Katherine McNamara – or “Kat” – reveals what to expect from her return as Mia Queen/Green Arrow in the upcoming crossover in The Flash, its first installment being the eighth season premiere.
The actress who debuted as the adult daughter of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) in the seventh season of Arrow assures fans this is the same Mia from before. However, mum’s the word as to how she gets dragged in to the crossover event known as “Armageddon.”
Katherine McNamara is Back, But What’s Been Mia Up To? And What do We Remember?
“I can say that I spent a good portion of the episode in a cocktail dress in heels, which was very different for Mia, but a lot of fun. Mia’s always a fish out of water wherever she ends up. She’s very much a lone wolf and keeps getting thrown into these situations where she’s just uncomfortable. But now that we have this combination of pre and post-Crisis memories back, it’s interesting to see how she is way more comfortable in these situations than she used to be. So there’s a lot of [Oliver] still left in her.”
She refers to the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths which saw Oliver, as The Spectre, rewrite reality in that Earth-Prime survivors had new memories. The episode “Green Arrow and The Canaries” – secretly the backdoor pilot attempt for a series featuring Kat with Juliana Harkavy and Kaite Cassidy that failed to get a green light – saw Dinah Drake (Harkavy) and Laurel Lance (Cassidy) arrive in 2040 and use STAR lab tech to reawaken Mia’s pre-Crisis memories of a dystopian Star City and The Glades and her training by Nyssa Al Ghul. The cliffhanger of that episode saw Mia’s half-brother William Clayton get abducted and was left permanently unresolved when the proposed series fell through. As to whether we will see a resolution, Kat cannot say. “My lips are sealed.”
Regarding characterization, McNamara has retained her initial approach to the character and expands. She explains, “It’s very much [an amalgamation of] Felicity’s intelligence and sense of humor and tenacity, but having Oliver’s brute force and penchant for vengeance [and a lot of his masculinity, given Mia] was trained by Nyssa al Ghul [in the pre-crisis reality. She’s] very independent and autonomous. That plays in [both her upbringing and] the character of Green Arrow. [But] we do see a lot of both sides of Mia in this new iteration.”
Besides needing to incorporate onscreen traits from both Emily and Stephen, Kat was made to feel welcome on her first day on the set of Arrow by the man himself. “I was just there for my fittings and stuff, and he was in the middle of shooting an episode where he was bloody and [exhausted. And I] stepped in the hair and makeup trailer to say hellow to everyone and he happened to be there. He stood up, ran over across the trailer to me, opened up his arms, and goes ‘I’m your dad!” And he gave me the biggest hug, took me around [and] introduced me to everyone, and just from that moment made me instantly feel welcome. I was so grateful for that. And from that moment forward, he really took me under his wing and did exactly what the Green Arrow should do and really passed the mantle on in such a beautiful way. I’m just so grateful to [still have] him as a friend and confidante.”
Nostalgia took hold again on the set of The Flash filming the crossover with lead Grant Gustin. “[I] had a great time with Grant on [Crisis] and just getting to be back there, that whole crew is [amazing. I] had a moment putting on the suit, which is something I didn’t think I would ever get to do again, for the first time back at my fitting. And I teared up a little bit because it feels like home and it just feels right. And you’re instantly made to feel like you belong. It means a lot that they were kind enough to ask me back.”
Given that there is a seat in what will be The Hall of Justice with the Green Arrow insignia on the back, can we expect more of Mia post-Armageddon?
The actress remarks “This is what I always say about the Arrowverse and about the CW: They are such a pleasure to work with, and it’s one of those situations where if you’re not dead – and sometimes even if you are dead – there’s always a way to come back. And if they will have me, I would be more than happy to come shoot arrows with them anytime.”
And one thing that fans can be sure of is a Queen – be it Oliver or Mia – always hits the target when it comes to arrows.
Catch the season premiere of The Flash when it zooms back to The CW Tuesday November 16th at 8/7 Central.
Official Source – ‘The Flash’: Kat McNamara Says ‘Armageddon’ Will Answer Some of Your Questions About Mia (tvinsider.com)
