how she feels about the Green Arrow comics recently introducing a new DC Comics incarnation of Felicity modeled after her version of the character.

IGN TV: We’ll be seeing you on The Flash this week. What is it like for these two characters to meet again at this point, given that time has passed and a lot of things have changed now for both of them?

Emily Bett Rickards: I think it's important to realize the big changes that are going on for Barry and who he's becoming. He's going through a big life change, and Felicity is a friend. Obviously there was romantic interest at some point, and there's always going to be that sort of spark, but with these big life changes happening, they're just looking for a friend, I think, and it's really important to value their friendship.

IGN: What does she make of the fact that he's turned into what he's turned into -- he has these abilities and is a costumed superhero -- given the other superhero she's hanging out with all the time?

Rickards: Yeah, that's true. I think this is now her life. Not to say it's not unique or surprising; I just think she's just so willing now to not believe she knows everything anymore. She's open to learning all of the time, because she's going to get new things thrown at her every day. For the rest of her life I think she's prepared for that -- as prepared as you can be. The fact that he has super speed, she's just like, "Okay, I accept that. I accept you. Let's do this. Let's move on!” [Laughs] “Let's try and figure out other things about it."

IGN: From the pictures and clips, it looks like she really gets to work with the team this week. What's it like for her to work with Team Flash as a shakeup from her usual Team Arrow duties?

Rickards: Well, STAR Labs has something that we in the Arrow world don't. They have these other sort of tech abilities that -- I mean, Felicity can only provide so much. So I think that's really exciting for her, at least for her intellect addiction. I think that her and Caitlin are really great together because there's not a lot of women of that caliber in on the secret. Where we are with Starling and Central City, she doesn't get to work with a whole lot of women, especially women she can talk to in a certain "IQ" sort of way. Obviously that's a little sad, but it also makes it very special when you have that sort of relationship arise. And Felicity and Cisco getting to work together is a really cool dynamic. She's a huge fan of Dr. Wells; he's like an idol in their world. So she's being welcomed into an amazing world.

IGN: Of course, a few weeks after this will be the big crossover between the two shows. Does the fact that Felicity has already kind of been the ambassador from Arrow to go over and help once before ease some tensions or give her a different connection with the group than anyone else from Arrow does?

Rickards: That's exactly what it is. She's definitely there to ease tensions. She's there to bring them together and act as a translator sometimes, because I think that can be lost. She really values teamwork and working together, and she believes the more people the better. Obviously we're dealing with a whole bunch of secrets -- protection of identity and that sort of thing is important, but when you need people to help you out, she's that person to be like, "Okay, we need these people. We all need to work together." So that's her role.

IGN: These shows exist in the same world, but The Flash is a lighter show in tone than Arrow often is. Is it interesting to see how they bounce off each other, given those differences?

Rickards: Well, I think Felicity's interesting in that she's sort of the lighter part of the Starling City world. So having her fit into Central City isn't totally foreign I don't think. There's a lot more daylight in Central City, which is interesting. Although, they do more night shoots. I'm very confused about how that happens. [Laughs]

IGN: Really? That is weird!

Rickards: I feel like we're always in the dark in Starling. But I think she fits into that world properly, because she is sort of that light. I think the contrast of her in Starling City makes sense. You know, she likes being that way, but I think Central City is sort of like, "Oh!" It's almost like it wouldn't be too hard to believe that Felicity grew up in Central City or something like that -- not that she did; it's just that I wouldn't be surprised, by any means.

IGN: Well, that is a wonderful transition you just gave me into Felicity and where she grew up -- because next week’s Arrow is a big episode for your character. What can you say, given the title, about “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak?” Were you pretty surprised by anything you learned?

Emily Bett Rickards: Yeah, I was surprised. I mean, "surprised" is maybe not the right word. I think I've just been craving to know these things about her. I'm so grateful that I -- I feel like I'm so much closer to my best friend now. [Laughs] It's so weird! It's the weirdest thing. She's so special to me. She has a darker path than I ever wanted to really play with, because I think that makes me a little sad that she's gone through a few really terrible things. But it's interesting, because I can connect with her on that level to a certain extent as well. I don't know, she just really warms my heart.

IGN: I'm also curious about the dynamic between her and her mom, since we're going to be seeing this very key figure from her past show up.

Rickards: Ah, yes. That's a whole thing. They are completely different people, except for their ability to really, really care. She definitely has the maternal gene from her mother. Her mother really tries, and that effort doesn't go unnoticed.

IGN: There's been a lot of fun material with Felicity and Ray Palmer lately. But then we had that scene in the last episode with this possibly ominous moment with him after she left. Should we be concerned for Felicity?

Rickards: I think that we can safely say we should always be concerned for Felicity. [Laughs] I don't know how she doesn't go to therapy. I think she has very strong morals and is very protected by who she knows who she is, but I feel like she's thrown into these situations a lot of the time. They're situations you couldn't even imagine are going to happen. I think her occupation and extracurricular activities aren't exactly the safest. She lives a high-risk lifestyle. But I believe she'll always come out on the other side. I think she's always going to be dealt a difficult hand of cards.

IGN: So in the weeks to come, what should be expect as far as her and Ray working together and their relationship?

Rickards: Oh, they're good. I like their relationship; I like their dynamic. I like how they use honesty. Ray's really interesting because he really asks the tough questions. He's her boss, but he believes in a personal life. He's not one of those people like, "Oh, don't bring your personal life to work." He's like, "What are you dealing with? Do you need help?" I think that's really admirable and a really great quality in a person. And they're really fun. They get along really well, so there's that too. I don't know where it's going to go, but hopefully he doesn't turn into some crazy psychopath -- but we never know!

IGN: One would hope! And how are her and Oliver, going forward? Is it difficult or strange for them to be working together right now in the wake of their own issues, or are they -- especially with what's happened with Sara -- both focused on the goal at hand?

Rickards: I think Sara was such a huge part of forced reality, of "Anyone you care about could be ripped away from you." That's a thing they’ve faced a few times, with Moira and Tommy as well. Everyone’s dying! But I think that Oliver's dynamic in comparison to Ray's… I feel like Oliver's ability to cut off a limb to a certain extent is something that Felicity, you know, she can't really do it that well, but she knows that he can and, therefore, we're not going to talk about it. "This is our experience as friends." She doesn't really know what they are or who they were or where they stand now. I don't know, I've been there. I'm still confused. [Laughs] I don't know how she's going to figure it out. Felicity and I have no hope!

IGN: Lastly, what did you think of Felicity popping up for the first time -- or a much more "you" version of Felicity, I should say -- in DC Comics recently, in Green Arrow?

Rickards: That was really cool. I can't believe it. I'm so speechless. It doesn't feel like reality to me. I'm like, "Oh, that's me? That's Felicity in a comic book? That's weird and so awesome!" I'm speechless. It's super rad. I'm super stoked about it.

IGN: Wait 'til you get your first action figure.

Rickards: Oh, God. There's a Barbie! There's a Barbie named Felicity that wears glasses, which is weird. I'm like, "Why a Barbie? Why not, like, a Care Bear?" I'd be so stoked.

http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/10/28/e ... y-on-arrow

El elenco de Arrow adelanta la sorpresa de Malcolm para Oliver, 'la bomba de tiempo' de Nyssa, el misterio del asesinato, y el genial debut de Ra's al Ghul
Por Vlada Gelman / 28 Octubre 2014, 2:00 PM PDT

This Wednesday on Arrow (The CW, 8/7c), Oliver Queen is getting not one but two unexpected and unwelcome blasts from the past, who both have the power to destroy the hero.

For starters, Nyssa al Ghul (played by Katrina Law) arrives in Starling City in the wake of Sara’s death seeking answers, and the tension between her and Oliver escalates as they try to figure out how to avenge the masked Canary.

“There’s an opportunity for them to work in concert, but Oliver’s methods and Nyssa’s methods don’t match up,” Stephen Amell previewed during a recent set visit. “She’s the, ‘Shoot them all, figure it out afterwards [type],’ and Oliver’s like, ‘I used to be that way! I’m not anymore.’ So that creates the conflict for them.

“Oliver feels very much as though it’s his responsibility to bring whoever did this to justice,” Amell adds. “And I will say that of all of the convoluted, devious plans that we’ve ever had on the show, the ‘Who killed Canary?’ device is right at the top.”

The mystery will also bring fresh troubles. Nyssa can be volatile, not to mention violent, so she “leaves [Episode] 4 as a ticking time bomb, and Oliver leaves with a whole host of new enemies,” Amell teases.

Could one of those fresh foes be Nyssa’s father aka League of Assassins leader Ra’s al Ghul (to be played by Aussie actor Matt Nable)? Amell hints that the infamous villain will make his entrance soon – and in quite a memorable way.

“If you’re a fan of comics, you’re really going to enjoy the reveal of Ra’s al Ghul — like, the first frames of seeing him,” he says. “That’s going to be pretty cool and create a lot of chatter.”

Meanwhile, one of Oliver’s former (meaning: presumed dead!) enemies, Malcolm Merlyn, is back in Starling City this week, setting the stage for an epic face-to-face between the two.

“We had 200 extras there,” Amell says of the showdown. “It is a costume-less, weapon-less, fisticuffs-less exchange. Concurrently, it’s probably the most charged exchange that we’ve had in the show.”

For his part, John Barrowman feels like Malcolm “has always loved Ollie like a son,” a notion he “kind of tried to plant with these little nuances. So this time when we do meet, Malcolm has something to say to him, and it’s not about fighting. It’s very interesting what he has to say and how he says it. I think it’s also a bit of a surprise for Oliver.”

But perhaps Malcolm should be more worried about Ra’s al Ghul’s impending arrival than his relationship with Oliver. After all, he has his own troubled history with the League of Assassins leader.

“He’s concerned about Ra’s being here, but he’s not stupid,” Barrowman insists. “He will try to figure a way to protect himself and, hopefully, those around him.”

http://tvline.com/2014/10/28/arrow-seas ... r-malcolm/

Stephen Amell sobre la reunión de Oliver cpn Malcolm, el regreso de Nyssa y el debut de Ra's al Ghul
Por Eric Goldman 29 Oct 2014

The League of Assassins has been an important element on Arrow for quite some time, as we’ve gotten to know more members – or, in some cases, former members.

In this week’s episode, “The Magician,” the League will once more come into play in a big way, as Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) returns to Starling City, in the wake of the death of her former lover, Sara Lance. Meanwhile, former League member Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) is also coming back to Starling City, where an inevitable reunion with his enemy, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), will occur.

Of course, on top of that, we're also going to soon meet the infamous Ra’s al Ghul himself, played by Matt Nable.

Amell recently discussed Oliver’s reunion with Malcolm, the return of Nyssa and what we might expect when Ra’s al Ghul makes his entrance.

Question: Can you tease anything about Oliver’s reunion with Malcolm?

Stephen Amell: We had 200 extras there. That was exciting. It is a costumeless, weaponless, fisticuffless exchange and concurrently is probably the most charged exchange that we've had on the show. We shot it on our 50th episode, which is our fourth episode this year and for me, personally, I love these things on TV when something is set up and then you let it lay for a while. In our case we’re talking about letting it lie for 27 episodes between the Season 1 finale and episode four of Season 3. So just playing scenes also with John is a growing exercise for me as an actor, because there’s so many things that he does and chances that he will take that I feel they’re expanding my character and I'm feeling the repercussions of them, personally, on a professional, technical level in the aftermath of episode four. I’m bringing them into scenes as we move through the season.

Question: What sort of wild card presence will Nyssa bring, in the midst of trying to solve Sara’s murder?

