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The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow


Grammaeryn
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Emertainment Monthly: You started off as a guest star and have become such a big part of Arrow, how has that journey been for you?

 

Emily Bett Rickards: Well it was extremely life changing. Going in for one audition and ending up four years later is crazy. It’s such a big family and is such an integral part of my life. I was talking about this with one of our executive producers a couple of days ago and I was like, ‘I find it strange that Felicity’s life is sometimes connected to mine.’ Sometimes the themes in our lives are so similar. I wonder if that is an actor trying to relate to her character or she went through huge life changes when I was also going through huge life changes. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about lately. Wondering why saving the world and having so many people die around her, why I feel like we are still going through the same things? I was very fortunate. Preparation meets opportunity four years ago or a few Augusts ago. I couldn’t have asked for a better turn out.

EM: Currently, Felicity is going through arguable the hardest time in her life. What was your reaction to getting this storyline of Felicity being shot and ultimately being disabled?

 

Rickards: One thing I was really protective over was sort of her attitude and how her attitude towards being disabled was going to affect her life. There’s only so much we can tell in our story about how impacting that disability would be on a life and people who have to live with that every day and not in a world of magic. It’s such a life change and it’s an all encumbering life change. There’s no way around it, there’s no way to fix it. There’s only acceptance and moving forward. We tried to portray that as gratefully and as quickly as we can in a TV show. Keeping Felicity’s voice and keeping her attitude towards life positive while faced with this total rearrangement of her life was something I tried hard to portray and hopefully we did an honest job of it and we saw that in the last episode.

 

EM: This season, you and Stephen Amell have been working together even more! How has it been playing this relationship side to Felicity?

 

Rickards: Stephen and I love working together. There’s no other way to put it. We love the scenes that are Felicity and Oliver. They’re fun, they’re creative. Their dialogue is locked and loaded. They understand each other. We get to play around because we’ve known each other now for four years as people, let alone characters, which is really fun. I love working with Stephen. It’s one of the highlights of my job. Our characters have kind of found solace in each other or fallen in love as you do, but in the very difficult life that they have. We are seeing whether or not their love can withstand these pressures of the life they’ve chosen or accepted or keep diving into, is something they battle with every day.

EM: The “Olicity” fandom is in full-force on the Internet and they are some of the most dedicated fans. How has the fan response been for you?

Rickards: “Olicity” is unlike anything we could’ve expected to be honest and we are so grateful for it. I didn’t even know what a ship was before people were yelling “Olicity” on my Twitter with a whole bunch of crying emoji’s. I was like, ‘What is going on? What is this ‘Olicity?’ Then my friend Carina [MacKenzie] was like, ‘That’s you and Stephen’s characters!’ I had no idea! It has become such a huge part of the culture that surrounds our show and we are grateful for it, obviously. We hope that we can keep going and make “Olicity” interesting, which is something Stephen and I talk about and I’m sure the writers and everyone talk about. We want to keep it real. In a world where we have magic and superhero’s and super-speed and all that, our reality is based in relationships in impossible situations. How do we keep this relationship strong, interesting and hopefully healthy.

EM: How has it been having Charlotte Ross on Arrow even more this season? What’s it like playing with Felicity’s past in that way?

Rickards: Donna brings out something in Felicity that no one else can. Your mother always brings out something in you that no one else can, whether it’s a good attribute or not. The funny thing about being around your parents is that they always bring out the child in you and that’s why they’re parents because that’s what you remember. That has been your relationship with them your entire life. Donna being a single woman and having sacrificed so much for Felicity and Felicity being an adult now and realizing her sacrifice is HUGE, especially in the past year, but also for the past season. Her life has been in such turmoil and I think also getting injured, there’s so many more layers now. Your life flashes before your eyes, I think for Felicity. She’s sacrificed so much for the Team. Like, she’s given her legs now for Team Arrow. She’s okay with that, she’s like ‘This is what I signed up for! This is my contribution. I’m a hero too! This is what I do and we are going to keep dealing with it!’ Having your Mom around for that is I think really lucky. She is beyond lucky to have Donna there and I think it makes it all the easier. Working with Charlotte is always so much fun! We fall in sync and it’s great!

 

EM: Looking to this week’s episode, Colton Haynes returns as Roy! What was it like having him back on set for you?

