Last week’s episode “The Scientist” had many revelations and shocking moments, one of the biggest being when Oliver (Stephen Amell) shot Roy (Colton Haynes) with an arrow to keep him from getting in his way. That Oliver would actually shoot Roy felt like an arrow piercing our hearts. We felt Roy’s acute pain and disbelief.
In a recent press interview at the WBTV Mondo International Press Tour, star Colton Haynes talked about how Roy is going to react to the Arrow’s betrayal and what roadblocks arise in the Roy/Thea (Willa Holland) blossoming romance as a result of the Dark Archer’s return.
How is Roy going to react now that he’s been benched by Oliver from the activities of the Arrow?
COLTON: He really just hurt Roy in the last episode. He’s really disappointed by that. He’s not very happy. I don’t think his idol has treated him very well. So I think Roy is going to assemble, with the help of people close to Roy, to work hard to unmask the Arrow, and he is going to be very happy if and when that happens.
Will Roy officially join the team with John (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) to help the Arrow at some point soon?
COLTON: He is now hopefully on the path of doing that, but since Roy is very stubborn and he got shot in the leg by Arrow, he’s going to use his stubborn nature to go, “I don’t need you anymore.” But also in this next episode something is going to happen to Roy that is going to in a way make him a lot more powerful than Arrow and I think Arrow is going to need Roy more than Roy needs him.
Will Roy’s relationship with Thea face new challenges?
COLTON: [SPOILER ALERT!] Yes, especially now that Thea is about to find out who her real father is — or she’s about to. Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) has been trying to tell her and they have drawn that out for a bit. So she’s about to find out a very big thing about her father and that’s going to throw her into a whirlwind. She’s going to go into a downward spiral and it’s going to allow Roy to go back to get into a little bit more trouble.
What do you think you have learned from Roy?
COLTON: I learned to not have such a big guard up all the time. It’s been fun to play someone like that because he’s just guarded. That’s not particularly me, but it’s also helped me just let loose a little bit. Live a little bit more. Be a little more fun ’cause he’s kind of down.
What would be your advice to Roy?
COLTON: (Laughs) My advice to him would be to calm down on the hair gel. He could kill someone with that. No, seriously, I think my advice to Roy would be to go find his parents, or at least the ones that are still living and to have people in your life, to fix some of his relationships so he is not so brooding and carrying all that anger.
On set, who’s the biggest prankster?
COLTON: Probably me. I guess I pull a lot of pranks. Also if someone falls or gets hurt and I crack up, so that happens a lot. Like people tripping and I laugh during a take. I got to do a scene with Susanna, who plays Moira, and we didn’t finish the scene because she was improv-ing the entire scene, like naming extras and talking to them and bringing them into the scene and I was laughing so hard that we couldn’t actually get the take.
What is your favorite thing about Roy?
COLTON: I like that he is dramatically funny. It’s great to know that there is a big backstory behind Roy Harper and that he is not just this angry, brooding character. He has a big heart and he has just a big wall up right now and whoever can figure out how to break that wall down will be pleasantly surprised to know that he is actually a very light-hearted person.
Do you have any favorite episodes, scenes or moments?
COLTON: My favorite episode so far has been Episode 2 of this season. That was a really fun episode for my character. I got to have a really big scene with Stephen’s character, Oliver, and that really started the dynamic of them having this love-hate relationship. So that was a fun scene, and then I got to shoot this really awesome stunt scene that is coming up in Episode 12 with Arrow. There’s massive explosions and amazing stunts. It’s just taking it to an entirely new level.
Have you practiced any martial arts to prepare for the fight scenes?
COLTON: No, no. I’m not very coordinated when it comes to stunts. So I have the best stunt double, Curtis. He’s incredible. We have any amazing stunts team that makes my job so much easier and allows me to learn my lines for my character.
You’ve mentioned that you watched the whole first season of ARROW over two days before you joined the show. What was that experience like?
COLTON: It was a very emotional experience. Before ARROW I didn’t watch a lot of TV that had a lot of action. I think what our show has done is it has integrated really great character moments and great relationships, but when you watch it you feel like you’re watching “Batman” or a 3-hour blockbuster movie, but we’re doing it in 43 minutes. So it was exciting for me to see that amount of time they put into making everything look incredible.
Could you talk a little about the Bose commercials, which feature Roy and Felicity? Those are awesome!
COLTON: Those are so fun. We had so much fun doing those. They were called “Bose and Arrows” at first, but now they are called “Blood Rush.” Emily and I were joking about how, “We hope we get a Season 2!” We shot six episodes in one day and, since Emily is one of my best friends, it was fun to work with her and to get to see the dynamic between Felicity and Roy, before it comes on the show. It was just fun. They made it really funny and light. They are airing those during the commercial breaks and I believe they are going to start airing them internationally as well. That’s going to be really fun for the fans to see that grouping with those characters together.
To see whether Roy and the Arrow can patch things up or if Roy will begin down a dark path out of anger and rejection, be sure to tune in for an all new episode of ARROW on Wednesday, December 11th at 8:00 p.m. on the CW.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).