Amell: She’s a ticking time bomb. She leaves [episode] four as a ticking time bomb and Oliver leaves with a whole host of new enemies. He feels very much as though it’s his responsibility to bring whoever did this to justice. I will say that of all of the convoluted, devious plans that we’ve ever had on the show, the “Who killed Canary?” device is right at the top.

Question: Marc [Guggenheim] has said that with Sara dead, he sees Nyssa as being able to fulfill that role as a very strong, physical, female presence on the show.

Amell: Yes!

Question: But your characters don’t exactly see eye to eye. How do you think they can or cannot cooperate?

Amell: There’s an opportunity for them to work in consort in episode four, but Oliver’s methods and Nyssa’s methods don’t match up. She’s the shoot them all, figure it out afterwards [type]. And Oliver’s like, “I used to be that way but I’m not anymore.” So that creates conflict for them. But Katrina has been excellent this year. We’ve seen her a few times now and it's always a treat. I think that she has fleshed out the Nyssa character. Actually, I think it’s been probably helpful for Matt, who’s playing her father. Having such a strong, fleshed out character as his daughter has probably given him a really nice signpost for how to play Ra’s.

Question: Can you talk a bit about Matt?

Amell: He’s great. I had my first opportunity to work with him recently and he’s wonderful. He’s really good. The character has a very worldly feel without being… I wouldn’t call it exotic at all. When I saw the reveal of his wardrobe at Comic-Con, I thought somewhat exotic, but he grounds it and he puts it into our world. I’m very excited for his development on the show.

Question: Have we gotten to see him in action at all?

Amell: I haven’t. But we meet him on the show relatively soon.

Question: What are you most excited for people to see this season?

Amell:If you’re a fan of comics, you’re really going to enjoy the reveal of Ra’s al Ghul. And I mean, like, the first frames of seeing him. That’s going to be pretty cool. It’s going to create a lot of chatter.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/29/ ... as-al-ghul?

John Barrowman sobre la Season 3 de "Arrow"
Por Philiana Ng 6:00 AM PDT 29/10/2014

After spending several months training his daughter Thea (Willa Holland) in Corto Maltese, the Dark Archer returns to Starling City on Wednesday's Arrow, titled "The Magician," which includes the introduction of prolific DC villain Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable). Though Thea agrees to go home with her brother Oliver (Stephen Amell), she leaves out one important piece of intel: that she's been working with Malcolm all this time.

Ask genre king John Barrowman, who was promoted to series regular before the start of the season, about what's in store and he promises the best has yet to come. "They've been teasing Malcolm's return [to Starling City] but he is going to come back, shall we say, with a bang," Barrowman tells The Hollywood Reporter of Malcolm's ultimate plan. "The proverbial shit is going to hit the fan."

Last week was the first time viewers got to see how Malcolm was training Thea, and it was also the first significant amount of time father and daughter have spent together. How has their relationship evolved in that short period of time?

It's made them a great deal closer. In fact, you can see that when she is now calling him "Dad," rather than last [season] when she didn't want anything do with him. The time they have been training in Corto Maltese for the last five or so months has really changed their relationship and strengthened their relationship. What the viewers are going to be interested when they watch is, why is he doing this? That's all I'll say. Why is he doing it?

Malcolm's a character who always has an agenda or motive behind every move that he makes. It's not just simply about helping his daughter or his family. So this sounds like it's in line with what we know him to be.

Yup, there is a motive behind it. Malcolm is a very good poker player and Malcolm will keep his hands very quiet until he needs to know what card he has to play because of the situation that he's in. He never gives anything away. He does love Thea, no doubt about that, but he absolutely also loves Ollie as a son. And he's said that multiple times. But that doesn't mean that he's not going to fight Oliver. That doesn't mean that he's going to agree all the time. Again, the relationships are going to grow and you're going to see different sides to them but always with that agenda at hand.

Oliver doesn't know that Thea's been hanging out with Malcolm. Hypothetically speaking, how do you think he would take that news if that comes out?

I don't know when and if it will come out, but vice versa, she doesn't know that Oliver's the Arrow. And Oliver doesn't know that she's been working with Malcolm. They're both lying to each other. The person, Malcolm, who's been telling them the truth all this time — as much as he possibly can — needs to get the two of them together to, in a way, make them understand that people have secrets. We don't need to know everything about everybody.

Eventually Malcolm becomes suspect No. 1 in Team Arrow's search for Sara's killer. How does he navigate that?

I am not answering that. You're going to have to watch. (Laughs.) That's the answer to that question. Some of that will be explained of what you just asked in this next episode. But seriously, watch, it's a great arc.

Even over the course of three seasons, Malcolm still remains one of the show's most mysterious characters. What have you grown to love about your character that you weren't expecting in the first season?

What I've grown to like about him, the thing that's developed is his emotional connection to people. I've also liked playing his straightforward ruthlessness. It's very matter-of-fact with Malcolm. "Do you have to die?" "You have to die." That's it. Done deal. No ifs, ands or buts. That's the way it is and that's how it's going to be. If you're in my way, then I have to get you out of my way and that's what I like about him. He's very clean-cut and dry like that. There's no wavering. There's no "Should I do this?" No. Done. Deal with it afterwards. That's what I love about him, because that makes him exciting.

Malcolm discovered early on that Oliver was the Arrow. How does that affect things moving forward when Oliver discovers Malcolm has risen from the dead?

When Malcolm pulled the hood off after fighting the Arrow, he was gutted, he was shocked, he was devastated. He loves Oliver as a son, he feels like Oliver is a son because he grew up with Tommy, Oliver is the son that Malcolm always wanted. When he pulled that hood back, that reiterated that "Oh my god, this is what I wanted Tommy to be: passionate to fight what he believes in and to become a hero. I didn't want him to die a hero, I wanted him to become a hero. And this is what Oliver has done." It gutted Malcolm that he knew now that [Oliver] was his nemesis. Someone he loves is his nemesis.

How big of a role does Malcolm play Oliver's season-long journey of figuring out whether he can balance the Arrow with his public persona?

Malcolm will play into that but again, you will have to wait and see whether it's to help Oliver from figuring it out or whether it's to deter him from figuring it out so Malcolm can control him. There a double-edged sword there and there's a dynamic that has yet to be played, if it is to be played at all. But Oliver is on this discovery path and do you think Malcolm's not going to use that to his advantage?

Might there be a chess match between Malcolm and Oliver in regards to Thea down the line? It seems as though they could be fighting for her loyalties.

I don't know how to answer that one yet because Oliver doesn't know that Malcolm has been involved, and I don't want to tell you yet if he will discover that. But if that were to come, of course, Oliver is not going to be happy. And if he never finds out, what he doesn't know isn't going to hurt him.

Any last nuggets you can tease?

Malcolm will confront somebody he never thought he would confront.

Ra's, perhaps?

I'm not telling you. That's your teaser!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... n-3-744480?

John Barrowman sobre el entrenar a Thea, Cosas que van a impactar en los fans y más
Por Jim Halterman 29 Octubre, 2014 8:00 am.

Ready for more tough love?

Malcolm Merlyn sure it. After seeing his extremely rough way of training daughter Thea (pouring burning water on her hand, beating her, etc.) in Arrow Season 3 Episode 3, fans are wondering: What is the master manipulator really up to?!?

Does he want Thea as a puppet? Or an ally? And when is Malcolm finally going to be face to face once again with his foe, Oliver Queen?

In an exclusive Q&A, John Barrowman offered up some teases as only he can. Safe to say, viewers will soon be in for many treats. Consider yourselves SPOILER WARNED and read on for some scoop regarding Arrow Season 3 Episode 4 and beyond.


TV Fanatic: How has it been playing Malcolm this time around? It definitely feels different to me.

John Barrowman: What’s nice is in a way it’s different for all of us. You say that as the viewer, for me playing him, it’s different. I enjoy it because I know there’s a little bit of a different direction that we’re going to take him and he’s still going to be the bad guy, obviously, but, as I’ve said before, he’s got to learn how to manipulate people in different ways. He’s figuring out how to do that. I think he knows how to do it but he’s figuring out how to do it without causing himself a lot of problems. That’s interesting as an actor because I have to play him…you’ll see something that you’ve never seen from Malcolm before in a confrontation.

TVF: We saw his training of Thea in the last episode. Is he looking to make her a puppet or an ally or a little bit of both?

JB: That’s a question that I, as the actor, don’t know the answer to yet because I don’t want to know. I’m speaking as Malcolm Merlyn here, what I am doing is training her as my daughter, who I love and want to protect, but I may need her as a puppet down the line but I don’t want to use her as a puppet at this point in time. And I think that’s why the audience is a little gripped by this and I hope they see me do it as heartfelt rather than manipulative.

TVF: Did Malcolm beating Thea in the last episode hurt him more than it hurt her or did he just see it as necessary?

JB: Necessary. I went back and watched it again because I thought ‘is this going to be too abusive?’ When I say to her ‘I’ve realized that you’re not going to be able to do this the way I wanted to do it. I’m going to have to teach you like a student.” So, he has disconnected a little bit and taken away all emotional involvement for those moments and teaching her as his student.

TVF: Thea did go home at the end of last week. Is she truly ready or is Malcolm still going to have to do some training with her?

JB: [laughs] All I’m going to say is she’s ready for what he needs. She’s ready for what Malcolm needs at this moment in time. I can’t tell you anymore.

TVF: At this point, Malcolm hasn’t been face to face with Oliver for a while. Are we going to eventually see them together?

JB: Yes, you will. And you will be seeing them together in a situation that might be normal to our Oliver/Malcolm situation but also one that is also not typical of them.

TVF: What is Malcolm’s Achilles heel at this point? Is it Thea? Or is it something we don’t know about yet? Do you know what that is?

JB: Yes and you don’t know yet. Let’s put it this way, if I were going to reference Doctor Who, it’s like Bad Wolf. There is a greater thing happening.

TVF: Who will we see Malcolm interacting with? Thea is going home with Oliver so…

JB: Malcolm is not gone. Malcolm could be on the next plane behind [Thea]. He might show up without them knowing. He might interact with Oliver right away. He might interact with someone who showed up in the preview of the last episode.

TVF: How much of what Malcolm is doing with Thea have to do with Moira and the fact that Moira is gone?

JB: Malcolm is always a hard ass but I always think there is a core emotional side to him deep down and everything he’s doing with Thea…I think that Malcolm did love Moira and he loved how she would spar with him and now that she’s gone he feels an obligation to protect.

He had that little meeting with Moira when he was in the car park and I like to think that on the side Malcolm continued to stay in touch with her and knew what was going on, saw what happened [and] I like to think that he was present in all that so, yes, he’s also doing this for Moira to make Thea stronger. But a teaser from me is the proverbial s**t is going to hit the fan.

http://www.tvfanatic.com/2014/10/arrow- ... ng-the-fa/

John Barrowman habla sobre el baile de Malcolm Merlyn con With Oliver Queen
Por Tiffany Vogt 29 Octubre, 2014

Perhaps one of the most complicated relationships on ARROW is the one between Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) — the Dark Archer versus the Green Arrow. In Season 1, Malcolm could not resist unmasking the new archer in town, and to his surprise and delight, he found out that the Arrow was Oliver — and from that point forward, Malcolm thought of Oliver as a long-lost surrogate son. He was alternately proud of Oliver’s abilities and angry and vengeful when Oliver interfered with his personal agenda and plans. It led to the epic showdown in the Season 1 finale, where Oliver deliberately chose to let Malcolm live — a decision that Oliver undoubtedly still regrets — and so began the dark and twisted dance between Oliver Queen and Malcolm Merlyn.

In Season 2, Malcolm Merlyn rose from his alleged death in the Season 1 finale, and newly resurrected, proceed to uncover a dastardly secret that Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) had fought to keep hidden: Thea Queen (Willa Holland) was Malcolm’s biological daughter. Unable to resist the lure of having another child of his flesh and blood, Malcolm approached Thea and made her an offer to join him if she wanted to know the truth. Thea, frustrated by the secrets and lies of the Queen family, accepted Malcolm’s offer and began training under him in the dark arts Malcolm learned from the League of Assassins.

