SDCC: Katie Cassidy On Laurel’s Trajectory & “Kicking Ass”

It was a character development many fans have waited for since she was first cast: Katie Cassidy‘s Laurel Lance became the Black Canary in Arrow Season 3. Of course, the journey to becoming to the Black Canary had its bumps, and some growing pains, but then again, all good stories contain obstacles.

We spoke with Katie Cassidy at a roundtable at this year’s Comic-Con about her Black Canary journey, where she talks about training, Birds of Prey, the salmon ladder, and more. Enjoy:

So we’ve seen Laurel in costume, we’ve seen Katana, and The Huntress is out there. Are we going to see them as the Birds of Prey sometime?

I would love that. I actually don’t know. I think it would be really cool. I actually thought it would be awesome if they did a spinoff for the Birds of Prey, but I don’t know. I have a feeling they’ll probably be playing around with them.

What is Laurel’s emotional state as the next season begins?

When we saw Laurel last year, she obviously is a fighter and has a lot of heart, and I’ve always felt that way about her. This season, we’ll see her a lot more polished. She’s been training; she’s been working on her skills as much as possible, and I think that we’ll see her develop and become stronger. I also think that Andrew Kreisberg made a good point: He said “Laurel will always… sees the light at the end of the tunnel,” as opposed to Oliver who can get into dark place. Laurel always tries to see the positive in everything, and I think that she’ll continue to do that, and I think that she’s going to be a big part of the creation of Legends.

Did you train after the season ended?

The thing is, I’ve always wanted to do be in this genre. I love training, I love working out, I love action, and I kind of realized that I can determine my own destiny, and I’ve realized that “okay, I love working out, I love being healthy,” and they’re basically playing “you’ve got to look like you’re in superhero shape,” And I also think it makes the character on the show a lot more realistic, the more I can do. And, as an actor, I just feel like it’s in my brain that’s what I would do is train and work out hard…. It’s been really hard, but it certainly has paid off. It’s so much fun. I don’t know if you guys follow me on Instagram or anything, but with the training, I take it really seriously, but I love it, and it makes you feel good, too. Being strong and having biceps. If anyone tries to mess with me, I can throw down. [Laughs]

Will we see Laurel do the salmon ladder?

Thank you for asking that, because I’ve actually been working on it, and I certainly hope so. So, if Marc hasn’t come around here… when he does, you should be like “Laurel. Salmon ladder.”

How high can you get on the salmon ladder?

The thing is, I actually haven’t done the actual salmon ladder because we’ve been on hiatus and that’s on set in Vancouver. But the key is, Stephen told me, “can you do a pullup? Can you do three pullups?” I was like, “Yes, I can do 30 pullups.” He was like, “Great, that’s all you really need to do. As long as you can do pullups, I think you’ll be okay.” And I used to be a competitive gymnast. I feel like it’ll be – I don’t want to say easy – but I feel like I got it.

How proud do you think Sara would be of Laurel’s trajectory?

Oh, I feel like she would be so proud. Also, maybe a little worried. She cares about her sister, but I think she would be proud.

Considering Laurel is not on the rooftop of the Legends of Tomorrow prelude, might she be kept in the dark about her sister’s return?

[Silent smile] Watch Season 4.

How does it feel as an actress to handle Laurel’s missteps in becoming Black Canary and getting her to grow where she is?

As an actor, it worked out perfectly, and it was a dream come true, because for me, I like to make any character I play as legitimate as possible with the backstory, and creating as much detail as possible after script analysis to make the script and the story more legitimate. So, as an actor, when they actually write that for me, it’s genius, because that’s exactly — it makes it that much more realistic. I think the writers were really smart. We didn’t come out of the gates [and then] all of the sudden, I’m Black Canary. Laurel had to go through hardship to be able to come out on the other side, and for it to be believable. So I think the slow, steady pace was definitely a good thing, and I think now, I can just go crazy and kick some ass, and it’ll be awesome!