Actor Danielle Panabaker is diving into a new world playing Caitlin Snow on the CW’s new series “The Flash.” Known for her turns on “Justified” and in various comedic family films, she’s the first to admit she’s still learning about the comic book world. But considering how much she loves her character, it’s a universe she can’t wait to examine further.
On playing Caitlin Snow.
“I totally got who this character was. It’s exciting for me to play a woman on television who’s smart; I’ve played someone’s daughter or girlfriend, and it’s refreshing to play a character who has her own history and her own world.”
On landing a role on “The Flash.”
“I was a big fan of Greg [Berlanti, the series’ writer] for a long time; his track record was incredible, so there was huge appeal in the opportunity to work with him, and then Andy [Andrew Kreisberg] had great success with ‘Arrow.’ Then finally, when you look at superhero movies making their way to television and being successful...it’s nice to be on a project where there’s already so much known about the character and there’s a built-in fan base.”
On starting young in the business.
“I started as a child actor, and young parents of child actors will ask me advice; mine is to stay in school—that social structure and normalcy is important. The rejection of being an actor was difficult for me, so find your own way to cope and deal with that.”
On her experience so far.
“Greg, Andrew, and Geoff [Johns] are incredible producers. Jesse L. Martin [who plays Detective Joe West] was intimidating to me at first, but he couldn’t be cooler; he’s such a great paternal figure on set and looks out for all of us—he’s the first to jump to our defense. Tom [Cavanagh, who plays Harrison Wells] is interesting to watch as an actor. It’s cool to see the material I hear one way, to see how he creates something new and interesting. And Grant [Gustin] is going to be an amazing Flash; he’s very committed and devoted.”
On being a part of the comic book universe.
“What’s great from my perspective is having Geoff as an active producer…. They have such respect for the source material and they only want to do the best job they can in respect to what has already been there and been established in this universe. So it was about doing things the way they want to do them with a respect for the new.”
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