In an exclusive interview, star John Barrowman talked about Malcolm’s complex relationships with both Thea and Oliver Queen, as well as teased just what Malcolm may be up to this time — as Malcolm always has a diabolical plan up his sleeve.

We’ve been forewarned that Malcolm is headed back to Starling City. What is going through his mind as he returns?
JOHN: I can’t tell you why he is going there, but he has very important business. He is going to be watching out for some people, but also trying to avoid other people while still trying to get his way and manipulate the people he needs to manipulate in order to get his objective in Starling City. So although it is being dubbed as he is just coming back to Starling City for this next episode, there is a bigger and greater reason as to why he is there.

So it is not all about love for his daughter, this time?
JOHN: It isn’t about love for his daughter this time, but things might happen that might change that situation, or you think it is all for the love of his daughter, but . . .

Malcolm’s always got something else going on, doesn’t he? So what about the League of Assassins? Is Malcolm thinking there is a bullseye on him and he should be very careful?
JOHN: Absolutely. There’s been a bullseye on him for a long time and the League of Assassins are in a sense out to get him because Malcolm crossed them and he has been doing things that is totally against the moral structure of what the League of Assassins stands for. Even though they are the League of Assassins, they do what they do for the greater good. But Malcolm has been doing a lot of things for his own agenda and they are not very happy with that. So he does have a bullseye on his back and he has to be very careful.

Is Malcolm more worried about the League at this point, or is he more worried about Oliver?
JOHN: I think he is worried more about the League, but I think he has to still let Oliver think that he is more worried about him [Oliver].

Is Malcolm worried that Oliver will get between him and Thea at this point, or is Malcolm confident in his relationship with Thea?
JOHN: You need to keep watching because you are going to see Malcolm do something that he has never done before with Oliver. That’s all I’m going to say. You are then not going to know: is he manipulating this situation or is he actually meaning what he is saying or doing. That is going to be how he will protect his relationship with Thea.

For a second there, I thought you might say there was going to be a shower scene with Oliver and Malcolm, when you said we’re going to see Malcolm do something we have never seen before with Oliver.
JOHN: (Laughs) A shower scene?!

You are always hinting at more intimate scenes between Oliver and Malcolm. It could be possible.
JOHN: (Laughs) As much as I would love to do a shower scene with Stephen [Amell], I doubt that can happen.

So whatever they are doing that may cause them to interact together, it will not involve a shower scene.
JOHN: (Laughing) It will not be. No, to my disappointment, and to Stephen’s “thank goodness!”

Are you going to be wearing the Dark Archer suit any time soon, or is that something that has been put in the closet for now?
JOHN: (Laughs) Oh, no, the Dark Archer is never put in the closet. I came out years ago.

What about that costume though? It’s got to be a bit much to wear at times.
JOHN: I’ll say this, we have modified it. You won’t see much difference, but we have broken it down a bit structurally because it was about four layers before of heavy material. Now what we’ve done is cut the shirt up so it is only the collar of the turtle-neck and then the jacket is just a half-jacket with no sleeves and then the leather one is on top. So we have modified it so it is more comfortable for me to wear and less claustrophobic. We also opened up what I call the mask of it and, when I do scenes now, you know I’m the Dark Archer. We can have the hood down and the mask off during my dialogue, which is good.

That sounds like we are going to be seeing the Dark Archer soon. I’m very excited about that.
JOHN: Don’t you worry, he’s going to be back.

With all that training that Malcolm put Thea through during all those months she was away, Malcolm seems to have never let on that her brother is the Arrow. What’s going on there? Why doesn’t he want to use that card yet?
JOHN: (Laughs) Because we’re only mid-season and we need to wait. I don’t know if that card is ever going to be played. Malcolm is a good poker player and this a poker game. Malcolm is not going to play all of his cards at once. At this point and time, he is keeping that to himself — who Oliver is — because it is in his best interests.

In light of the fact that Malcolm didn’t tell Thea about her brother, how honest is Malcolm being with Thea?
JOHN: That’s the thing: everyone has secrets, which is what Malcolm is about to tell Thea. That we don’t need to know everything. One should still have their secrets and their bit of privacy. So I don’t think Malcolm feels the need to tell her everything. But he is totally honest with her — with what he does tell her. He is very careful about what he says because he knows how heavily words weigh on people. He is a very smart man.

Another thing to consider is Malcolm’s mental stability. He has lost his wife, he’s lost Tommy. If he were to lose Thea, would that just push him over the edge or does he have better control over that?
JOHN: Hypothetically, if that were to happen — and I’m not saying that it is — he would not lose his mind. He would be more focused and more in control. Every time he loses somebody, he is more determined to avenge or get back at the people that caused it to happen. Malcolm is not a loose canon. Malcolm is a very focused when shit goes wrong. So it would just make him more determined. But he is going to do everything in his power to keep Thea safe.

So what should we look forward to with regard to what is up with Malcolm?
JOHN: What you should look forward to is Malcolm is going to deal with a situation in a way that he has never dealt with it before, which people are going to go, “Oh my god, I can’t believe he just did that!” You might see that a few times. But whether that is truth or whether that is for manipulation purposes, we do not yet know.

http://www.seat42f.com/exclusive-arrow- ... queen.html

John Barrowman Habla sobre Arrow, y el interpretar a Merlyn como un magnífico bastardo
Por Russ Burlingame 29/10/2014

Tonight's episode of Arrow will introduce Ra's al Ghul to the equation for the first time, and along the way, fans will get to see Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen learning that John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn, his Season One nemesis and the man responsible for the death of his best friend (Malcolm's son Tommy), is still alive.

He and Oliver "will have a lot to discuss" regarding not only Merlyn's faked death, but Oliver's decision not to kill Slade Wilson last season, after Slade killed Moira, Oliver's mother and Malcolm's former flame.

"Some s--t is going to hit the fan," Barrowman told us of his first confrontation with Oliver since the Season One finale. "[Malcolm and Oliver] are playing poker, and they both have full hands, but Malcolm is playing his cards very close to his chest."

He says he's used to that himself -- starring on a show that often demands secrecy, lest "they find me and kill me," he joked -- he uses his personal fandom as a way of knowing how much is just enough to give the fans and the press without spoiling anything he himself wouldn't want spoiled.

Of course, the level of manipulation that Merlyn has been bringing to bear on his friends and enemies since his "death" has almost escalated the character as a credible threat. We asked what it was like to go from archenemy to magnificent bastard in the span of two seasons.

"I think you described it perfectly -- he's gone from being a villain to a magnificent bastard and next, I think you'll see that he goes from magnificent bastard to a kind of misunderstood hero," Barrowman told us, and then laughed. "No, that's what I wish would happen!"

His character's relationship with Thea may not come into play right away -- at least as far as Oliver is concerned -- but it's helping to drive Merlyn forward this season. She's the daughter he always wanted -- and, unlike Oliver, the surrogate son he liked more than he ever liked Tommy, Thea has never tried to kill him.

"He loved Tommy, but I think Tommy was always a disappointment to him because he never did anything," Barrowman said of his character's relationship with his son, who died saving Laurel Lance at the end of Arrow's first season. "And then he died a hero and it still was a disappointment because that would have impressed Malcolm. He wanted him to become a hero, not to die doing it."

Of Tommy's recent return, Barrowman acknowledged that if Merlyn knew the lengths to which his son was going to search out the truth about Oliver, he might have seen him somewhat differently. "I think that would have impressed Malcolm, but I'm not sure that he ever knew it," the actor explained. "But I do love that I'm apparently banging my pilates instructor!"

The latter is a reference to a scene in which Malcolm called Tommy to summon him home, while Tommy was out looking for Oliver in Hong Kong, suggesting that he knows at least a little of what Tommy was up to during that time.

All of tonight's action takes place against the backdrop of the mystery surrounding the murder of Sara Lance, of course -- and once Sara's former lover Nyssa Raatko, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, comes to Oliver with the revelation that Malcolm is alive, both assume that Malcom is likely responsible for the murder.

On one level, it seems unlikely Merlyn's the killer -- the most obvious answer rarely is right on Arrow -- but it's equally likely they'll want him to steer into that, keeping the audience in suspense. How does an actor play that?

"It sounds simple, but the answer is, you just play it," Barrowman said. "You have to try and do it totally without subtext."

On craft, we asked whether he's had any advice for Willa Holland, the actress who plays his daughter (and Oliver's half-sister) Thea and, so far, the cast member with whom he's shared the most screen time this year.

"I never offer advice unless it's asked for," Barrowman said. "Stephen has come to me a few times with some questions because, being the lead of a company on a show like this, and obviously I've done that before. I guess that comes with being the oldest member of the company -- which is weird for me, since when I started I was the youngest member of my company."

Merlyn, of course, is a character who has spent a lot of time playing off of just one or two of that company. Who does Barrowman hope to get some screen time with this season?

"Without telling you whether it's happening or not," Barrowman prefaced his answer, "I would like to have some scenes with Roy. I would like to have some scenes with David [Ramsey, who plays Diggle], and get involved with his story. Really, anybody. We've got a great company."

http://comicbook.com/2014/10/29/john-ba ... lks-arrow/

Colton Haynes habla sobre la S3 de Arrow s3: Arsenal, nuevo romance y acción desenfrenada
Por Morgan Jeffery 29 Oct 2014, 09:00 GMT

Promoted to series regular for its second year, Colton Haynes's role in the third season of Arrow looks set to be even more epic.

His character of Roy Harper has completed his transformation from street youth to superhero and is now a fully-fledged member of Oliver Queen's Team Arrow.

Digital Spy grilled Colton on what's coming up for Roy this season and here's seven fun facts gleaned from our interview - minor spoilers ahead!

1. Roy this year is a superhero with no name

Colton will cut a dashing figure this season in his new scarlet duds, but if you're a comic book fan who thinks they know where Roy Harper's story is going - with the troubled teen transitioning into the tragic Arsenal - think again!

"Our producer Marc Guggenheim has mentioned to me that Arsenal loses an arm in the comic book and he is a bad drug addict," he explains. So I think [my character's] going to be Arsenal mixed with the Red Arrow.

"I'm not sure if they're going to stick to the comic books, but there will be a running joke of what my name is going to be. They're going to call me 'Speedy' or 'Oracle' - that will be a fun little joke throughout the season."

2. Roy's on the straight and narrow - but maybe not for long

Last season, Oliver was able to rid Roy of the negative effects of the Mirakuru - a super-soldier serum that granted him fantastic strength, but left Harper prone to uncontrollable rages.

But Colton tells us we might not have seen the last of bad Roy: "There's always a possibility for it to come back. There are always different mutations of different drugs that can come and start problems with the team. I have a feeling that will happen this season."

3. Expect more insane action on Arrow than ever before

"It's incredible and it's down to the planning," Haynes says of the show's cinema-quality action sequences. "There's so much time and effort that goes into the planning of the show and the stunt team get a lot of credit, but not enough.

"It makes the fans really excited every week, as they are watching something they have read their entire life. That's the fun part about it - to connect with them and do the show justice."

4. But season 3 is as much about the relationships as the action

"I think the relationships in the new season are going to be of the exact same calibre as the action has been through the entire series," Haynes says. It has taken time for the relationships to be solid - now it's as much about the relationships as it is about the action.

He teases: "There will be a few new love interests that come in through season three, that may cause a few love triangles. There will be a few fights over jealousy!"

5. Arrow will cross over with its spinoff The Flash - and Colton can't wait

"I think that show is going to be massive, led by Grant Gustin," Haynes gushes. "We're all friendly with that cast and they're the coolest people. I think it's going to be a massive hit.

