Arrow Exclusive: Colton Haynes on Roy's Breaking Point, Meeting The Hood and More!
Jim Halterman at .Ever since Roy Harper first showed up on Arrow, viewers have been faced with lots and lots of questions.
Is he really Speedy from the Green Arrow comics? Is he good or bad? Is he going to be a positive influence on Thea? Will we have a Salmon Ladder face off? (Okay, that last one is more wishful thinking…)
We’ll get some answers in tonight’s solid episode, “Salvation,” when Harper ends up in the hands of a vigilante murderer known as “The Savior” and not only comes into contact with The Hood... but is possibly steered into an intriguing direction of his own.
Colton Haynes, who will be a series regular on Arrow season 2, jumped on the phone with me yesterday to tease the episode and just what the relationship between Ollie and Roy will be like moving forward...
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TV Fanatic: We find Roy and Thea spending some intimate time together in this episode. What’s going on between them? Is it just a physical thing or maybe something deeper?
Colton Haynes: She is someone who cares about him more than people have in the past but he’s lied to her in the past, as well, so he might be keeping his guard up a little but at the same time he knows that she’s there and he likes it that way.
TVF: Do we get more of a glimpse into some of this shady business that Roy is up to in this episode?
CH: Yes, but he also reaches a breaking point and he starts to realize that this could be my last day alive. But The Hood, in their first meeting, he saves [Roy’s] life. He really just piques his interest and Roy starts to realize there’s something else out there that he can be a part and he can actually feel a part of. Everything is also leading to The Glades, the past few episodes, with this underground map and everything.
TVF: In the comics, Green Arrow becomes a mentor for Roy, aka Speedy. I know the writers aren’t following all that to the letter but will we see Oliver take a mentor role for Roy in future episodes?
CH: I think they’re going to tease it and they’re going to draw that out. The upcoming episodes with Roy and Oliver are more geared around [Ollie] being the protective older brother and to keep Thea out of trouble but when she spends time with Roy she gets into a lot more trouble than she’s anticipating.
It will be interesting because there is a totally different interpretation of who Speedy is. Of course, Oliver calls Thea ‘Speedy’ but they took out a scene in a past episode where Thea calls Roy ‘Speedy’ so I think that that would’ve sent the fans into a whirlwind so they would’ve been like ‘Which comic are they going to go with?’ I think in some interpretations of the comics Roy is the drug addict and has been this troublemaker but then in most of the others he is Robin to Oliver’s Batman…but whatever they do they’re going to draw it out, I think.
TVF: From the viewer’s standpoint, Roy and Oliver seem a lot alike. They’ve been through a lot and they push people away. Do you see it that way?
CH: Yeah, but I think that’s going to take some time because Roy is going to be causing a lot of trouble and Thea is going to get in more trouble than Oliver would like. It’s not going to be this happy friendship between Roy and Oliver in the beginning but eventually it will go down another route.
TVF: Roy has a line in this week’s episode where he says nobody would miss him if he were gone. Is that the really the case or will we find out he does have more people in his life that we haven’t met yet?
CH: Yes. There’s this line in a past episode where Thea says, ‘I’ve lost a lot of people and just because I’m privileged doesn’t mean I haven’t felt pain.’ She starts to realize in upcoming episodes that there are people that were very close to him that he’s lost and in some ways he could have a list of his own and that could be why he’s seeking out The Hood because he’s trying to avenge the death of those that he has lost, as well.
TVF: You’re no stranger to the fandom of a show you’re involved in with Teen Wolf, but is it safe to say you’ve heard the same from fans since joining Arrow?
CH: Yeah, it’s been so great because obviously with all that stuff that went down with me not being on Teen Wolf anymore, I’m very sad but I’m glad those fans have stuck around and really supported me through the Arrow stuff. But the fandom around these comic book projects, and also around the werewolf projects, has been very positive. That’s been great.
It’s been fun to be able to be able to interact with them on Twitter and it’s a really, really fun show for the fans and I think Andrew [Kreisberg] and Marc [Guggenheim] and Greg [Berlanti] are doing a good job of incorporating what’s in the comics but also adding a new dimension to it.
TVF: I know when you were on Teen Wolf you had a very intense fitness regime. How has that changed for Arrow?
CH: I’m definitely going to need a trainer going into the second season! With the Teen Wolf diet, I gained 20 or 25 pounds and in order to keep playing the teenage character that I play I’ve probably lost 20 pounds since Teen Wolf. The good thing is that I haven’t had to do anything too physical and I haven’t been too shirtless so far but now I’m like ‘Great, I have to work like the Great God that is Stephen Amell.’ He works out in his sleep! If I have to stand next to him I’m going to look like a little person so I’m definitely going to have to up my game to try to compete with Stephen.
"Salvation," which Stephen Amell gushed over in a previous interview with TV Fanatic, airs on The CW tonoght at 8/7c.
Jim Halterman is the West Coast Editor of TV Fanatic and the owner of JimHalterman.com. Follow him on Twitter.
