Arrow‘s Caity Lotz Talks Sara Lance and Media Representation At New Orleans Wizard World Comic Con
Q: Filming that actual scene, how long did it take to get that shot? To take the arrows and fall off the roof?
Lotz: We actually ended up having to reshoot part of it. That was a very hard scene to get down and a very important one to get right. Originally they wanted to have Laurel pick Sara up and then carry her down the alleyway in one of those dramatic shots, like “NOOOOOO!!” But Katie [Cassidy]’s character had heels on, like these little stilettos, and I’m a strong girl, like I’m not like a little waif that you can just pick up, so we were trying to do it, with her picking me up in her heels she’s like tripping down the thing [laughing], and, yeah, so that didn’t work out, they just kept it on the ground.
Q: How did you feel about the relationship between Sara and Sin? Did you want it to be developed more?
Lotz: I think that it definitely was an interesting relationship, so I think they could have done more with it. Unfortunately we didn’t really have time. ‘Cause that was like a really interesting sisterhood they had going on, and both were like such misfits, you know. And I liked that about them. And when Sara had no one, she had Sin; that was the only person she really had and who really accepted her. So, yeah I wish they would do a little bit more of that. I heard that, and I hope this isn’t a spoiler because I think I read it on the internet, that Sin is going to be in episode 12, so that’ll be fun to get to see that character again.
Q: Do you have any favorite moments with Katie Cassidy, or any favorite moments in regards to their sisterhood?
Lotz: You know what’s a lot of fun? Katie [Cassidy] has two sisters, and I don’t have any sisters (I have a brother), but when we would work on scenes together and talk about it she would share with me what’s going on with her sisters and we would be able to use that and kind of put it into the scene. It was fun playing the ‘old school’ us too, like in the flashbacks, because we’re so ridiculous! [laughing] It’s like, “What boys are you talking to in college?” But then even later, I remember a scene in Verdant when Sara was bar tending and Laurel comes in to apologize and I remember when she was doing that and crying and you could so feel that—the love that was between them. [TV shows] do need more sister stuff! Yeah!
Women in the Industry
Q: The women on Arrow all have different characters; they have real fight scenes instead of just sexy ladies fighting sexy ladies. I was just wondering if you could talk a little about playing a woman in an action type role, and if you think that sort of a trend that’s spreading?
Lotz: I really hope so! People have tried on a few different shows with female superheroes and the same with movies, and if it doesn’t do well they’re like, “Oh, it’s doomed! Nobody likes female superheroes!” but a lot of times it’s like, “No, it’s the script. It’s the writing. It’s not necessarily because it’s a girl!” But it is harder, and you see it’s a little bit of a boy’s club, and I think we have to keep, you know, fighting to make it not [a boy’s club], and to bring in the [female] presence and not just as like, “Oh I’m so cute and sexy” but like, “No, I’m badass and I can do this just like a guy can!” And I really do hope it’s a trend and that we have more of it. I think as consumers, and the fans, and the viewers, you guys have a lot of say in that. So, I think we definitely, we have to support that and keep bringing it, and then it will be more of a trend.
Q: Was that something that you discussed when you were cast [in Arrow], that you did not want your character to be just a prop or accessory?
Lotz: I think that when Sara was dreamt up, nobody was like, “Oh, this is going to be some like weak chick or arm candy.” They wrote this knowing that they wanted Sara to be strong, and I was always happy that I got to play it like that. There’s a few times when something was written in and it was like, Sara was so girly and kind of weak, and I’m like “I don’t know if I would really say that.” And I remember one time there was [a scene], and Sara was with Oliver and they were in a fight, and they had it written where she was like, “Talk to me about your feelings. What are you feeling?” and I was like, “I don’t know if Sara would do that,” and they were like, “You know what? You’re right, she wouldn’t do that.” They never had to play the damsel in distress; like, Sara can hold her own, and I think that’s one of my favorite things about her is that she does have that power.
Q: Have you noticed with these [kinds of] roles that there’s a ripple effect? Have you noted that there are more action roles for women that are emerging, or that there are stronger roles for women, and do you think it’s as a result of shows like Arrow and superhero movies and things of that nature?
Lotz: Yeah. I think, [the movie] Lucy is a good example. That’s kind of like a super heroine movie that did well; people liked it. I think we still have a far ways to go, there’s definitely a lot more stuff for men than there is for women. I think that you can also look at pay and stuff. You know, we’ve been reading articles about how actresses don’t get paid as much as their male counterparts even if they’re like in equal places, and it is a problem. And it’s weird because I never really noticed it before, and now it’s like I’m paying attention to it more and, you know, we do need to pay attention to it more. It’s weird to me because I’ve always had strong female characters. I always get to play these cool roles; I’ve never played the pretty girl that’s just there (which would be incredibly boring) but I hear from a lot of people that that’s still what it is, so I think we have a ways to go. I’d like to say, “Yeah, everything is equal and there’s all these great roles for women” but there’s really not. We need more.
LGBT Representation
Q: Did you feel a lot of pressure or anxiety over playing a more bisexual Canary? Was it kind of hard for you to think about putting that on TV, because we don’t see a lot of lady love on TV, especially ones where there’s an actual relationship happening?
Lotz: That’s a really good point! I didn’t feel at all awkward or intimidated by it. For me, it wasn’t a big deal. Sara loves this person; Sara loves that person. It doesn’t really matter that that person’s a girl or that person’s a boy. Someone told me an interesting term I hadn’t heard of before was pan, like pansexual…
Q: …or maybe demisexual, where there’s no sexual attraction until there’s a connection?
Lotz: Yeah!
Q: …but anything that isn’t like, go throw yourself at Green Arrow like he’s the only game in town kind of thing…
Lotz: I liked that about Sara. I think it was easy because it wasn’t about “is she a lesbian, is she straight, is she this?” It’s like, it doesn’t matter, she just loves who she loves, and that was it. So that, to me, was just very normal.
Q: Well, thank you for bringing that kind of representation because it’s hard to find that on TV shows and comic books, really.
Lotz: Yeah, we need more of that. I think you see a lot more gay men than you do women, and I think they really need to be represented more on TV.
Q: In the show, it wasn’t a big deal, it wasn’t a conversation point; it just was. Was it that way from the beginning? Was there ever dialogue [that didn’t make it to airing] that made it more of a big deal?
Lotz: No, the writers were on the same boat with that. It was never a thing, and I really respect them for doing it like that. They never tried to capitalize on it and make it so taboo or anything. It was very natural and simple.
[Finally, Lotz was asked where she would like to see her career going from here]
Lotz: To the stratosphere! [laughing] I don’t know. I want it to go up, I want it to go in a good direction, and it’s fun working on TV. I like that because you get this on-going relationship with the fans, so I think it would be great to get on another show full time (that would be cool); and, I love movies so I’d love to do like a good indie drama. I’ve done a lot of action stuff lately so it would be good to do a drama.
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What do you think should be next for the lovely Caity Lotz? Indie drama flick, or are you chomping at the bit for more kick-ass superhero stuff?
Eris Walsh (@SheGeeksBlog) is obsessed with Batman, Neil Gaiman, chemistry, Doctor Who, and baseball. She also enjoys scouring conventions for fantastic examples of cosplay craftsmanship and discussing role-playing games (both table top and LARP), comics, movies, etc. with other enthusiasts. Eris can also be found on her blog She-Geeks, where she writes about geek stuff; On Comicosity, where she posts comic book reviews; and on the Krewe du Who community webpage, where she posts weekly reviews of current Doctor Who episodes.
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