"It would be nice to have a few characters [from our show] help it along the way, but I think they're going to try and make their characters solid before they add any of us in.

"A few people from their show and ours could create a mini Justice League. That could be a fun idea to throw around."

6. There's no rivalry between Arrow and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - honest

"One of my best friends Chloe Bennet is the lead in it," Colton says of US TV's other big comic book series, which comes from DC's long-time rival Marvel Comics.

"We always share a joke over text about articles written and number of views," he reveals - Roy Harper and Skye texting, just imagine.

7. Betrayal is going to be a big, big part of season three

"It's always funny to watch Roy and Oliver before he knew that he was The Arrow, because Roy just used to roll his eyes at everything he said and thought, 'Who's this douche?'," Haynes laughs.

"I think it's destined to go to a place where Roy and Oliver will have this sidekick friendship, but friends sometimes betray each other.

"Betrayal is going to be a big, big part of season three - especially with Malcolm Merlyn coming and Thea turning to the dark side. It's going to be insane!"

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s206/a ... LjQQ4qpKDc

Barrowman siempre supo que Merlyn estaría en el punto de mira de Arrow de nuevo
Por Scott Huver, 29 Oct 2014

Malcolm Merlyn may not be Starling City's greatest archer, but he's certainly it's deadliest. And as actor John Barrowman explained to CBR News, he appears to have more than arrows in his quiver with which to inflict some serious damage.

Barrowman, who played the nefarious business tycoon/master assassin throughout "Arrow's" debut season, turning the longtime friend of Oliver Queen's family into his bitterest enemy, has re-emerged in Season Three, immediately after the big reveal that Oliver's sister Thea was actually Malcolm's daughter -- and he appears dedicated to hardening Thea herself into a potent weapon.

In a conversation with Comic Book Resources, Barrowman reveals that a long-term plan has always been in place for Malcolm's return, shares his hand in developing the role as an even more subtle threat to Oliver and his inner circle, and launches his passionate campaign to get some high-quality Dark Archer action figures on fans' shelves.

CBR News: What was the coolest part for you, to get the call and know that you were going to be such an integral part of "Arrow" again?

John Barrowman: Well, I hate to sound probably not excited -- that sounds really bad! [Laughs] But I knew that he was going to be an integral part to the show for long term from the moment they asked me [to play Merlyn], because they told me he would be. I always knew I would always be a part of it, so I knew that I'd be in three to five to seven episodes. But when they asked me to be a regular, I was shocked because that was, in a way, meaning they want to do even more with him. So it was a big deal, and it was something -- I was very excited about that. But I knew even if I wasn't a regular, Malcolm was going to be involved until the end of the series.

What's been most fun for you as far as this new dimension that you've gotten to play with his training and indoctrination of Thea?

What's nice is that I know Andrew Kreisberg. I know Marc Guggenheim. I know the guys who are the producers, and they have been big fans of "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood," so they knew I loved the genre. They listened to what kind of suggestions I had, talking about it and how I'd like things to go, and they'd take little bits of it. So what's exciting for me is to see those things implemented into the scripts. And the way that Malcolm -- what's nice for me this time is, Malcolm is using different ways to manipulate people rather than just force and violence. That's something I talked about and also they had spoken to me about. So it's kind of a little bit like a collaboration. It's really nice when the writers actually hear your suggestions and take them on board.

Most bad guys, if you ask them, would not tell you that they believe they're a bad guy. Can you give me a sense of how Malcolm sees the world and how he thinks he's doing the right thing?

Yes, Malcolm doesn't see himself as a bad guy, obviously. He sees himself as a hero. He sees himself as being misunderstood and is quite upset -- although he doesn't show the upset -- when people don't see him as doing good or doing right. Obviously, he's Malcolm here, and there's Oliver doing his thing, and Oliver's getting away with it and, in a sense, doing exactly what Malcolm is doing, and no one's pissed off at him about it. So that's what he gets upset about it. So there's got to be -- if I were to say that Malcolm has tried to kind of do what Oliver is doing, and he would like to be in his position, put it that way: Malcolm would like to be in Oliver's position.

You've been sharing a lot of scenes with your TV daughter, Willa Holland. What's been fun about working closely with her?

Well, Willa and I are both a little crazy, and on set we get distracted very easily -- and that's me being the adult. [Laughs] I have to rein it in sometimes with her. But she's very good. And what's really kind of cool is my niece and I were big fans of "The O.C." and that was our show to connect with, so I watched Willa grow up on television, basically, and also with the other shows that she's done. When I told my niece that Willa was going to be my daughter, she was like, [high pitched] "Oh my God! It's so cool!" So it's nice to develop that relationship with her on camera, because it is developing a father/daughter thing, and however unconventional it is or however hard it is for the audience to watch, Malcolm does love her. I think she's a great girl to work with; she's spunky and fun.

What can you reveal as far as the next episode and Malcolm's involvement going forward?

Well, the proverbial shit is going to hit the fan in a bit. That's one thing. You are going to see Malcolm confront or be confronted by people that you haven't thought are going to confront him -- Oh, I can't tell you! That's what's so hard! It's going to be a roller coaster ride, really. Malcolm's involvement is going to be far greater and deeper than everybody expects.

You've had as about a diverse show business career as anybody could hope for. What's been especially cool about this particular job?

What's particularly cool about this is that I was asked to be on the show because of my past involvement in the genre. What's really cool about this is that I'm also a huge fan of superheroes, comic books -- DC and/or Marvel. I mean, behind me, there's my Marvel and DC encyclopedias. So what's really cool about this is also that I've been able to create a character like Merlyn, who existed, but no one had ever really played before. That's really awesome.

How seriously did you take the physical stuff that you needed to get into the role, and is that still a process for you? Did you want to throw yourself into it and try to physically perfect the archery and the fighting skills?

I'll do as much as they want me to do. That's part of the job. If they want me to perfect the archery, they've got to send me to archery class! I know enough. I had archery in high school because, believe it or not, it was part of our curriculum in the Midwest. So I did do some of it, but Stephen [Amell] is, in real life, a much better archer. He can hit the bulls-eye, whereas I can hit the target. The physicality of it -- I've done stunts. I've done all the action kind of stuff before, with "Torchwood" and "Doctor Who," so that's not something that's new to me. But did I throw myself into all this stuff? If someone says, "Can we do this, blah, blah, blah?" I'm like, "Yeah, let's do it. Give me a challenge. I'll try it." If not, then bring a stunt person in.

Being a fan of the comic book genre growing up, what were some of the highlights for you?

Well, believe it or not, I'm still into it. I have a vast collection of Mego action figures, from the original, the ones that came out from all the comic book heroes, from the Green Arrow to Shazam, Captain America, Thor -- I've still got all of those! I hope they do a Merlyn one, a Merlyn figure, because as a kid, there I was playing with them, and now, as an adult, I have them in a collection. And here I am playing a character -- this is going to sound weird -- in the world that I used to play in as a child.

What's front and center in your interests nowadays, in the genre world?

This is going to sound very egotistical, but I don't give a shit! I'm very much into getting Malcolm Merlyn as an action figure. That's really what I want. Because I've got three action figures out there of myself as Captain Jack from the "Doctor Who" world and "Torchwood" world. And I've got a 6-inch, a 15-inch, and what I really need is a 9-inch to play with. I do know in February, they're coming out with a Dark Archer figure, but the hood's up, so you can't really see that it's me. So what I want them to do is a Malcolm Merlyn figure in a business suit, but then also a Dark Archer with the hood down.

You've put a lot of thought into this!

Listen, I know exactly the doll company -- it's called Tonner Dolls, which make 15-inch, beautifully done figures. I would love for them to do an "Arrow" series of dolls. I think that would be awesome. They did the "Torchwood" stuff. I've got all of their heroes, Marvel and some of their DC hero ones that they've done. I did "La Cage Aux Folles" in London, and what they did was they took my Captain Jack doll, and they made a one-off Zaza character from "La Cage," for me, the character I played, in an exact replica dress that I wore on stage and it was amazing. They're really, really beautifully done, those dolls.

Tell me, what's on your professional plate outside of "Arrow?'

My sister and I are now starting on our next series of books, which I have a meeting on Monday in Los Angeles coming up. We are meeting with some production companies in regards to a TV series that I'm involved in. It's in the very early stages, but I know that The CW has said they are interested in it, and we're meeting with people on Monday about that. I do every Christmas in Scotland and Glasgow. I've got that coming up, and I've got my concert tour next year. So there's other things around that we're still working around that have already been okayed and agreed upon prior to my contractual agreement with "Arrow." So I'm still busy!

Finally, what are the sides of Malcolm that you haven't gotten to play in him that you're really looking forward to some scenes to delve into different sides of him?

I would like to delve -- and I don't know if this is going to happen -- more into the emotional side. And I'd also like to delve into his past. That's all I can say.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=56694

Stephen Amell sobre ‘Arrow,’ sus eventos para luchar contra el cáncer y ‘The Flash’
Por Jason Evans 30 Oct, 2014 10:34 am ET

Stephen Amell’s TV show, “Arrow” is in its third season, while the comic book spinoff from “Arrow,” “The Flash” is setting ratings records for The CW. Amell’s fans have also lobbied for him to play Green Arrow in DC’s upcoming Justice League film.

The actor talked with Speakeasy about life as a comic book icon.

Congrats on season three of “Arrow.”

I would say that it is everything that we expected but that wouldn’t really be true because there hasn’t been a recent history of successful comic book shows on television, with the exception of “Smallville.” Aside from the success of our show, the appearance and relative abundance of comic book properties on TV is really gratifying.

Aside from “Smallville,” comic books had a pretty spotty history on TV until “Arrow” came along. Now “Flash” is doing well and so is “Gotham.” Last season saw “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” score big ratings.

Yeah. A lot of reviews of “Arrow” at first said “This is an interesting concept but we know that comic book shows don’t work long-term on TV.” Well, that has now been proven wrong. I think the success of “Flash” and the other comic book properties is because of the quality of the material in those shows. But if we had been a bust, I don’t think any of those shows would exist. They stand on their own two feet, but I think we led the way.

We’ve heard so much in recent weeks about Marvel and DC announcing so many comic book movies over the next few years. Are you ready for a Green Arrow movie?

I am completely indifferent. First of all, wanting a movie undersells the idea that making 23 episodes a year isn’t a huge achievement. It is and I would put that degree of difficulty up against any feature film that has ever been made… except “Lord of the Rings” and that gigantic Peter Jackson-led undertaking… and maybe “Titanic.” But, other than those two movies, I’d put making 23 hours of interesting content in a TV season up against anything on the film side. It is difficult to me to want or envision an “Arrow” movie when we are shooting the 10th episode of our third season with 13 more episodes to go and in all likelihood 3 more seasons on the other side of that. I’m interested in keeping that content fresh. Once we get to the end of that road, maybe then I’ll shift my focus.

There was some talk and controversy about the fact that Grant Gustin is doing the “Flash” TV show but was not named the Flash for the “Flash” movie. If Green Arrow was going to be on screen, do you feel like it should be you?

Yeah. Of course. And I feel like it should be Grant doing the movie. But the important thing to remember is just because Grant Gustin plays the part of Barry Allen doesn’t mean Ezra Miller can’t also play Barry Allen. There can be different interpretations of the character. Anyone who is a fan of the comics knows the Flash character is one of the forces that leads to parallel universes. And who knows, they might find a fantastic actor to play Oliver Queen on the feature side who has a different take on the character. I’m certainly a departure from the typical Oliver Queen from the comic books. I just think that everybody needs to be patient with the whole thing. The fact that DC and Warner have announced all these comic book features is nothing but good for business.

