Introduced in what could have been a one-off guest appearance, Emily Bett Rickards quickly became an increasingly popular presence on Arrow as Felicity Smoak. Soon, Felicity was part of Oliver Queen’s inner circle, assisting him in his crime-fighting, and Rickards herself was upgraded to a series regular for Season 2.
Last month, with Arrow having recently gone back into production, I spoke to Rickards about the evolution of Felicity and where Season 2 finds her and her allies.
IGN: We’ve seen that in Season 2 there’s a bit of a makeover to the -- I don’t know if you want to call it the “Arrow Cave,” the “Arrow Lair.”
Rickards: She’s upgraded it... She’s done a makeover on the Arrow Cave, as well as herself. Everything is upgraded. [Singing] Gonna upgrade ya’!
IGN: Upgraded in what respect?
Rickards: Everything’s just more high-tech. Everything’s been vamped up a little bit. I think her hair’s a little bit more down sometimes -- like that’s a really big deal or something. [Laughs] The Arrow Cave’s just got some new gadgets.
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak in Arrow.
IGN: Just tell me, as an ocular-challenged person myself, that she’ll keep the glasses though.
Rickards: She keeps the glasses. I wouldn’t let them go away. They’re part of her charm!
IGN: I agree!
Rickards: Five months didn’t pass and she became a whole new being. There’s a reason she hasn’t had contacts up until she was 24, you know?
IGN: The finale was very impressive as far as how big it went. This huge event has happened. When we pick up, how is she dealing with it, and how is the whole team dealing with what has happened?
Rickards: Everyone is still broken into pieces. Five months have passed, but I don’t think you quickly come back from a tragedy like the Undertaking delivered to or how it wrecked Starling City. Everyone is still fighting through it. You can imagine such devastation and such tragedy that happens in a town. Oliver is still broken down, and Felicity’s trying to put him back together as well. But it’s really hard because she’s trying to put herself back together, so... turmoil, turmoil, drama, drama, drama! Tension, tension!
IGN: [Laughs] That’s what the people want! Felicity went out in the field with Oliver and Diggle a bit as Season 1 progressed. Might that happen again more?
Rickards: Oh, all the time I think. She’s a more powerful aspect to the trio now and she understands more about it. She had a whole season to work in it. She’s become craftier as well. To aid and to help with her brilliance in the team, it’s needed. You know, maybe she’s been doing some training. I don’t know...
IGN: You predicted my next question!
Rickards: I know I did. I saw itching, I saw it.
IGN: “He’s going for the training question!” Are you hoping to slowly see her develop a little bit of that fighting prowess?
Rickards: I do. I think behind the scenes she’s definitely been training. I think she has to have been. I don’t think Oliver and Diggle would have let her get away with that. But whether or not we’re going to see that right away, I haven’t heard anything. I work out, so Felicity must be losing weight somehow. She’s toned, right? [Laughs]
IGN: Your character obviously really took off with the fandom. What do you think it is about her that people gravitated towards?
Rickards: I think her zero filter is a huge gravitational pull. She’s just very honest, I think because she’s really awkward. She’s a little bit overly awkward and a little bit animated, but I think we all kind of are. We don’t always get to see those TV characters, we don’t always get to see them be really animated. We get to see a lot of drama. I think there’s maybe some sort of spark within that that people gravitate towards. She’s relatable, she’s honest. She doesn’t have a filter, so she can’t not be.
IGN: Anything you can say about the overriding threat this season now that, apparently, the Merlyns are out of the picture?
Rickards: Ah. Man, there’s so much going on. The first three episodes are so big that you can just expect so much impact on your psyche while watching this show. [Laughs] Every five minutes, every minute! You get some downtime, and then you’re just crying again -- then you’re excited again.
IGN: An emotional whirlwind!
Rickards: Yeah!
Arrow: Season 2 premieres October 9th on The CW.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.
Source : ign[dot]com
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