Arrow will be airing its final season premiere tonight on the CW. Stephen Amell, who has played Oliver Queen/Green Arrow for the past 8 or so years, has a lot of thoughts on the show’s run and the impact it had on his life. He reflected on all of this while talking with Entertainment Weekly, starting with when Amell knew it was time to end the series. Amell said:
“So, we were most of the way through season 6 and I called up Greg [Berlanti], and I go, ‘I’m contracted through season 7, but I’d like [that] to be the end.’ And he’s like, ‘Okay, take a second to think about this, and I’ll call you back in a week, and we’ll see.’ And he called me back in a week, and he goes, ‘How are you feeling?’ And I go, ‘Okay, it’s time.’ And he convinced me, because he’s way smarter than I am, to come back for a limited run this year, and I think that it’s really given the show an opportunity to go out on its own terms. I’m scared. I’m legitimately frightened about the end of it, and I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time.”
Amell clarified that, although there are definitely seasons he enjoyed more than others, he’s always “loved” the series and the creative direction of the show was never the reasoning behind the desire to end his tenure under the hood. The actor went on to say that the reason he wanted to leave the show was due to spending more time with his family and raising his daughter in Los Angeles. For those who don’t know, most Arrowverse shows are filmed in Canada and take a ton of time to produce each season.
Later on in the interview, EW asked Amell when he thought Arrow was at its best:
“523. I was mad that more people didn’t die when the island blew up. Episode 220 when Susanna Thompson as Moira died, I love that episode. Episode 116, when Tommy finds out that I’m the Green Arrow. Episode 214 when I confront Laurel about drinking. Nick Copus directed that episode, and he went handheld. I’m very, very proud of that scene. I love 309. But when is it at its best?
It’s at its best in season 2 when Sara reappears. I’m thinking as I read the script, ‘Okay, cool, she’s coming back and the big reveal is going to happen when her dad Quentin [Paul Blackthorne] gets to see her again. That’s probably not going to happen for a couple of episodes.’ Nope, [it happened in] act three. That’s when Arrow is at its best. Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—t.’”
https://youtu.be/reAuYvej_7M
Arrow began as a more grounded series during its first few seasons but this upcoming final season is definitely going to go off the rails, in terms of realism. Here’s what Amell had to say when asked about how he felt regarding the upcoming season:
“It’s fantastic, because I’m going to get to work with actors this year that I’ve never worked with before, that if we were grounded I’d never get to work with. I’m pumped we’re going to get to do that this year.”
All in all, this was a pretty awesome interview filled with many more interesting quotes and stories from Amell’s audition to his growth as an actor and a person to Arrow “as you know it” ending with the season 7 finale. You can check out the full Entertainment Weekly interview here.
Arrow will return tonight on the CW at 9:00 PM EST.
What are your thoughts on Arrow ending its run? When do you think the series was at its best? Let us know in the comments below!