It is clear that Arrow and Flash are going to be interacting quite a bit on TV. I know you are going to have some crossover episodes coming up. So, who would win in a fight?

Well we will have to wait and see, won’t we?

How would you combat somebody with super speed. We saw in that teaser promo last spring that you can’t even shoot him with an arrow because he is too fast.

Speed doesn’t equal experience. Let’s just put it that way. And I am 8 years older than Grant.

Were you surprised at all when you read the script for the premiere episode and saw that Sara Lance was going to die?

I’ve learned not to be surprised at anything on the show. Whenever a character dies on our show, my prevailing emotion is sadness because there hasn’t been a character that’s appeared on our show for any length of time that I haven’t really enjoyed working with. Caity Lotz was at the top of that list. We probably spent more time together in season two aside from maybe the time I spent with Diggle and Felicity. I was privileged to work with her, so when I find out that she is falling off a rooftop, that doesn’t sit well with me just from the standpoint of not getting to go to work with my friend any more. You wouldn’t believe the number of times in episode two in the scene where I had to close her eyes where I would stick my finger up her nose because we are good friends that way.

I know you do a lot of your own stunts and you are a workout fiend. Is there anything strange or unusual that you do to maintain those ripped abs?

No, not really. You know, there are different motivations when it comes to going to the gym and the motivation of maintaining the physique you’ve established on television and the fact that you are going to be showing it on television – if that’s not enough to motivate people then I don’t know what would. I go to every workout with the notion that it’s my job. Me being shirtless certainly isn’t the only element that’s made it successful, I don’t think its anywhere near the top of the list, but it is certainly part of the total equation and I’d be silly to think that it is not.

So, if you have an episode where you’re going to be a little more shirtless than usual, you work out extra hard that week?

Sure. I’m working out really hard right now because I wasn’t shirtless for the first few episodes of the season and then I am shirtless all the time for a long stretch.

Let’s talk about the charity effort you are launching now.

The folks at F–k Cancer approached me back in August and connected me with Represent.com. I had no idea what Represent represented. They are a really interesting, forward-thinking company that helps you design a T-shirt and then puts it up for sale to help out a charitable cause. Where I came in is, I’ve been having a lot of fun over the past ten months on Facebook interacting with fans. The first of this year I had 500,000 fans and now we are hurtling towards 3 million. Along the way, people have been really interested in charitable endeavors that I have been a part of. So, I canvassed them to see what would be the most palatable idea for a T-shirt and they wanted to see a shirt with my face with a post-it note on the forehead. We ended up selling just over 21,000 over a three-week campaign. Since that point, I’ve received so many notes from people saying “we missed our chance, can you put them back on sale?” I wanted to maintain the exclusivity, but it is for a tremendous cause so I said, “Let’s put it back up for 24 hours,” and that’s happening Thursday night at midnight.

Do you worry that the F–k Cancer message is a little profane or does the edginess and the harsh attitude toward cancer really sell it?

I think that it is 90% something that sells it and 10% something that holds it back. But cancer is such a horrible thing that it works. I have received notes from people who are more conservative by nature or, because we ship worldwide, people who live in far more conservative parts of the world and they said, “We would love to suppose something like this that does not drop an F-bomb right on the cover.” I’m going to work with Represent.com in the future, we don’t know what we are going to do yet, but I can assure people there will not be an expletive on the T-shirt.

What is coming up on ‘Arrow’?

I’ll give you something for episodes that are going to come after our fall run, stuff in our winter run. I have never, in my history with “Arrow,” had as light a schedule as I have had for the past several weeks… ever! It’s been very strange, let’s just put it that way.

Are we going to get to see you fight R’as al Ghul?

One would hope. I normally fight the big bad of the year. If it turns out he is the big bad, but I don’t think that has been printed, that R’as al Ghul is the big bad this year. I don’t remember anyone announcing that. But, typically I get to fight our big heavies so hopefully I get to fight him because that would be something very iconic for the show.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/10/ ... interview/

- Productor de Arrow revela secretos sobre Ra’s al Ghul (MTVNews):

Productor de Arrow revela secretos sobre Ra’s al Ghul
Por Alex Zalben 30/10/2014

It’s been teased nearly since the beginning of The CW’s “Arrow,” and now, finally, as of last night’s (October 29) episode, Ra’s al Ghul is finally here. The villain may be most familiar to viewers from his portrayal by Liam Neeson in “Batman Begins,” but actor Matt Nable is bringing a very, very different Ra’s to TV.

“In our casting process, we didn’t want to go with the willowy, sinewy Ra’s that was established in the comics,” Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim told MTV News over the phone about the show’s take on Ra’s.

Though Liam Neeson is far from the comic book depiction of Ra’s himself, Nable is on an entirely different level. The action star, probably best known for going toe-to-toe with Vin Diesel in “Riddick” is, how you do say it… Jacked. And that’s by design.

“We wanted someone who would be a formidable physical presence,” Guggenheim continued. “You can get away with that live sinewy Ra’s when it’s being drawn by Neal Adams, but when you actually have to put something in front of a camera, we thought it was better to have someone who added a good physical presence to that.”

Ra’s, for those not up to speed on “Arrow” or Neal Adams’ classic “Batman” comics featuring the character, leads the deadly League of Assassins and is possibly responsible for the shocking death of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) – a mystery that has taken up the first four episodes of the season. But other than a quick shot of his face last night, and a few terrified mentions of the character here and there, we don’t yet know what this Ra’s is capable of.

Turns out, it may be more than The Arrow (Stephen Amell) and his growing team of heroes can handle.

“He’s definitely the main antagonist of the season,” Guggenheim noted. “He’s responsible for a lot of the events that kick off the year, and reverberate throughout the season. He’s our Big Bad, and he’s a very different kind of Big Bad than we’ve had, Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson.”

The first season of “Arrow” found Oliver Queen coming into conflict with his best friend’s Dad, but not because he wouldn’t let them hang out and go to the movies. Instead, it turns out that Merlyn (John Barrowman) was the villainous Dark Archer, trained by the League of Assassins and hell bent on blowing up just a little bit of Starling City.

In the second season, the conflict came home as Oliver went mano-a-mano with Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), who had his own personal reasons for wanting to burn Starling to the ground.

With Ra’s though, things are about to go global.

“Ra’s exists above it all,” Guggenheim noted. “He’s so much more powerful than Malcolm or Slade. He has so much deeper reach, and he has a much larger organization at his beck and call. He’s just a very different kind of foe.”

http://www.mtv.com/news/1981201/arrow-r ... uggenheim/

3.07 “Draw Back Your Bow”: AUSTIN BUTLER (“THE CARRIE DIARIES”) SE UNE AL ELENCO COMO CHASE; OLIVER LIDIA CON CARRIE CUTTER — Oliver (Stephen Amell) debe detener a una obsesionada asesina en serie, Carrie Cutter (la estrella invitada Amy Gumenick), quien está convencida de que The Arrow es su amor verdadero y no se detendrá ante nada para llamar su atención. Desafortunadamente, su forma de llamar su atención es matar a gente. Mientras tanto, Ray (Brandon Routh) le pide a Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) que sea su cita para una cena de negocios con clientes importantes. Thea (Willa Holland) hace audiciones para nuevos disc jockeys para el Verdant y conoce a Chase (Austin Butler), un descarado DJ con quien inmediatamente se enfrenta. Rob Hardy dirige el episodio escrito por Wendy Mericle & Beth Schwartz (#307)

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-3-7-d ... -bow/19772

Ya tenemos el título y créditos de un nuevo capítulo gracias a Marc Guggenheim:



https://twitter.com/mguggenheim/status/ ... 0806041601

El episodio 3.11 de 'Arrow' tendrá por título "Midninght City". Está escrito por Wendy Mericle & Ben Sokolowski y está dirigido por Nick Copus.

Emily Bett Rickards adelanta los orígenes de Felicity Smoak y el futuro de Olicity
Por Natalie Abrams 4 Nov, 2014 at 9:20PM

Felicity Smoak may never get her own crucible on the island, but she will finally get an origin story during this week’s episode of Arrow.

Not only will the show flash back to Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) hacker days at MIT—which is tied to a virus plaguing Starling City in present day—but we’ll finally get a look into her home life when her mother Donna (Charlotte Ross) comes to visit. “Mom comes to town and then everything breaks down from there,” Rickards teases from the Vancouver set. What’s in store for Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) go-to IT gal? Get the scoop:

What was your reaction when you found out Felicity was getting an origin story?
I was so excited. The two things I really, really wanted to see in the season—for my own selfish reasons of loving Felicity so much—were seeing her parents and her apartment, and they delivered.

Let’s start with her mother. What brings Donna to Starling City?
Felicity unintentionally brings Donna to Starling because Donna just really wants to see her daughter, and Donna just doesn’t have the filter to call and say that first. Her mom’s like, “I really miss my daughter. My daughter doesn’t call enough. I’m just going to show up and it’s going to be great.” And Felicity’s like, “Not going to be great.” Felicity saves the city for a living, so that’s a very hard job for a living.

What kind of relationship does she have with her mom?
A flaky one, but a loving one.

How different are these two women?
They’re completely different people. She’s flamboyant, extreme, nurturing, understanding on an emotional level, but a little airy. I would say 99.997% different, but their emotional intellect and nurturing ability, their willingness to accept everyone and non-judgmental personality [are the same]. Felicity doesn’t realize until the end of the episode that those are the qualities that her mother has that she taught her, and she has a new found appreciation for who her mother is.

How does she initially feel about her mother?
Embarrassed. A little bit burdened by her mother.

What kind of interaction will Donna have with the members of Team Arrow?
She has a run-in and a very nice meet cute with the team. They definitely all smile and think it’s hilarious. The day we filmed that was the first day Charlotte was on set. We just had a blast because she’s very giving as an actress. She nailed the character. It was really fun for all of us to throw a different dynamic in there and get thrown off our feet a little bit as characters. She doesn’t know the secret. She doesn’t get involved with the secret, which I think is important for her safety. Her mom proves to be a distraction, so does Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). Keeping secrets has become very much a burden for her in that episode. We get to see why she deals with things in the way she does to a certain extent.

Will we get any hints about who her father might be?
No, but we get some history on the weight of her father leaving and how that played in her life and her mother’s life. We get a little bit of a conversation about that.

We’re going to see Felicity at MIT. How different was she then?
Completely. She hadn’t found who she was yet. We get to see her in her college years, so she hadn’t stepped into the Felicity we see now. She was still trying to hide.

She was also dating a fellow hacker (Nolan Funk). What was their relationship like?
They were in love in college and it ended because of a tragic technical mistake they both made. It ends pretty sad and brokenhearted.

What was it like filming those flashback scenes?
They were very rewarding for me as an actor to film. Getting to know that side of her and her past was really important to me. Getting to play her on a different level, in a sense, is pretty cool. Getting to play a younger version of her figuring out where her heart really lies, that was all very important.

In present day, a virus is attacking Starling City that Felicity actually created. How does she feel about that?
Guilt and panic. Danger sets in.

What’s the state of Felicity and Oliver’s relationship right now?
They are so much more than friends, but they’re not a couple. They’re not in a relationship, but they’re in a relationship all the time. They care really deeply for each other on more than just a platonic level. There’s a deep love there. There’s a very deep emotional connection you don’t really get with everyone. It’s special. It should be treasured, but it’s also scary and a little inconvenient.

Is there hope for Olicity ‘shippers?
There will always be hope for the Olicity ‘shippers to a certain extent. But Sara’s (Caity Lotz) death is still very fresh. Having to take a lot of emotional responsibility for it doesn’t leave much emotional liberty for other things, like romance and fun. They need something good to happen to them really soon.