 

Rickards: Well for me, it was a dream! We are best friends and if he denies that, you can send him towards me and I will beat him up. That was the best! I love having Colton back so much. I mean, having Roy back was fun too, but having Colton come back was really special for me. I hope Roy comes back every episode of every season for all seasons of Arrow. I love having him back and he is my absolutely favorite human being and I’m not afraid to admit it. His episode is SO killer! It’s SO good!

EM: In last week’s episode, there were two of you! How was it playing Felicity and Goth Felicity in those scenes?

 

Rickards: Working with Felicity hallucinating her goth-self was the coolest and most exhausting, taxing thing that we have ever had to do or I have ever had to do. It was a lot. We had new pieces of machinery we had never worked with before. I had another actor with me, Ali Liebert, who is a phenomenal actress. She was cast on Legends of Tomorrow as Caity Lotz’s potential love interest shortly after. She is one of the best actors I have worked with. She played my counter part in every scene. So, we would film one scene with myself dressed as Felicity and then we would go switch looks. Full hair, full make-up, full everything and then we would finish that scene. We did all these scenes in a day and a half. Technically we did six scenes, but you have to double it because you have to film it all twice. Hair and make-up was phenomenal! We got the change over down. My make-up artist Tammy, who does my hair on the show, got the change over down to under 40 minutes. We were flying! I’ve never seen women more talented and more on-point in my life. It was so much fun! Obviously we were pressed for time, we are on Arrow, we are always pressed for time. Late nights. We wrapped at like 5 a.m on Saturday morning that week. It was awesome! It was so much fun and I would do it again.

I thought of Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black just blowing my mind. She blows my mind. That woman deserves everything. I just thought of her the whole time. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I might never get to play a double ever again, I was stoked. I’m a fan of Orphan Black since day one. I’m a fan of Tatiana and her acting abilities, so I was just hoping I could do this justice. In general, it was such a treat and I hope I get to do it in the future with another character. It was quite an experience.

‘Arrow’ Star Emily Bett Rickards Chats About Felicity Smoak Changing Her Life, Working with Stephen Amell and ‘Brooklyn’

http://emertainmentmonthly.com/2016/02/01/emily-bett-rickards-interview/

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I really appreciated the way she responded to the question about playing someone who is disabled - very thoughtful and sensitive both to the reality of that sort of change in a person's like and to the fact that they're dealing with a TV show (and the type of show they're on). 

Edited by bethy
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Someone not on mobile needs to link the joint EBR/KC ign interview.

In the AWOL thread we talked about KC playing like Laurel was still in love with Oliver and in the interview she confirms she views Oliver as the love of Laurels life (you just don't always end up with them).

ETA: haha everyone got there

Edited by Chaser
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It's an odd interview.

The question about DD was the only one that made sense. The Felicity and Laurel relationship was so random. And I wish the interviewer had avoided the Olicity v Comic Oliver and Laurel question.

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and the way I look at their relationship -- I'm happy for Oliver, and I'm happy for Felicity. I see Felicity as this genuinely beautiful person and good person. Obviously, I still think Oliver is the love of Laurel's life, but that doesn't mean you end up with the love of your life. So I feel like she's come to peace with that.

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I was thinking was going on in her head. But I didn't expect to get direct confirmation on it right away! :)

Edited by Starfish35
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IDK why one would be surprised by that answer by KC... It's always the same tune with her. It's time for us to handwave it tbh... It's KC looking out for her job, and as primary love interest she'll get her status back. Can't really blame her. Then again, I do wish that she would rather look out for her character first then KCs status on the show... But whatever. It is what it is. 

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That interview was done when they were filming 411. I remember Eric Goldman posting a picture of the 3 of them on the "Palmer Technology" set.

It's so odd that he's held onto it for so long. I guess he wanted (or was told) to release it to coincide with the episode being filmed?

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Strange that we can get a KC and EBR interview but not a SA and EBR one? Particularly as that was clearly done when they were filming 411. It's like they have such a reluctance not to promote those two. It's bizarre.

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Thats weird to me because there is nothing close to spoilery in there. He could have released it anytime.

And why talk about a Felicity and Laurel friendship? Out of all the things to talk about let's talk about the non entity that is this friendship.

