Coming to The CW this fall, Arrow is a dramatic new take on the Green Arrow story, starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen. The series begins with Queen returning home after having gone missing years before – finding himself stranded on an island in the interim, where he has mysteriously picked up some very impressive skills he soon is putting to work via his new, hooded alter ego.
At The CW’s recent Upfront event, I spoke to Amell about playing the DC Comics hero, what the tone of Arrow is, and whether we might expect to see other DC characters on the series, which also stars Katie Cassidy as Dinah Laurel Lance – known to comic book fans as Black Canary.
Stephen Amell: We tried to make him as real as possible. The character doesn’t have any superpowers. Nobody on the show has any superpowers. [Arrow pilot director] David Nutter -- I think he said this when a picture of the costume was released -- when he made Smallville, he wanted to find the humanity in Clark Kent. We’re looking for the humanity in Oliver Queen too. He’s gone through a ton to get to where he is, and we’re going to explore how he got there. But we wanted to make sure that he was really properly weighted and real.
IGN: We know the series begins with him having been missing for five years. Is it safe to assume that experience fuels his desire to become a hero?
Amell: Yeah, he gets stranded on the island, and we explore that. We’re going to explore the island as we move along, but he got some really important advice before he got to the island. He’s taken that with him for five years, and comes back with business to take care of.
IGN: Will we explore the island via him going back there, or are there flashbacks?
Amell: I think the idea is to --- not all the time, and not with a set regularity -- but I think it is critical to explore how he went from the person that he was when he left the island -- which is extremely different: he’s spoiled, he’s entitled, he’s a bit of a jerk -- and he comes off it something very, very different. So we’re going to explore how he gets there.
Stephen Amell in Arrow
IGN: There’s obviously a lot of DC Comics you could draw on. Do you know how much you might use certain villains or guest stars from other DC Comics in this show?
Amell: Stay tuned. I know that the people that are working on the show, they love comics. I know that Geoff Johns from DC Comics -- he’s a great guy -- he was up there [on set]. I think that he’s going to write an episode eventually. It would be unfortunate if, being a comic book show, we didn’t draw from all the characters in the DC Universe. I hope we do.
IGN: Katie is playing a character who obviously comes with a lot of backstory from the comics herself. What’s the dynamic like between her and Oliver on the series?
Amell: It’s not good right now. I didn’t treat her very well five years prior, so she has some beef with me -- rightly so. But she is an interesting character.
IGN: People who know the comic books are going to hope that we eventually get to see Katie in fishnets - and not just because she’ll look good in them! Do you think that’s a possibility down the line?
Amell: [Laughs] I don’t know. I hope that Katie eventually -- fishnets or otherwise -- she deserves to be a superhero at some point.
IGN: What was it like for you to put on the Arrow costume?
Amell: Aw, man, it was awesome. The costume is great too. The main idea behind the costume for us was functionality. I can put the costume on by myself, and that was super important. If I can put it on by myself, I think that people will buy it. And that was our idea. That’s our world.
IGN: That is rare, because some of the actors who play superheroes talk about how it’s impossible for them to get the costume on or off without several people.
Amell: Yeah. No way, no. People help me put it on sometimes for the sake of expedience, but I can put the whole thing on by myself.
Source : http://www.ign.com
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