Will we see Felicity and Ray Palmer take the next step in their budding relationship?
We get to see them together quite a bit more, not just them working together, but them taking on new goals together to work on. I really appreciate their relationship because it’s not all about being sad and burdened all the time. When things are hard, he makes it light, which is what she used to do and she appreciates that.

Are we going to see them kiss?
They have a little bit of spark-ness that you’ll enjoy. You’ll get a sparky, lustiness. I don’t know how else to explain it.

Did you make out with Superman?
[Plays coy] I don’t know. [Laughs]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/11/04/arrow ... a3419e9472

Emily Bett Rickards lanza una gran primicia sobre la "Devastadora" vida amorosa de Felicity en Arrow
Por Sydney Bucksbaum 05 Nov, 2014 11:00 AM PST

When we first saw the photos of Arrow's Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) with jet black hair, heavy eyeliner and the darkest, grungiest clothes we've ever seen, we actually did a spit take.

Gone were the bright and tight mini-dresses and covetable high heels that we've lusted after for over two seasons, and all we could muster up was a great, big, "Huh?!"

We knew that this goth Felicity was from flashbacks to the hacker's past in college, but still this was such a departure from the goofy-yet-sweet Team Arrow member we all know and love, and according to Emily Bett Rickards, that's exactly the point.

"Back in college, she just hadn't found herself yet," Rickards told E! News. "She was testing the waters and trying out different people and appearances and where we see her in present day is who she decided was where her heart was. We see her as this goth back then because that is the person who she thought she was before she found herself. When we see her in this chapter of her life we'll see her almost playing a role because that's the person she thought she was."

But tonight's Felicity-centric episode will show more of her past than just her edgy fashion choices. Get ready to meet Felicity's ex-boyfriend, Cooper (Glee's Nolan Funk).

"It was young love. They were so in love," Rickards said. "They had a deep connection. He was Felicity's first experience with love and having a home in somebody else and that gets torn apart."

The reason we haven't heard Felicity talk about her ex to the current men in her life like Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) is because things with Cooper didn't end on good terms. In fact, their breakup was "devastating."

"It was definitely a turning point in her life," Rickards said of the breakup. "It was full of turmoil and it was a loss. But that's all I can say about it."

And when we asked whether or not Felicity has seen Cooper since college, Rickards froze.

"Ooh. That's a…great…question!" she said with a laugh. "No, she hasn't....You might have hit a jackpot! But I'm not going to give it to you."

So why, after over two seasons, are we finally getting a glimpse into Team Arrow's hacker's past?

"We'll see a connection between the flashbacks and what's happening now because we find out that this virus attacking the city came from Felicity," Rickards said. "She wrote it five years ago and now it's taking over the city. Her flashbacks show her creation of it and why and why not? She didn't know it could be so dangerous."

And Oliver and Diggle didn't know their good-natured computer expert could be so dangerous either.

"It definitely opens their eyes and it's a hard pill to swallow," Rickards said. "But at the same time we all know that Felicity isn't inherently evil. There's not any blame. It's more of a shock and confusion because she can't fix it right away like she does with everything else. There's not an easy solution to the problem at hand. And if the creator can't find an easy solution, then they have a huge problem."

Does the re-emergence of Felicity's computer virus also mean her ex will show up in Starling City and have something to do with the attack? Not exactly.

"What you'll find out is that there are more people in the flashbacks besides Cooper," Rickards explained. "Keep in mind she had a whole life even though he was a main part."

Someone from Felicity's past who will show up in Starling City is her mother, Donna (Charlotte Ross).

"Oh boy, her mom is just a bundle of different energy," Rickards said with a laugh. "She is just 360 degrees different. You'll see her come to Starling City from a…well, I wouldn't say a utopia but it's definitely a lot lighter of a life than Felicity's. Felicity has been burdened in the last couple of years and has been dealing with a lot of things and different emotions, both by her choice and not. So we'll see the comparison of how that's taken a toll on her when you have someone as electric as her mother right beside her. It's definitely a contrast and it's a really great dynamic to see the similarities between them like their nurturing ability. That's where Felicity gets it from."

As for why Felicity's mom is popping back into her daughter's life so suddenly, Rickards laughed.

"I think that's just the point! Honestly!" she said. "Her mom doesn't really have that filter of, ‘Oh, I should have called first!'"

Since Felicity is going to be introducing her mother to her new boss Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), does that mean their work relationship is starting to grow into something more? Especially since Ray is going to be asking Felicity out on a date?!

"Oh, their date," Rickards said. "Their date is in concealment of a work trip but I think it is accepted on the terms of testing the waters to a certain extent, because they still have to be a team after. It's really fun."

But what does that mean for Olicity?! Fans have been dying for any Olicity moments they can get, and unfortunately in the past few episodes, those have been few and far between.

"There just hasn't been time!" Rickards said. "There is never any time in Starling City. We're always running out of time and that's why there's an overlook of their relationship and their omission of talking about what they are, but it underlies everything. But every once in a while they'll remember they have that scar there, that open wound if you will, that needs either healing or banishment."

http://uk.eonline.com/news/595076/emily ... e-on-arrow?

Emily Bett Rickards sobre las 'cicatrices' del pasado de Felicity y si usará disfraz en el futuro
Por Leanne Aguilera 05 Nov, 2014 10:45 AM PST

6 0StumbleUpon0

The CW

It's time for the Smoak to clear.

You know her as the bubbly, yet brilliant, hacker on Arrow, but Felicity has a deep, dark past that has been kept under wraps for the past three seasons — until now. On tonight's all new episode of the smash CW series, fans are finally getting a peek into the mysterious life of pre-Team Arrow Felicity, and let's just say her look is not the only thing that has drastically changed.

ETonline recently chatted with the incredibly talented Emily Bett Rickards and after getting the scoop on which hunky superhero Felicity should choose, we dove right into her mommy-issues, the "scars" of her past, and whether or not she'd like to see Miss Smoak suit up in the future.

"I'm excited for fans to see when she sort of wanted to become a hero," Rickards said of tonight's highly anticipated flashback episode. "We get to see sort of where some of her scars originated from." (An interesting choice of words given that in season two, Felicity felt left out of Team Arrow due to the fact that she had no physical scares on her body to wear as a badge of honor — well until she got shot, of course.)

While Felicity has only briefly mentioned her tumultuous relationship with her mother, we now finally get to meet Donna (played by NYPD Blue's Charlotte Ross) when she takes a break from her cocktail waitress job in Vegas to pay her daughter a visit.

"They're so different," Rickards stressed. "But they do have one thing in common: They both care very deeply. I think that's where her emotional intellect and her emotional IQ comes from. I think it's important to realize that and I think Felicity realizes it in this upcoming episode."

Although we're bummed that the mysteries surrounding the identity of Felicty's father will not be explored we're excited to get to know more about the woman who raised our beloved character.

Onto the secret stuff: What would happen if Donna discovered her daughter's dangerous night job as a member of Team Arrow? "I think her mom would be a fan-girl about it!" Rickards said with a laugh. "I think she'd be really excited and proud, but also realizing the dangers that she's putting herself in."

The 23-year-old actress continued, "I think Felicity would never want her mom to know because of the worry it would create and the stress it could put on her, so I don't think she'll find out and if she does, it'll be by mistake."

When the plans for tonight's' episode were originally unveiled at ComicCon, the initial title of the hour was "Oracle" — a tease that send fans into a full-on frenzy due to the fact that many have been speculating that our former IT gal could evolve into the beloved comic book heroine of the same name. Since then the episode has been changed to, "The Secret Origins of Felicity Smoak."

Rickards explained that although she's optimistic for what Felicity's future holds, she happy with her character's current pace. "I like the fact that Felicity is Felicity," she spilled. "I kind of want her to be the only normal one — well obviously she's not normal by any means because she's extremely dedicated and I think that's admirable — but I think that she's inspiring. I like the way she's growing now."

But that's not to say that Felicity would turn down the opportunity to step up and kick some ass if/when that happens. "I mean I don’t think she'd be opposed to it," she explained. "It's just more if the timing is right. She's kind of already a hero in a different sense, but I like where she is and I like where she's going — wherever that may be."


http://www.etonline.com/tv/153477_arrow ... index.html

Emily Bett Rickards habla sobre la S3 de ARROW, la reacción del elenco a la “Felicity Gótica”, la relación de su personaje con Barry Allen y Más
Por Christina Radish 05 Nov, 2014

In what has become typical Arrow fashion, the action for Season 3 is big and the personal drama is even bigger. Team Arrow is facing new villains and new heartache, all while trying to recover from the death of one of their own. In Episode 305, “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” a cyber attack brings Starling City to its knees, and Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) are pushed to their limits to contain the destruction. And of course, life gets even more complicated for Felicity when her mother, Donna (guest star Charlotte Ross), stops by for a surprise visit.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Emily Bett Rickards talked about how cool it is to get an episode named after her character, how Felicity’s past turmoil and troubles surprised her, getting to explore Felicity’s goth period, how nobody recognized her in the hair and make-up, Felicity’s college relationship, the dynamic with her mother, the future for Felicity and Oliver, why she needs the fun and light she has with Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), and the importance of Felicity and Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) friendship. Check out what she had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Collider: How cool is it to get an episode that’s not only named after your character, but where you also get to learn both about her backstory and her present, with her mother showing up?

EMILY BETT RICKARDS: It’s a gift. Honestly, it was like being presented with a golden ticket. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s like the Pandora’s box that you know is going to be great. It’s the utopian Pandora’s box. I feel really lucky and fortunate. I’ve been wanting to know more about it. I can’t get to know more about her, all the time, and I’m craving to know more about her, all the time. It’s hard until you actually get a shot on paper. It’s nice to have her closer to me.

What most surprised you about what you learned about Felicity from this episode?

RICKARDS: I guess her trouble surprised me. I always look at her as someone who helps me. She just is more wise, and she’s so honest and so present. That’s what she re-solidifies, in teaching me and in teaching all of us, hopefully. I’ve always pictured her a certain way, but then I got to know more of her turmoil and her troubles and I know why now. I know why she’s like that.

Felicity has a very specific sense of style in the present. What was it like to explore a very different look for her?

RICKARDS: That was awesome for me. It also told me that she went through other phases. She just wasn’t always this person. We all tried things when we were in high school or college. We all grow up at different times, or find ourselves at different times. Felicity finds what her heart is, in the flashbacks of this episode, which is cool.

Who in the cast had the funniest reaction to seeing goth Felicity?

RICKARDS: This is great. I was dressed as goth Felicity, and we had a sexual harassment seminar with the cast and crew from Arrow and The Flash. There were hundreds of people. I had just gotten off set and was stepping in late, and no one knew it was me. We had to sign a paper and I was like, “No, I was definitely there!” I was trying to say hi to some of my friends on The Flash, who do hair and make-up and who I don’t get to see all the time, and they didn’t know it was me. Nobody knew it was me. That was really fun. It was fun to be in that sort of disguise. The wig was really itchy, really heavy and really hot. I have such appreciation now for actors who have to do that, all of the time. As much fun as it is to transform and have it take you over, it was definitely uncomfortable. It’s like wearing heels on your head.

What can you say about her past relationship with Cooper (Nolan Funk), and how was it to play those scenes?

RICKARDS: It was nice to experience her in young love. While they were dating, it wasn’t so weighted. It was just about being with this person who fit with her and who matched her personality. They were in college, and it was feisty and lusty. They were discovering and growing together. It ended in a devastating way, which we get to find out about in the episode.

What can you say about the dynamic between Felicity and her mother (Charlotte Ross)?

RICKARDS: They dynamic is so interesting. I loved playing that because they’re so different. Their energies are just completely different. She’s very electric, and Felicity is definitely embarrassed by her. That’s something that she gets over in this episode, I hope. Maybe not fully, but to a certain extent there’s acceptance. She ends up accepting her mother for who she is, at the end of it, which is what her mother has taught her to do. I think Felicity realizes that the acceptance she has for other people sometimes comes later for the people we love the most, or who taught us that lesson, growing up. I think that’s really important.