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Well, she didn't say that Laurel is the love of Oliver's life, just that he is the love of hers. Which doesn't surprise me at all, considering other comments KC's made. This just confirms to me what I already thought, that she's playing Laurel as still in love with Oliver, even though he's moved on.

Now why she would want to play Laurel that way... I have no idea, unless she really is still hoping that one day the writers will bring Lauriver back. But from a character standpoint it seems like it would be more interesting to see Laurel grow past that relationship and realize how truly toxic and negative it was. But she seems to want to cling to the starcrossed soulmates interpretation.

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I would think she would let this go mainly because it's not a good look. Oliver has moved on and has asked another woman to marry him. He clearly isn't considerate of how much you may still be thinking "he's the love of your life". It just makes Katie look naive and like she really does still know where she fits or doesn't fit into Oliver's life IMO.

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What kills me with laughter is that the text of the show doesn't use her headcanon. There's nothing there that says Laurel still thinks of Oliver as the love of her life. And then what happens is KC's Involuntary NOTP Face shows up whenever she has to say something positive about O/F, and then I don't believe Laurel is happy for O/F. Except KC says Laurel is.

Cognitive Dissonance is the name of KC's next band.

Edited by dtissagirl
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Those two are so cute together. I think it is very important to remember that Katie said that Laurel sees Oliver as the love of her life not the other way around or that they would end back together. Now I think it makes more sense for Tommy to have been the love of Laurels life but if she wants to see it that way, good for her, nothing wrong with it. 

 

 

Thats weird to me because there is nothing close to spoilery in there. He could have released it anytime.

And why talk about a Felicity and Laurel friendship? Out of all the things to talk about let's talk about the non entity that is this friendship.

Becauase they clearly want to translate their friendship off screen to on screen. Plus to have their characters actually interact with each other in a more casual way would be fun and a nice change from work work work. They want to change things up and if Laurel survives, I for one hope we get a good episode focused around the both of them.

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I really appreciated the way she responded to the question about playing someone who is disabled - very thoughtful and sensitive both to the reality of that sort of change in a person's like and to the fact that they're dealing with a TV show (and the type of show they're on). 

 

I really liked EBR's answer, too. Plus, she is also obsessed with Hamilton so she knows what's up. 

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So they managed to pair up in an interview two characters who've exchanged a handful of words with each other this season so far, and yet haven't set up a joint interview with actors whose characters are actually entwined in story lines. CW PR is absolute crap. 

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I remember two: IGN (although they were joined by Wendy Mericle) and the one with E! Online, which wasn't really an interview as much as an "awarding" ceremony. I don't think I've seen a joint interview for any site or magazine. No official photos of OIicity either beyond episode stills. There are photos from a shoot of Original Team Arrow (a poster hangs in one of the Arrow production offices) but they were never made public. It's just frustrating. And maybe I should move this to the Bitterness thread but it just feels like official promotion for Olicity is deliberately held back. 

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Yeah, I have to wonder if the idea is to avoid making the show look like it is about romance/relationships.  They tend to promote masks, masks, masks  and action, action, action.  I often find a disconnect between the episodes and what they promote.   

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I really liked their interactions during the interview.  I can believe they're off-screen friends.

 

I also liked the idea that they stand beside each other to show that they're friends now because there's nothing in the script.

Thats weird to me because there is nothing close to spoilery in there. He could have released it anytime.

When EBR was talking about turning towards Laurel when she's speaking, she said something about how it's difficult now. I presume that refers to Felicity being in a wheelchair which would have been a spoiler earlier.

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I wonder sometimes if the CW does things with the intention of annoying the Felicity and/or Olicity fandom so they "fight back".  Last week was the poorly worded CW_Arrow tweet about Felicity making a mistake and who might be in danger as promo for 4.11 on CW App which resulted in the "FelicityExposed!" spontaneous trend.  There is talk on twitter about stepping up their game because of annoyance with the IGN EBR/KC interview but no Olicity promotion.  Why spend resources on something you can get for free?  

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I really don't expect lots of Olicity promotion (although a joint interview wouldn't go amiss seeing as they are a couple this season) but it is weird that they have this seemingly popular ship and they don't really use it.

 

Have SA and EBR do a photoshoot, slap them on the front of TV Guide and I guarantee someone who has never seen the show will think 'Huh, might have to watch that.' Olicity got plenty of people watching the show and they stayed watching because they enjoyed other things about it. 

