Former “Glee” Warbler Grant Gustin makes his debut as Barry Allen (the young man who will become The Flash) on The CW’s “Arrow” this Wednesday and he’s playing the type of character fans of his Fox show might not be expecting. For starters, Barry is sweet and kind.
“He’s fun to play. He’s likable,” Grant said on Monday, when AccessHollywood.com asked him what he likes about his new character during a screening of the show’s mid-season finale for TV writers.
“I would be his friend,” Grant added. “I haven’t had the opportunity to play a character that I would actually enjoy spending time with. So, that’s nice.”
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Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg previously told reporters that Grant was the first person they saw for the role, coincidentally, something that happened with Stephen Amell. On Monday, Grant opened up about what he latched on to in those script pages.
“I immediately thought he was really funny and endearing and I hadn’t done anything like that and I had a lot of fun with that, just throughout the audition process,” Grant told reporters. “And they kind of started steering me in that direction, immediately, as soon as I met them, and [told me] just to have fun with it and kind of took it from there I guess.”
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Grant will, as of now, appear in just the December 4 and December 11 episodes of “Arrow” Season 2. He was originally going to come back in Episode 20, which was to serve as a backdoor pilot to launch his character’s journey as he becomes The Flash, but that will now be made into a standalone pilot not included in the “Arrow” season.
To get ready for that pilot, Grant has been training hard, but not with the same routine that “Arrow” star Stephen tackles.
“My actual workout routine is much different then what he did and what he still does just because our body types are so different, but it’s a lot of working out for hours at a time,” Grant said.
“I’ve been training with an Olympic running trainer and putting some mass on my body and that’s kind of where we’re at right now,” he added.
“Arrow’s” two-part mid-season finale kicks off on Wednesday, December 4 at 8/7c on The CW.
— Jolie Lash
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