Warning: The following contains spoilers from Tuesday night’sArrowepisode, “Welcome to Hong Kong.”
J.J., Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Diggle’s (David Ramsey) villainous son.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When this role came up and he, what attracted you to playing J.J.?
Sergei Bachlakov/The CW
If I had known more, I would’ve been wholeheartedly more intrigued.
I didn’t know the dynamic between his brothers prior to going into it.
The script that they had given me was kind of taken out of context when I auditioned.
Sergei Bachlakov/The CW
And that’s what attracted me.
I love playing any kind of character that’s dynamic like that.
Aside from that, I was excited to be playing a “villain.”
Also aside from that, the fights are so badass.
I just wanted to fight, andArrow’s fights the sickest on TV.
So from your perspective, J.J. isn’t a sociopath.
He has an understandable reason for doing what he’s doing?
That’s something that’s stuck with me beyond just being an actor, but into my own life.
So from the beginning, J.J. has never been a sociopath or villain by any means.
He has been dealt, in his mind, a st card.
He feels like he has been forgotten and left, specifically by his family, and kind of misplaced.
From that, he hasn’t had a guide.
In this week’s episode, he kidnaps Mia’s brother William.
What can you tease about his grand plan?
You know, this like pulling family members apart.
I don’t know that he has necessarily planned everything out.
I know that problems will ensue.
Is filling that power vacuum his ultimate goal or is there something hidden behind that?
With Green Arrow, he’s complicated as a person but also in his work.
And from that ramification, you now have to deal with a person’s father having been lost.
How familiar were you withArrowbefore you joined?
I didn’t actually realize that they were 22 episodes each.
So I kinda jumped forward to season 5 and then carried throughout there.
But right now I’m like all up to date.
In watching the show, didManu Bennett’s performance as Deathstrokeinform your take on the character?
It’s kind of built into the show that he spans larger than just one person or one entity.
This character is almost given off to other people who want to take over the helm.
That’s how I’m taking it.
But for that, I didn’t want to pull anything necessarily from different performances.
I wanted to attack on my own, from J.J.’s standpoint.
I did want to keep the strength.
The strength is undoubtedly there for him on both.
What’s been the most exciting part of joining the show?
It’s really been the cast.
I don’t want to sound too cheesy.
It’s really nice to see people who want to work and want to make things better.
And I really, really, really appreciate that.
Arrowairs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