 

And if they're so scared about using romance because ugh, romance is gross! Then they could do different covers for the magazine so everyone has something relevant to their interests (like a GA/BC cover or just a Team Arrow cover etc..etc...). I've never known a network so terrible at promoting their own show. 

Edited by Angel12d
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Wow thats pretty sad to me that KC considers Oliver the love of Laurel's life. I hate Laurel so much but even I don't consider her someone who would still be hung up on a guy who treated her the way Oliver did and who is totally in love with someone else right in front of her,like proposing to Felicity while she's standing right there lol.Lucky the writers aren't writing it at all like that and are avoiding presenting it that way.I think at this point they told KC Lauriver isn't happening again but can't really control what she says is her headcanon.But she'a totally playing Laurel as in love with Oliver as much as she can get away with in the limited interactions they have.But I would think KC would put Laurel not looking pathetic above her desire to attach herself to Oliver but I guess not.

Its annoying we can't get an EBR and SA joint interview other then at SDCC but get KC and EBR whose characters have no dynamic or scenes together.And they don't even have anything to say about it,at least nothing that happened on the show so i feel like that was totally pointless.The CW just sucks at promoting and they know they don't have to try hard when the fans do if for them for free.

Edited by tangerine95
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Have SA and EBR do a photoshoot, slap them on the front of TV Guide and I guarantee someone who has never seen the show will think 'Huh, might have to watch that.' Olicity got plenty of people watching the show and they stayed watching because they enjoyed other things about it. 

 

And if they're so scared about using romance because ugh, romance is gross! Then they could do different covers for the magazine so everyone has something relevant to their interests (like a GA/BC cover or just a Team Arrow cover etc..etc...). I've never known a network so terrible at promoting their own show.

 

This! When Arrow first started I had zero interest in watching it. Then during the summer before season two I saw all of these Olicity gifsets on tumblr and then checked the show out. And now here I am in season four still watching it, and have gone to cons to see the cast and whatnot. They really should be promoting all parts of the show to get as many people as watching, it just makes sense. 

 

Promote the masks and the romance and the shirtless dudes and the pretty girls. Promote it all and you will get a larger audience. Promote just masks? And the people who like to watch shows because of relationships will probably skip it. 

 

I really don't understand the lack of Amell/EBR interviews, especially since Oliver and Felicity are a real couple now. Any other show/network would kill themselves to have actors who have the chemistry that Amell/EBR have, and would be taking advantage of that anyway they could. (Seriously, it's not even the lack of O/F photoshoots, we haven't even had a real Felicity photo shoot/promotional photos). 

Edited by HighHopes
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So the NOTP face might not be involuntary afterall. Maybe that's her 'I love you but I can't have you but I'm trying to be a good friend' face, just in case the writers at some point decide to go there again and Laurel can say something like 'I loved you for all this time'.

Edited by looptab
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""I feel like Laurel has picked up on Felicity's tech skills" say what KC?

 

CaL82zuWYAEMcPD.jpg

Why does a majority portion of Katie's interview sound like a selling pitch to say "see Laurel can be just as relevant as Felicity if given the chance, why don't you all like me as much as you like her?", then smile painfully and say to herself "I am worthy, I am worthy". I'm sure Katie is probably a lovely person in RL and the cast does genuinely seem to care for her, but she really needs to stop pushing "Oliver is the one true love of Laurel's life" angle. She's welcome to have what ever back story she needs and is welcome to also love who she loves but it seems like Katie is willing to throw all of Laurel's pride and growth aside to get with a man who has done her wrong in so many ways and he has moved on, grown up, and fell truly, madly, deeply in love with Felicity, a woman who Laurel calls a friend. I'm truly confused as to how Katie/Laurel in her mind squares that circle!

Edited by Ann Mack
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Yes, thank you. That was weird. Like, how? Watching her? Lol

It's not like that's unusual. Diggle learned some tech skills from Felicity after years of watching her. Although, I'd be okay with this answer if they showed anything on screen that supports that statement. But there really hasn't been anything to prove her statement. So it doesn't really make sense :p Maybe there's an episode we haven't seen that supports it? Or, just like the Laurel/Oliver/Felicity love triangle last year, it's just a figment of her imagination...

