Interview with Stephen Amell about his Arrowverse return in The Flash episode “It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To.”

FLASHTVNEWS’ CRAIG BYRNE: How important was it to you that if you did return to the Arrowverse, it would be for a major role and not just a cameo?

STEPHEN AMELL: It didn’t need to be a major role, per se, but I was very adamant that I get to do something significant, or say something significant. I just wanted to make sure that if Oliver came back, we would learn something.

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Even before he read the script for the episode, Amell was intrigued about the idea of returning to the Arrowverse simply because of the timing. “Everything about the series finale should be in service of The Flash and Barry’s story, so I’m glad we got it out of the way before then,” he says. “The thing that I was most excited about was that it wasn’t the series finale and that we actually have a little bit more time and space to talk about the Barry and Oliver relationship, and what’s been going on with him, and what’s going on with Barry.”

Entertainment Weekly

For Amell, who filmed his final Arrow scenes in November 2019, “Honestly, it didn’t feel weird at all” to be back after so long a break, he tells TVLine.

“It was nerve-wracking, getting picked up on the first day and shooting my first scene,” he admits, “but after 15 minutes, it was like, ‘OK. I’m here…. When’s lunch?’”

“Danielle was great. She nailed it,” Amell also attests. “This was the first episode back after [holiday] break, so there were COVID protocols and a bunch of moving pieces, but she was totally in charge and really communicative with great notes. She was like an old pro.”

TV Line

“It was amazing,” Amell told ET of returning for the episode. “I got a good four or five days on set and to see people. It all felt very familiar and I was very excited to be back.”

However, Amell admitted that he didn’t bother offering Gustin any advice about life after the Arrowverse.

“Nope. I said, ‘What are you going to do?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Well, give me a call if you want to do nothing together,'” he recalled with a laugh.

ET Online

CBR: Showrunner Eric Wallace called you to pitch Oliver’s return. What about it checked off all the boxes for you?

Stephen Amell: First and foremost, I liked that it wasn’t the series finale. Series finales get to be a little busy, and it becomes expected that you are going to have all these returning appearances and characters. I really liked that it was a random episode. I also appreciated how collaborative he was. I had a pretty particular idea of how I wanted the story to go. Obviously, I am not the one who puts pen to paper or starts typing. But it was just very nice that he was willing to be so collaborative because a couple of the ideas I had that ended up in the episode weren’t in the original pitch.

CBR

How was it for you, revisiting the world your show created?

Oh, it was really, really special. You know, there were a lot of people working on Flash that had been a part of Arrow either when we had finished or just through the years. So, going back and seeing everybody was really special.

And revisiting the costume?

They still made me go into a fitting! [Laughs] I’m like, “Guys, come on!” But, no, it was…I just have to say, overall, that Eric Wallace was just such a collaborative person here. And when it came to the suit, he was like, “Well, which one do you want to wear?” And I was just like, “Well, um, I don’t know. The Season 8 one?” And he goes, “Yeah, sure. That makes sense. Let’s do that!” [Laughs]

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