The CW’s Arrow will return on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT for its sixth season, and in support of the show’s upcoming season the Arrow cast once again made the trip to San Diego for Comic Con. The panel was packed with fans, and the press room was also a hot ticket at this year’s Con. Among the cast who participated in both the Q&A with fans and roundtable interviews was Katie Cassidy who provided the scoop on Black Siren and even revealed a storyline she’d love to play involving Black Siren and Laurel Lance.
What similarities do you see between the two Laurels you’ve played?
Katie Cassidy: “I actually find a lot of similarities between them. They’re both obviously incredibly strong women; they’re just from two different ends of the spectrum, I guess. I think they’re both incredibly driven, nothing will stop them or get in the way of what they’re trying to accomplish. Hard-headed and I think strong is just a great word to describe them, just in different ways.”
Do you have a preference?
Katie Cassidy: “I don’t have a preference. I have to say I love being a part of #TeamArrow and being there every day. I miss being there in that aspect or capacity, but the fact that I can come in as a villain and play that sort of the antithesis – it’s so much fun. It’s so much fun playing evil. I don’t know if I have a preference. I’m close to Laurel, but it’s nice to have fresh to play. It’s almost like a new character … it is a new character but it’s fresh and it feels like it’s fresh. I feel like everyone’s points of view, the dynamic between the characters and their reaction to Black Siren I think keeps everything fresh for the other actors as well. There’s a lot of her background to explore.”
How far in advance do the writers let you know what they’re thinking for your character? Are you learning along with the fans which direction you’ll go or do you know well ahead of time?
Katie Cassidy: “We talk about it in advance, absolutely. When Laurel was going to be the one who was getting killed, I didn’t know until the episode before that it was me which kind of sucked. I was like, ‘Oh, right, okay. That sucks!’ But for this season I sat down and had lunch with Wendy (Mericle) and Marc (Guggenheim). We were on the same page already in terms of obviously Black Siren in Earth-2 world is a lot darker, just a little bit rough – rugged, I guess. If I have ideas, if they have ideas, we toss them around.
The other day I talked to Marc and I was like, ‘Hey, what would happen if Black Siren time-traveled and saw Laurel face-to-face?’ Does that make sense? That would just be so bizarre and cool at the same time, certainly at least for an episode. But this season it’s about family and I think Black Siren in Earth-2, there’s a lot to explore in terms of her backstory and where she’s from. She’s gone through a lot. She lost her family at a young age; the backstory that I’ve done is she lost her father. He burned to death in front of her. She was forced to watch him burn to death in front of her at the age of 13. So, she sort of has set out to find … again, as an actor I’m like going off into this other world … her father’s killer. She ends up obviously turning dark and a villain. But I’m sure something will happen. They’ll write something and it will be like, ‘Her father survived,‘ and I’m totally off-base.
It’s definitely an interesting process. Yeah, they definitely let us throw around ideas. They talk to us a little bit in advance, and sometimes you just never know. It’s television. Anything can happen.”
Is there a possibility they will ever meet each other?
Katie Cassidy: “I don’t know. I pitched it to Marc and he was like, ‘Oh, I love that!’ So, I think it would be cool. I think it would be so confusing but awesome. Who knows? Anything’s possible in these shows with time travel.”
He didn’t turn it down?
Katie Cassidy: (Laughing) “He did not turn it down. However, I can’t confirm that it’s going to happen either.”
Do you think there’s a chance of redemption for Black Siren?
Katie Cassidy: “Absolutely. I think there is definitely a chance for redemption for her. It’s interesting. I think even when she does this evil, manipulative thing, that’s just almost like her defense mechanism. It’s her habit. It’s a place that she’s used to going to. But if you break that down and get through her walls, I think that she has a sad story. I think that the other characters will be able to see that and have sympathy/empathy for her. She may end up bonding with them and maybe being able to actually redeem her back to a somewhat good person.”
Watch the full Katie Cassidy Arrow interview:
