Stephen Amell Interview on ‘Arrow’s Final Season and “Crisis on Infinite Earths”

The CW’s Arrow star Stephen Amell earned a round of applause from the journalists at the conclusion of our roundtable interview. Stephen Amell’s been generous with his time when it comes to fans and the media, and we acknowledged his eight years as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow at the conclusion of our San Diego Comic-Con interview.

The 2019 Comic-Con marked Amell’s final appearance with the Arrow cast as the show heads into its eighth – and last – season. Season eight is set to premiere on October 15, 2019 and in our interview Amell dropped a few hints as to what’s in store.

What’s next for you after Arrow ends?

Stephen Amell: “I’m going to go home to LA. Walk my daughter to school, chill out for a little bit. It’s been a lot, man. It’s been a good solid eight years of working really, really, really hard, which is frankly, you know, all you can ask for as an actor.

But all of my favorite shows have announced that they were coming to an end. And I think that making that announcement gave us a lot of clarity towards the end of season seven and it has lit season eight on fire. We’re getting to do…like there are no bullets left in the chamber by the time we’re done. I think that’s cool.”

How much pressure is it to go out with a bang? You’ve got fans who are waiting for the final season and you want to walk away with the legacy that everyone remembers, positively.

Stephen Amell: “That’s a really difficult question because I love finales – all finales. I loved the last season of Game of Thrones. I loved the Lost finale. I loved the Seinfeld finale. I love all finales. I think that sometimes when they end with a bang, that’s great. When they end as an epilogue, cool. I don’t actually feel any pressure at all.

Pressure is taking a character who is on the outer rings of the DC hierarchy and having someone like Greg Berlanti make a bet on a series with an actor that didn’t have a lot of credits to his name. That’s pressure. We’ve already done it, right? I hope the last season is great. We’re going to do our f*cking best, but eehh.”

Arrow star Stephen Amell
Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in ‘Arrow’ (Photo: Dean Buscher © 2019 The CW Network)

Do you feel like “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is a really good way to go out?

Stephen Amell: “Yeah. Can you think of better way?”

No.

Stephen Amell: “There you go. No, it’s a really cool way. It’s one of the most famous storylines across all of DC and for it to… Although we’ve got two episodes after ‘Crisis’ so it’s not totally how we’re going out. It’s just the last crossover.”

Can you tease anything about Oliver’s role in “Crisis?” I know you can’t give away any spoilers.

Stephen Amell: “No, I can’t. I can’t. Actually, okay, I’m playing more than one character in ‘Crisis.’ I’m not putting The Flash suit back on.”

Casey Jones again?

Stephen Amell: “That would be awesome! I think that there might be a little bit of a legal issue.”

We just got to see your new uniform. Obviously, you had an evolution of attire for Oliver over the years. How did this one feel in terms of the action? Does it feel more comfortable, organic, or is it different because it’s a new suit, new season?

Stephen Amell: “They said, ‘What do you want for your suit?’ I said, ‘I want a suit that’s like an homage to season one but like, you know, do your stuff with it.’ They go, ‘What kind of bow do you want?’ And I go, ‘Season one bow.’ And they are like, ‘But how?’ And I go, ‘What do you mean? I want the season one bow.’

They go, ‘We’ll goose it up a bit.’ I go, ‘Nuh-uh. I want the season one bow.’ And they kicked a bunch of ideas around and they called me and they’re like, ‘We’re going to go with the season one bow.’

So, the suit’s new and exciting, very comfortable, and we’re back to the cloth hood. It’s a really, really cool suit. They nailed it. Very comfy, but hot right now.”

What is the tone for this season? We hear it’s a little bit emotional at the beginning.

Stephen Amell: “You know, Oliver over the course of the first three episodes reconciles and gets closure with five different characters that I don’t think the fans ever thought he would get closure with.”

Are they current characters or returning characters?

Stephen Amell: “Sure.”

Are you taking anything from the set when you go?

Stephen Amell: “I stole a bow from the pilot. I just got it back from Sara (Caity Lotz) who I gave it to last year.”

Anything else?

Stephen Amell: “I don’t think so. I might buy the Queen mansion in Victoria BC, Royal Roads College. Not actually, but that would be a baller move. ‘Oh, Deadpool, you guys want to film here?’” (Makes the hand of the money gesture.)

What’s on Oliver’s bucket list?

Stephen Amell: “I don’t know, man. I don’t know. My priority playing the character this year, you know he’s had to leave Felicity, Mia, and William and he could sulk about it. I think it’s more interesting if he believes Felicity when she tells him, ‘I’ll find you. Wherever it is, wherever you are, I’ll find you.’ To me it’s more interesting if he believes that and marches forward with purpose.”