Will we see similarities between them, or are they glaringly different?

RICKARDS: There are definitely similarities in who they are as women and who they are to other people. The nurturing philosophy of what they both symbolize, I find very similar.

With things between all of Team Arrow being more intense and heavy since the death of Sara (Caity Lotz), because everything just has more weight now, how will that continue to affect Felicity and Oliver (Stephen Amell) this season?

RICKARDS: I think Sara’s death goes deeper than how it just affects Olicity, romance wise. I just think it affects them so deeply, in the sense that death is closer to home than we thought, and we already thought it was really close. Every time someone in your life dies, you realize you’re not invincible and you have to wonder if we’re celebrating life or if we’re mourning a death. I think that takes a lot more energy and thought and care than it does to put it towards the energy of their relationship dynamic. They’re working for a common goal, which can also bring people together, as well.

With so many fans rooting for Felicity and Oliver, does it feel like it’s an uphill battle for anyone else that comes into her life?

RICKARDS: I think she’s rooting for it, too, but at the same time, she’s not going to pine. That’s where the confusion comes in. As much as she loves him and adores him, he’s got things that maybe she doesn’t want to have to deal with, on a romantic level. As a friend, she might be benefitting him more. When you get involved romantically with someone, sometimes you end up overlooking things that you could help people with better, as a friend. It’s almost sacrificing that, or being a little bit selfish. In the end, it’s about following your own heart. Sometimes that’s hard to listen to.

Is it fun to play the dynamic between Felicity and Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) because they are lighter together?

RICKARDS: It’s more fun and light, and there’s not this heavy weight on it, all the time. That’s really important for Felicity right now. As far as she knows, he’s presenting himself as completely transparent, to a certain extent, and that’s what she’s looking for.

Felicity and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) have great chemistry with each other and they understand each other in ways that no one else does. Do you think that will always keep them connected, and keep open the possibility for cross-overs to happen?

RICKARDS: I do. I think it will stay open. In a perfect world, they are matched for each other. They even say, “We’re perfectly perfect for each other.” It’s interesting that you don’t always fall in love with someone that you’re perfectly perfect for. But I think it keeps the door open, especially because they need each other as friends.

The scenes where Felicity had to talk to and about Sara with her dead body just laying there were just heart-breaking. How difficult was that to do?

RICKARDS: Any time we can get Caity Lotz back on the show, I will strive to be in scenes with her. She is one of the most wonderful women I’ve ever met in my life. If I get to act with her, I’m happy, even if she can’t talk to me.

http://collider.com/emily-bett-rickards ... interview/

Emily Bett Rickards Pone a Felicity en el Centro de Atención
Por Damian Holbrook 05 Nov, 2014 01:02 PM ET

Ever since she first logged on as Queen Consolidated IT expert Felicity Smoak, Emily Bett Rickards has been an Arrow fan favorite. In this week's episode, Team Arrow's trusted tech genius and Oliver's semi-love interest takes center stage in an episode that reveals the truth about her past, introduces her cocktail-waitress mom (NYPD Blue alum Charlotte Ross), and gives us a great excuse to chat up the impossibly lovable Canadian scene stealer.

TV Guide Magazine: This episode flashes back to Felicity's time at MIT. What was she like in college?
Emily Bett Rickards: She was very smart, smarter than what college was going to teach her. And she was in love, but that became a troubled relationship. Yeah...she learned a very hard lesson that nobody should have to learn.

TV Guide Magazine: Sounds dark.
Rickards: What's really important is we get to see her life change — that point when she decided she wanted to be a hero. And we get to see the origin of her scars. We pick her up at a really big life moment.

TV Guide Magazine: Felicity and Oliver (Stephen Amell) have pretty much been on pause since the death of their ally Sara (aka the Black Canary). Is any forward movement coming up?
Rickards: I think something pushes them forward in every episode, but I don't know if it's forward in the way you mean. [Laughs] I think their relationship will change and get deeper. Are they open to talking about dating again? No. But I find what isn't being said interesting.

TV Guide Magazine: How have fans reacted to Olicity's date?
Rickards: The fans are great. They are so excited! I hope I'm giving back enough on Twitter. We've been busy shooting. My Twitter game is not what it used to be! [Laughs]

TV Guide Magazine: Can we talk about how much fun Felicity and Brandon Routh's CEO Ray Palmer are together?
Rickards: Brandon is charming as hell! Their chemistry and compatibility is so different [from Felicity and Oliver's] and it's supercool. I think everyone in the writers' room is excited about it, too. They see it and they know it's good and that viewers are going to be mad at how much they like it!

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Arrow-Emily ... 88743.aspx

La historia pasada de Felicity explicará 'por qué ella tiene una cicatriz'
Por Jean Bentley 05 Nov, 2014

Emily Bett Rickards loves Felicity Smoak as much as you do. The "Arrow" actress tells Zap2it that her character has become one of her best friends, so she was delighted to learn more about Felicity's background in "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak."

"I feel like my relationship with her has grown so much. I really love her," Rickards says. "She's one of my best friends, so just getting to know that part of her and having it solidified is really cool for me as an actor. To know how much she means to the story is really cool."

But aside from the fact that she's Jewish, from Las Vegas and the smartest person on Team Arrow, what else do we know about her? You'll find out in Wednesday's (Nov. 5) episode, Rickards says.

"You get to see where she gets her maternal, caring quality from -- she gets that from her mother. Even though they're completely different human beings, they share that one strand, which is why they're related and why they're similar. You get to see why she became who she is and why she wants to be a hero. That's what we get to figure out."

That includes meeting the mother Rickards mentioned, played by Charlotte Ross, and her college ex-boyfriend, played by Nolan Funk.

"He was such a monumental part in her life, as first loves are, and it was destructive but it was also a great learning curve," Rickards says. Through her interactions with Funk's character, you'll see how much Felicity has grown as a person since her first love.

"We see her learn a lot about herself in the first season of 'Arrow,' [and 'The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak'] gives us some really strong insight into her ability in relationships, where she stands. We get to see kind of why she has a scar."

http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/arrow_emily ... ak-2014-11

John Barrowman sobre la Manipulación de Malcolm y el descubrir el nuevo héroe de acción gay
Por Laura Prudom 05 Noviembre, 2014 | 08:15AM PT

John Barrowman has made a career out of stealing scenes, from his iconic role as Captain Jack Harkness on “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” to the villainous Malcolm Merlyn on The CW’s “Arrow.” As a newly promoted series regular for the superhero show’s third season, fans can look forward to seeing much more of Barrowman’s calculating character, who is currently training his daughter, Thea (Willa Holland) in all the tricks of the trade Malcolm learned from the League of Assassins, unbeknownst to Thea’s brother, Oliver (Stephen Amell).

Variety recently spoke to Barrowman about Malcolm’s true feelings for Thea and Oliver, whether the unflappable assassin is worried about the blood bounty placed on his head by League leader Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable), and why he thinks U.S. networks seem hesitant to center a show around a gay action hero even after the success of “Torchwood.”

Oliver and Malcolm had a very different kind of encounter from their usual showdowns in last week’s episode. Is Malcolm feeling fairly confident about throwing Oliver off his scent with Thea and assuaging his doubts about Sara’s murder at this point?
Malcolm is taking control of the situation because he knows that he might be in need of help, and he knows he’s got a threat that’s out there, which is Ra’s al Ghul. That’s what really worries him the most, because Ra’s is the one that’s as powerful as Malcolm, that could kill Malcolm, so he needs to get a team around him in order to help fight this. But what he’s also doing is showing that he’s also got some kind of emotional connection, not only to Thea, but also to Oliver. That’s one thing that I’ve always been interested in playing since the very beginning, since I started on the show and mentioned it to the writers — that Oliver’s the son that Malcolm always wanted over Tommy (Colin Donnell); that was clear, and he states that a few times. It’s interesting, the way he’s doing it, because he’s always used money and power to manipulate, and now he’s using emotion, and that’s what’s different for Malcolm.

Malcolm seems like the kind of man who doesn’t generally let much bother him. How concerned is he about Ra’s al Ghul blood bounty on him?
He’s very concerned; he’s exceptionally concerned — there’s stuff coming up where you will see how concerned he is by the actions that he takes. That is something that we’ve not seen from Malcolm, because we must remember that Ra’s, he’s the head of the League, so he could be as strong or stronger than Malcolm. This is what we as the fans don’t know, but also, Malcolm knows what extent the League will go to, to get rid of someone they don’t want. So yes, he’s not afraid, he’s concerned. But there is fear within that concern.

How much danger would you say Thea is in, given the League’s vendetta against Malcolm?
Well, if she’s connected in any way to Malcolm and it’s found out, she’s in grave danger. And this is hypothetical, but then the easiest way to get to Malcolm is through Thea… which we did last week because Nyssa (Katrina Law) found out, and what does she do? Boom, she captures her and hangs her upside down. [Laughs.] So that’s one of Malcolm’s fears, because the one thing he promised Thea is, “I will always protect you.” And I think that’s what scares him the most — not what can happen to him, but what can happen to Thea.

How genuine are his paternal feelings for Thea, given how many of his relationships have been based on manipulation and secrecy in the past?
That’s why he’s being completely honest with her in everything… apart from one thing, and I’ll leave it at that. [Laughs.] He’s committed, he’s a dad, and although he is a part of the League of Assassins and he is Malcolm Merlyn, “The Magician,” he is still a father. Although you may not have seen it yet, he does mourn Tommy’s loss, he does mourn his wife’s loss. He has known about Thea since the beginning; he loved Moira (Susanna Thompson) — everybody he has lost has been because he’s tried to manipulate [them] and do things by power and money. Now he’s going to try it differently because he doesn’t want to lose any more people.

Malcolm had to keep a lot of his activities hidden from Tommy. Does he see Thea as a kind of do-over, a chance to mold a child in his image?
I think that’s part [of it], but also I think there’s reasons as to why he had to leave, and there’s reasons why Tommy was not trained by Malcolm. There’s a lot of good stuff coming up…

Thea and Malcolm are playing a dangerous game, hiding the extent of their relationship from Oliver — is there anything you can tease about how that might come to a head?
[Laughs.] I can’t, so all I’m going to say is, it’s something I have wanted as a fan for a long time.

Like Malcolm, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) is another influential businessman with big plans for Starling City; are their paths going to cross any time soon?
I hope so, because I want to slap him. I know Brandon quite well and I think he’s a lovely man but the character, me as Malcolm, I wanna slap him. I think Malcolm would find him a bit irritating. Malcolm would be like, “you’re hiding something, buddy. This confidence is wonderful, but you’re hiding something.” It might not be that, but I think that’s the way Malcolm would approach it. Or, depending on what the scene is, Malcolm might find him totally intriguing, like, “Okay, I can work with this guy. He’s good cop, I’m bad cop.” This season, one thing is that Malcolm is open to anything.

“Torchwood” is the only mainstream show I can think of that features an openly gay or bisexual male action hero — even a decade after the character made his debut on “Doctor Who.” What do you think of the current TV landscape, and do you think we’re approaching a time when a U.S. network will actually take that step?
People aren’t dumb and people want to see themselves represented on television. You’ve got shows that are still coming out, and I love the fact that American television does have, per capita, the most gay men — and gay women — represented on television, but they’re all a stereotype, they’re all the same. And I don’t mean this in a bad way, but [the gay characters are] all kind of effeminate, and we’re not all like that. And that’s one thing about “Torchwood” that broke the mold — he was a man who liked men, he was an action hero, and that’s why Captain Jack has become so popular, because people grabbed on to it. And I think there will be a network that will take that risk and make that step and it’s gonna pay off immensely for them, and when they do, good on them. But take the risk — that’s what we did with “Torchwood” and “Doctor Who,” right in the very beginning of the series, and by god, it paid off.