Edited by wonderwall
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What kills me with laughter is that the text of the show doesn't use her headcanon. There's nothing there that says Laurel still thinks of Oliver as the love of her life. And then what happens is KC's Involuntary NOTP Face shows up whenever she has to say something positive about O/F, and then I don't believe Laurel is happy for O/F. Except KC says Laurel is.

Cognitive Dissonance is the name of KC's next band.

Furthermore, I don't think KC plays it that way either. 95 times of 100 I feel like she just thinks Oliver is a jackass. Not in the repressed feelings sort of way, just a straight up you, jackass way. 4 times she's okay with him being there and breathing the same air as her and that one time (like this last episode) there does seem to be an affection for him as a human being. But nothing on screen really supports that theory of him being the love of her life. Not enough repression if Laurel were actually still in love, nor fondness in case she sort of moved on and wanted what's best for him because he's an important part of her life but they can't/shouldn't be together.
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Diggle learned some tech from Felicity so it's not impossible. I found the ways they were trying to work (or trick) in the friendship a little awkward because I honestly don't see any of it on screen. It just kind of sounded a lot like salad. Not to say it couldn't happen, but right now its not a feeling I get.

 

I find it interesting that KC never put much thought into a Felicity friendship prior to S3. I completely believe it though. I don't think KC cared much about Felicity prior to S3 because she viewed Felicity as a non-entity. Then S3 happened and KC's ship was sunk. Oddly enough, that is when EBR and KC started hanging out a lot. Maybe KC honestly thought EBR was temporary...

 

Amused that KC made it sound like Laurel watched Oliver and Felicity fall in love. By the time Laurel was interacting with both of them, it was a done deal. 

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It's not like that's unusual. Diggle learned some tech skills from Felicity after years of watching her. Although, I'd be okay with this answer if they showed anything on screen that supports that statement. But there really hasn't been anything to prove her statement. So it doesn't really make sense :p Maybe there's an episode we haven't seen that supports it? Or, just like the Laurel/Oliver/Felicity love triangle last year, it's just a figment of her imagination...

Yeah, I guess it's what the answer implies that bothers me. I just hope there's not something in future episodes that justifies that kind of answer, like Felicity not being there and Laurel being able to do things just because. I mean, I can believe Diggle has acquired some things - he spent all last season being in the Cave with her afterall /sarcasm/. But her just picking on things? Nah. Unless that's also why suddenly she is such an exceptional fighter. She doesn't need to practice! She just has to look at people doing stuff, to be able to do it herself!

(This post might be a little on the bitter side, I'm sorry).

Edited by looptab
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Yeah, I guess it's what the answer implies that bothers me. I just hope there's not something in future episodes that justifies that kind of answer, like Felicity not being there and Laurel being able to do things just because. I mean, I can believe Diggle has acquired some things - he spent all last season being in the Cave with her afterall /sarcasm/. But her just picking on things? Nah. Unless that's also why suddenly she is such aj exceptional fighter. She doesn't need to practice! She just has to look at people doing stuff, to being able to do it herself!

(This post might be a little on the bitter side, I'm sorry).

 

No worries about the bitterness :P I understand why that may seep through. 

 

And I just remembered I think in 411 we'll see Laurel on Felicity's computers? I think it was in the promos, maybe that's what she was talking about. Sorry :/

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Yeah it's in the Australian promo, it looks like she was tracking someone... I honestly just think that Felicity made an app so everyone can use her tech easily in order to track someone.

I accept this headcanon :)

BTW, rationally I know there is nothing wrong with other people doing computer stuff every once in a while. I understand that they need to have some basic knowledge, and it's not out of the realm of possibilities that they do. But, it has to be framed right, for me.

Like, Diggle saying Felicity's software could be handled by an idiot in 304. Thea trying (and failing) to hack in the security of Machin's parents'house in 407.

I'm going to let this go for now, though. (Until they'll eventually do as I fear they'll do). :)

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No wonder I can't seem to feel anything but bored indifference for Laurel. The show in KC's head is different from the one on the script. I'm so frequently taken out of the show by her. I wish she wanted better for her character.

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Yeah it's in the Australian promo, it looks like she was tracking someone... I honestly just think that Felicity made an app so everyone can use her tech easily in order to track someone.

 

Vigilante Tech for Dummies. 

 

Crime-Fighting in The Cyber World 101

 

Track This & Search That

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