Stephen Amell’s time under the hood is coming to an end.
On Tuesday,Arrowreturns for its eighth and final season, which takes his Oliver Queen, a.k.a.
And he called me back in a week, and he goes, “How are you feeling?”
And I go, “Okay, it’s time.”
I’d never had a job for more than a year.
So have a go at put your level of being frightened into a relative capacity.
There wasn’t a specific a moment when it came to the creative direction of the show.
I’ve always loved it.
There have been seasons that I’ve liked less than others.
But it was just time to move on.
When it came time to doArrow, I didn’t really have any choice.
I would have been like, “Yeah, okay.
Sure, I’ll do that.”
So it’s more about having time and opportunity now.
From talking to the producers, I know you werethe first person to audition for this role.
And I go, “No, what’sArrow?”
He goes, “It’s based on the Green Arrow.”
I went in [to audition], and David Nutter was there, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg.
And I go, “Yeah, for sure.”
Apart from on Halloween?
No.Well, it’s fing awesome.
And Greg Berlanti at that point in time wasn’tGreg Berlanti, but David Nutter wasDavid Nutter.
And he’s one of the most kind, generous, thoughtful men that I’ve ever met.
And he believed in me, and I believed in him.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
When it premiered,Arrowstood out from other superhero shows that had recently been on the air.
The first season was very, very difficult for me.
Everything was going great.
They wanted my character to be very stoic and disaffected, right?
We were on our own for the first nine, 10 episodes.
That was very, very tough.
You’re done with season 1."
And I go, “Yeah, I am.”
And I got sick really bad.
I got walking pneumonia.
I was sick until the fourth episode of season 2.
How did you work?I faked it until I made it.
What was it like adjusting to the physical demands of the role?I loved it.
I loved all of it.
Doing a lot of the stuff that I did in the pilot was proof of concept for the series.
I had to do it.
That’s not it.
It’s so small, there aren’t even cars golf carts, that’s it.
We walked into this restaurant that looked closed, and this woman walks out.
We’re like, “Are you guys open?”
And she goes, “Si, Arrow.”
I’m like, are you fing kidding me?
That threw it off a little bit.
Right around the midway point of the second season.
There are some actors who don’t have that much knowledge about their shows.
And then I got married, and it became the co-most important thing in my entire life.
Then my wife and I had [our daughter], andArrowdropped to number three.
But I fing care a lot about it.
I really, really do.
I think about it all the time.
For the first five seasons, we aired on Wednesday nights.
This happened every fing time.
I don’t want to call it a nightmare, but it wasn’t a nice dream.
This happened because I really care.
It extends beyond personal satisfaction.
It extends to just other people, cast, and crew getting the opportunity to do something like this.
This is not common.
You know what I mean?
We’re going into our eighth season.
This just doesn’t happen.
In your opinion, when do you thinkArrowis at its best?
Like, this is the platonic ideal of anArrowepisode?523.
Episode 116, when Tommy finds out that I’m the Green Arrow.
Episode 214 when I confront Laurel about drinking.
Nick Copus directed that episode, and he went handheld.
I’m very, very proud of that scene.
But when is it at its best?
It’s at its best in season 2 when Sara reappears.
That’s probably not going to happen for a couple of episodes."
Nope, [it happened in] act three.
That’s whenArrowis at its best.
They cast a girl in episode 3 that all of a sudden became the linchpin.
The Olicity of it all is such a big part of why people love the show.
What do you think has drawn them to it?Have you seen Emily act?
That’s what makes it work.
She’s supremely talented and awesome and carved out a space that no one anticipated.
I don’t know that show works if we don’t randomly find her.
I thinkArrowas you know it effectively ended in722.
It’s a different show in season 8.
It’s like we’re playing our greatest hits.
The premiere is the pilot.
It’s almost like episode 1 is an ode to season 1.
Episode 2 is an ode to season 3.
Her assistant sent me episode 801 two weeks after we wrapped.
I didn’t read it for four weeks because I needed some time to reset.
I’m so excited about them.
I just hope that we get to do all the things that we want to do.
Don’t leave anything in the quiver.
Arrowstarted out as this grounded and realistic show, but now we have Oliver running around with the Monitor.
I’m pumped we’re going to get to do that this year.
I don’t mean for that to sound ostentatious, but I’ve got reps now.
I’m very proud of how hard I’ve worked at being a good actor.
That’s not to say I’m not going to be st in something sometime.
And I love it.
The biggest thing I’ll take away from doing the show is my kiddo really admires what I do.
Honestly, that’s the coolest thing.
What has it been like to watchArrowgive way to an entire universe?It’s been amazing.
I’m pumped for Ruby [Rose].
It’s great [that] you do a show and it births other shows.
When I spoke to Marc, he said he woke up that morning and wrote the final scene.
Do you know how the show’s going to end?I do.
He told me today, and I cried.
I cried as he was telling me.
There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.
Arrowairs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
