Danielle Panabaker Interview: ‘The Flash’ Season 3 and Flashpoint

The Flash star Danielle Panabaker
from ‘The Flash’ at Comic Con 2016 Danielle Panabaker from ‘The Flash’ at Comic Con 2016 (Photo © Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)

Season three of The CW’s comic book-inspired series The Flash picks up with Barry Allen’s friends unaware The Flash (Grant Gustin) has changed the timeline. The Flashpoint storyline that will play out in season three means we’ll be picking up familiar characters, including Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), Cisco Ramon, (Carlos Valdes), Joe West (Jesse L Martin), and Iris West (Candice Patton), acting as though the events of seasons one and two did not occur.

During our interview at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con, Panabaker discussed what’s happening with Caitlin and whether we’ll get to see her tackling the Killer Frost role again either during or after the Flashpoint storyline.

Danielle Panabaker Interview:

How fun was it to play Killer Frost last season?

Danielle Panabaker: “The best. It was so cool. Look, I have such a fun job. We get to go play dress up every day and on top of it I get to be Caitlin Snow most of the time. But to get to play that alternate really bad guy, the best.”

Was the costume fun to do or was it kind of cumbersome?

Danielle Panabaker: “No, it was generally very fun. It was such a cool process to get to develop it. We knew it was coming so we got to work on it a little bit. We had some time. The contacts made it hard to see and there was something about the wig…whatever. It was awesome.”

Did the contacts help put you in the right kind of bad mood for getting into Killer Frost?

Danielle Panabaker: “I don’t think so. It’s funny though. I felt very reclusive because it was hard to see. I had to focus and conserve my energy.”

So there’s been talk about meeting Caitlin’s mom. Will that be part of Flashpoint?

Danielle Panabaker: “I want to meet her mom. I think it would be awesome. I’ve harassed them about that for a while. […]They don’t tell us anything. They’re like, ‘Okay…,’ and they nod a lot when we ask them questions. I would love to meet her. I feel like we know a lot about the Wests and the Allens and a little bit about the Ramons. It’s time for the Snows.”

How is Flashpoint going to affect Caitlin?

Danielle Panabaker: “That’s what’s cool about Flashpoint is that everything’s different, the relationships, the places, the people that you’ve come to know. They’re all different. It’s a testament to the cast that we’ve been able to pull off everything.”

Is it ever confusing to keep track of what version you’re playing or what version you’re talking to?

Danielle Panabaker: “I guess it could potentially be confusing when you’re reading a script, but to see it brought to life by everyone… Look at Tom Cavanagh and the difference that he brought season one versus season two to Harrison Wells. A lot of credit goes to him. He did an incredible job of changing the cadence and the tone of his voice; he threw things around which was not in the script. He’s just an incredible actor.”

Is this a Caitlin who has not experienced the losses we’ve seen her experience in seasons one and two?

Danielle Panabaker: “I would say her past is certainly different than the Caitlin Snow we’ve known.”

Assuming that at some point we do get back to the Caitlin Snow who suffered those losses, how will she be dealing with them?

Danielle Panabaker: “I think she had that moment at the end of season two where she was breaking down and she sort of confided in Cisco. But I do think her passion is her job and working with The Flash and being a part of #TeamFlash, so I think gives her her drive, for sure.”

Will we be exploring her love life again this season?

Danielle Panabaker: “She’s fine by herself. I think she can take a break from boys for a little bit. It’s not been working out too well for her.”

How difficult were the episodes in season four in which she was kidnapped by Zoom?

Danielle Panabaker: “It was funny because I was away from the cast for so long. I worked with Teddy (Sears) a lot. But, you know those two or three weeks where I didn’t see them except in passing – I missed them. Maybe they missed me.”

Would you be down for reprising Killer Frost?

Danielle Panabaker: “I would love to. I feel like it was such a tease. We saw a little bit of her but I feel like there’s always room for more. There are 52 Earths out there. We have a lot of Earths to play with.”

Caitlin had a connection with Grodd and last we saw he was heading to Gorilla City. Is that something you think might be explored this season?

Danielle Panabaker: “That’s a good question. I didn’t think about that. I would love to see more of him, and I do think it’s cool he and Caitlin share such a special bond. Hopefully that still exists in whichever world they know each other in.”

Have there been any hints about Caitlin crossing over to another show this season?

Danielle Panabaker: “No one has hinted, but I’ve asked. I want to go to Supergirl. I want to hang out with those women, for sure.”

Have you heard from any fans, young girls especially, who were inspired to go into science or technology because of Caitlin?

Danielle Panabaker: “A lot of times dads will tell me that they watch with their family and Caitlin is inspiring to young women. I think that is amazing. I was super into math when I was in middle school. I was mocked insistently for it. Hopefully in some small way this is changing that.”

Danielle Panabaker:

Watch the full Danielle Panabaker interview:

(Interview by Fred Topel. Article by Rebecca Murray.)