Exclusive: Katherine McNamara Talks ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’

Katherine McNamara on ‘Arrow’ season 8. Photo: Warner Bros.

Preview:

Actress Katherine McNamara discusses her role in ‘Arrow’ season 8 and ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’
McNamara also talked about the failed pilot for ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’ and why it was not picked up for series
Will we ever find out who abducted William Clayton? And what other storylines would have been explored in the spinoff?
And if she would want to reprise her role in James Gunn’s DC Universe

After eight successful seasons and launching the ‘Arrowverse’ series of TV shows, the flagship DC Comics series ‘Arrow’ ended in 2020 after the very successful crossover event ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’.

“Heroes fall. Legends rise.”

TV-148 SeasonsOctober 10th, 2012

Through a complicated time traveling plotline, Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) adult daughter Mia Smoak played by actress Katherine McNamara was introduced in ‘Arrow’s final season and participated in ‘Crisis’. With the show ending, the idea was to spinoff McNamara’s character with her own series entitled ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’, which would have seen Mia take on her father’s superhero mantle, alongside Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy, reprising their roles from ‘Arrow’.

In fact, the penultimate episode of the final season of ‘Arrow’ was a backdoor pilot to ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’, entitled ‘Livin’ in the Future’, which took place twenty years after the finale of ‘Arrow’. The episode features a future timeline where Mia never becomes the Green Arrow, but after a time displaced Dinah Drake (Harkavy) restores Mia’s memories of the other timeline, she takes on her father’s superhero identity to stop a new Deathstroke, who may or may not be her fiancé, John Diggle Jr. (Charlie Barnett). The episode ends on a cliffhanger, where Mia’s brother, William Clayton (Ben Lewis), is mysteriously abducted.

However, the series was ultimately not picked up because of COVID, or possibly James Gunn taking over DC Studios and effectively ending the ‘Arrowverse’ and any DC TV show not connected to his future-plans. While McNamara did reprise her role as Mia briefly in the final season of ‘The Flash’, she was still looking for her brother, and ultimately no satisfying conclusion to that storyline was given.

Katherine McNamara in ‘High Ground’. Photo: Republic Pictures.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with actress Katherine McNamara about her work on ‘High Ground,’ which was directed by ‘Arrow’ alum James Bamford and will be available to buy on digital beginning March 18th.

In addition to ‘High Ground’, we also spoke to McNamara about joining the final season of ‘Arrow’, her involvement in the groundbreaking ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ crossover, why ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’ did not go to series, what that show’s storyline would have been, reprising her role in the final season of ‘The Flash’, and if she would want to return to the role in James Gunn’s new DC Universe.

Joining the ‘Arrowverse’

(L to R) Katherine McNamara and Stephen Amell on ‘Arrow’ season 8. Photo: Warner Bros.

To begin with, McNamara discussed what it was like to join ‘Arrow’ for the final season and be a part of the ‘Arrowverse’ of TV shows.

“I’d obviously seen how beloved Oliver and Felicity as individual characters were, but also as a couple. When I auditioned, I had no idea that that is the character I was auditioning for. I didn’t know until after I was cast. Suddenly, I got this news that I was the human product of Oliver and Felicity, and I’m going, “Oh, I have big shoes to fill. All right, let’s see.” It was amazing, because obviously Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards did such incredible work on that show and had seven seasons at that point of rich character work.”

McNamara also talked about her research and approach to playing the role.

“I watched the whole series, and I was able to kind of cherry pick different qualities, good and bad of each of their characters, and mush them together to create Mia. Taking Felicity’s sense of humor and Oliver’s walk and his propensity to have a short temper, but also her mother’s strategy, and being able to blend those things together to create this new character that the writers gave such a beautiful, twisted, deep story to. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. “

Making ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’

‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’. Photo: Warner Bros.

The ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ event featured the first-time fans got a glimpse of Mia in her Green Arrow uniform, and McNamara talked about that process and shooting the crossover.

“I mean, that crossover episode series, I was pinching myself the entire time. It was the first time I got to wear my super suit, which we had spent months and months designing. Our costume designer, Brie Thorpe, and Ocean Drive Leather who made all the suits for all the shows, by the way, they’re insanely talented, those folks over there. But they took such care in crafting me a suit down to the fabric it’s made of, which is this thing called Euro jersey. But they made a special fabric for Mia’s suit that. It was this dark green, but it had little teeny tiny arrows on it. Nobody would ever be able to see it except for me, but it meant so much that they had put that level of detail and thought into crafting her suit. We redesigned the mask to be more like the comics as opposed to what we’d had on the show for years to kind of differentiate Mia. But, even in just being a part of such a legacy of television was a huge honor.”

What happened to ‘Green Arrow and the Canaries’?

(L to R) Juliana Harkavy, Katherine McNamara and Katie Cassidy on ‘Arrow’ season 8. Photo: Warner Bros.

McNamara also discussed making the ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’ backdoor pilot episode that aired before the finale of ‘Arrow’.

“We did a pilot for a spinoff, and I would’ve loved to continue that had the pandemic not gotten in the way. But I was grateful to have been brought back on several of the other shows over the years just to put the suit on again, as it were.”

We followed up to ask her if the pandemic was the entire reason that the proposed series was not picked up, or if it may have also had to do with James Gunn’s takeover of DC Studios.

“As far as I know, that’s what I heard. But who knows in the end? But that’s what I was told, and it is sad, because I know all of us really were looking forward to continuing the show and continuing to be a part of the ‘Arrowverse’. But maybe there’s a world somewhere. I just want to find my brother. That’s the thing.”

Finding Closure on ‘The Flash’

(L to R) Brandon Routh, Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Chyler Leigh, Katherine McNamara,
Cress Williams, and Javicia Leslie in season 9 of ‘The Flash’. Photo: Warner Bros.

McNamara did reprise her role in the final season of ‘The Flash’, but while William’s abduction was mentioned, no true conclusion to that storyline was given. We asked the actress if she felt like that episode of ‘Flash’ gave her and her character closure.

“A little bit. But I feel like at this point, it’s either (William’s) superhero or super villain origin story, and I want to see that come to fruition in some universe someday.”

What was the storyline going to be on ‘Green Arrow and The Canaries’?

Katherine McNamara on ‘Arrow’ season 8. Photo: Warner Bros.

We followed up by asking the actress if she was ever told the plot for the first season of ‘Green Arrow and the Canaries’.

“I do know some secrets, but I promised I would never share them. It was good. I remember I was sitting in the airport flying back from Vancouver one day when the two writers that were working on the spin-off called me and told me everything. I was just in the airport lounge bawling because it was so amazing and beyond my wildest dreams and one of the most beautiful but twisted, but insanely action-packed setups for a series. One more thing that’s just lost to television time.”

Could Mia Smoak return in James Gunn’s DC Universe?

James Gunn in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.

Finally, we asked McNamara if she would be willing to reprise her role as Green Arrow in a future DC Studios’ project if she were to get a call from James Gunn.

“I’m a big fan, so I am down. If he wants the Green Arrow in the movie verse of DC, I volunteer as tribute.”

(TOP): Russell Tovey as The Ray/Ray Terrill,Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe and Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heat Wave (Middle) Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Candice Patton as Iris West (BOTTOM): Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl, Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak in the Arrowverse crossover event ‘Crisis on Earth-X.’ Photo: Robert Falconer / The CW. © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.