Do you think it will require a cable network to take that first step before a broadcast network?
As long as there are advertisers who are concerned about one group of people rather than the whole group of people, we will be restricted in what we can put on certain shows, because I know certain shows have been boycotted because of some of the choices they’ve made. So yes, it’s going to be left up to a cable network, and that’s why the cable networks are doing so phenomenally well, and I say this as a producer because I produce most of the stuff I do now in the U.K., and so I put stuff on networks. We take risks, we do things that are different as a production company, and the one thing that the cable networks do here is they take risks, and it pays off for them. You’ve clear examples of that with things like “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “American Horror Story” — you’ve got stuff that really takes a risk.

I know that “The Flash” is featuring at least two gay characters this season — David Singh (Patrick Sabongui) and Hartley Rathaway, aka the Pied Piper (Andy Mientus) — and I appreciate that executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg clearly think about being inclusive.
They do. We need more producers like Andrew and Greg and Marc Guggenheim, because they’re the ones who are going to change the face of television. I don’t want to sound like “oh, I’ve done this,” but myself and others like Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, we took a risk when we did the stuff with “Doctor Who.” They took more of a risk in it than I did, because I was just the actor, but we need other producers… There’s another generation who don’t care who other people sleep with.

Aside from “Arrow,” what else have you got coming up?
I’m going off for Christmas to do my big theater show, my big pantomime show that I do in Glasgow, Scotland, for 6000 people a day. I’ve got a concert coming up next year, and my autobiography, “Anything Goes,” has just been released on Amazon. For a lot of Americans who don’t really know me further than “Torchwood” or “Doctor Who,” it’s a complete open book of who I am and my family and my life.

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/arrow-j ... 201348243/

Emily Bett Rickards: 'Me puse triste al saber lo triste que había estado Felicity'
Por Matt Webb Mitovich / 5 November 2014, 7:25 AM PST

Tonight at 8/7, The CW’s Arrow will reveal “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” as the superhero drama delves into the quippy computer whiz’s complicated past.

TVLine grabbed a few minutes this week with Emily Bett Rickards (right after she had filmed a “draining,” “sad moment” for Felicity, hmm) to preview this long-awaited deep-dive, reflect on the “Olicity” break-up and tease the big Arrow/Flash crossover event.

TVLINE | Who do you think anticipated this episode more, you or your fans?
Oh, me. Me. Yeah. I mean, the fans of the show have been anticipating it more since I’ve filmed it, but I’ve been craving it since Day 1, so I was really, really excited.

TVLINE | It must be a great tool as an actress, to have that extra information to work with.
You get to have that information, but being able to actually work that information and rehearse and act with other people, the other characters… You fall in love with it. That’s the joy of it, and that’s why we “crazy people” do what we do!

TVLINE | What most surprised you about Felicity’s past?
Her deep turmoil. I always thought that she was this light person that was now coming into this world of trouble. I knew that she had heartache in her life, from different areas, but now I respect it more. Now that I know and have felt it…. I just love her so much, and I was very sad to know how sad she had been.

TVLINE | Felicity previously hadn’t spoken highly of her mother. When Donna (played by NYPD Blue‘s Charlotte Ross) shows up, is there some sort of lingering tension or a grudge between them…?
Not a grudge. She’s quite embarrassed by her mother, because she is this whirlwind opposite of whom Felicity is. Within the episode, getting to see her mother again, she learns how to accept her, and I think that’s very important.

TVLINE | Are there any references to Felicity’s mysterious father during their exchanges?
No. A lot of people are wanting that but… [Reconsidering her answer] Oh… Grrrr…. Sort of…? There’s the weight of how that family dynamic would have been, but you guys don’t get any, you know, “Daddy gold.” [Laughs]

TVLINE | Outside of Felicity, does anybody have a specific reaction to her mother?
Well, she does get introduced to people in Felicity’s present day life, and those people…. Donna presents herself as likeable, which is interesting for Felicity, because she doesn’t think she likes her mother. She loves her mother, but she’s like, “Oh god, this is my mother.” But yeah, there are characters that smile when they meet her.

TVLINE | What can you tell us about what Nolan Funk (Glee) is doing in the episode, as Felicity’s ex?
We get to see him in his college years, and we get to see Felicity in love. We get to see young college love and that whole game.

TVLINE | Young brunette love. Have you ever been so brunette in your life?
I have been a brunette! I went to an acting school for four months and I had very, very dark air. My mom’s natural hair color is black, but she’s sort of a blonde-y redhead now so… no one believes me!

TVLINE | I have to say, there’s a certain something about the brunette….
I know! I’m not opposed, I’m not opposed….

TVLINE | In one of the photos from this episode, Felicity looks very distraught, Ray Palmer is nearby…. Will there be some bonding? Will they share a real moment, finally?
That’s going to be expected to come, and yes, he’s going to be sort of a transparency in her life, perhaps be her polygraph, as she is for everybody else, which I find very refreshing for her.

TVLINE | In your mind, why did Felicity go to Central City last week?
You know what, I think that time and space was needed, from Starling City, from Oliver, from all this “stuff.”

TVLINE | But was she also looking to suss out the Barry situation?
That was definitely part of it, but I don’t believe that she would have gone if things hadn’t reached this point in Starling City. The death of Sara, the drama with Oliver…. Even just having a break to go somewhere with more daylight! [Laughs]

TVLINE | Speaking of Oliver, in the season premiere you had that terrific “break-up” scene with Stephen [Amell]. How satisfying was that for you as an actor?
That was one of the best moments. As an actor, you’re just like, “Yes. This is what I live for. This destruction, this release.” It’s therapeutic in a way. I really like working with those scenes where you get to take moments, because we work fast all the time. Having the chance to take a moment in a scene is very appreciated by me as an actor.

TVLINE | What can we expect from the two-night The Flash/Arrow crossover event [airing Dec. 2 and 3]?
The shows are sort of sharing a villain, so we are trying to track down someone that leads us to both cities, and both teams have to work together. There is danger, and there are new dynamics. I mean, Felicity gets to work with Caitlin, which is always very, very fun. Two women of that intelligence caliber working in what’s still a “man’s world” is very satisfying as an actor, and as a friend [of Danielle Panabaker].

http://tvline.com/2014/11/05/arrow-seas ... backstory/

Emily Bett Rickards sobre el reinventar a Felicity, los amores tóxicos y los pretendientes a superhéroes
Por Philiana Ng 6:00 AM PST 05/11/2014

Arrow dives into that question with "The Origin of Felicity Smoak," an episode that reveals a shade of the MIT genius previously unseen, one of a much darker variety. Long in the works, the episode digs into Felicity's recent past — five years to be exact — after a cyber attack decimates Starling City in the present day. The twist? The attack was caused by code written by a younger (and goth-embracing) Felicity Smoak. That won't be the only issue plaguing the techie: She'll be confronted with a surprise visit by her mother, who has a knack for ill-timed entrances.

Emily Bett Rickards talks to The Hollywood Reporter about Wednesday's origin story, how Felicity's devastating relationship shaped her future outlook on romance and theorizes why the tech wiz is surrounded by suitors of the superhero kind.

This week's Arrow is a big one for you because Felicity's backstory and family history is finally explored to a significant degree — plus, she has a new look! How surprised were you by how Felicity was five years ago compared to how she carries herself in the present day?

She definitely looks completely different. She's younger, she was finding herself but she was on the track where we see her now because we do see her find her true self. We see her very close to finding that and I think that — although different, although younger, although not as burdened with the things of Starling City — she's still the Felicity we love and the one we look to in the time of need and to do the right thing. This is where she learns that those are her qualities that she does like to stick by.

Felicity looks extremely different with her dark makeup and hair. Did you view it as a chance to reinvent her?

I really appreciated it. I like transforming and diving into different looks. It's interesting being the same character in a certain sense, just being their younger self. It's one thing for a character to choose to dress up to act as something else because they become someone else, but this is still her so I still had to find a balance of who was she and why does she become who she is. And that's what we get to see. Playing with the physical transformation is always a treat. The wig was super hot and itchy and heavy, but I have a lot of appreciation for actors who do that on the reg.

Felicity's look is also very similar to The Sandman's iteration of Death in the comics. Any significance there?

Well, I think we're sort of just nodding [to that character]. I don't know how close we're going to get to completing that comic-book fetish and dream in this particular episode. (Laughs.) But maybe in times to come? I don't know the plan as far as that goes. My comic-book intellect is not as broad as I would like it to be. I know what I know, but there's just so much! It's scary! (Laughs.)

How does Felicity's romance with Cooper Seldon (Nolan Funk) inform how she approaches relationships in the present day?

It was a beautiful love. There was a deep love there, but there was a monumental difference between the two of them that she realizes. And we get to see her realize [that]. You get [blindsided] by somebody you love when you see that difference right before your eyes, when you're sort of like, "Oh! I didn't know that was there. Do I accept this? Do I not?" We get to see their relationship end devastatingly. She puts a chip on her shoulder and cuts a line down the left side of her body and that line is going to be there, although maybe it is covered up by two people whose futures don't necessarily go away although it might help over time.

What is Felicity's dynamic with her mother Donna (Charlotte Ross)?

It's really fun because she's unlike anyone else we've had on the show as a character. She's very different from Felicity; they're on either side of the spectrum in this particular case. But their genetic quality of where they are understandably related is in their ability to accept people and find a nurturing love for people and the good intentions that are taught but aren't necessarily always innate Felicity realizes that she's learned from her mother in this episode. I think that that is very important

Anything you can reveal about why Donna comes to Starling City?

Her mother just really, really missed her daughter and she doesn't have the grace to call Felicity to let her know that she was coming. Or didn't have the technical knowledge to do so. So that is sort of what happens. Mom shows up on your doorstep like, "Hey girl!" And Felicity's like, "This isn't the best time … It's never a good time!"

You were on The Flash last week and from the way things were left between Barry and Felicity, the door is still open for them. It's become increasingly apparent that Felicity has many prospects in the romance department, from Barry and Oliver to even Ray Palmer. Why do you think that is?

I don't know what it is that makes her [like that]! At the same time though, she's just a beautiful person. She's very genuine and she has good morals and she's not afraid to speak her mind — well, she is afraid to speak her mind but she's going to do it anyway, which I find very intriguing. Even though it's hard for her, she's going to do it, and that's one of her best qualities. And that's what she teaches me. I don't know! I think her intellect, her ability to work closely with those people so she gets close to them and gets to know them. Through that, she realizes these are good guys and then they're like "You're really, really smart!" and she's like "Yeah!" (Laughs.)

With Felicity working alongside Ray at Queen Consolidated, how does their working relationship evolve as the season progresses?

They end up working more together and they end up taking on other projects together. He's transparent as far as Felicity can tell. I think that that's something Oliver never had with her because of his scars and his masks and the burden he carries of being the hero. With Ray, Felicity is just looking for transparency, whether she consciously knows it or not. I think she has lost a little bit of transparency doing what she's doing and she appreciates the way he's able to keep things light. If we put it in TV terms, in season one Felicity was always able to keep things light, but you end up losing that sometimes. I think he's a reminder of "It's supposed to be fun." You're supposed to help people and save the city and yes there are darker times, but make sure that you can turn on a night light every once and a while.

One nugget you can share in terms of the anticipated The Flash-Arrow crossover?

You get two superheroes [the Arrow and The Flash] in one episode who might not necessarily have the same preparation, background, morals, personality. There's going to be a lot of butting heads, but they're forced to work together, so we'll see that [take shape].

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... tys-746429?