ARROW: KATIE CASSIDY AND EMILY BETT RICKARDS ON HOW FELICITY HAS INSPIRED LAUREL 

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Katie Cassidy and Emily Bett Rickards On Set Interview

The Arrow stars talk Damien Darhk and relationships.

A show like Arrow has to keep some big secrets, which meant when I visited the Vancouver set a few weeks back, I wasn’t allowed to see what was being filmed on another soundstage, as I visited the Palmer Technologies offices. As it turned out, the Arrow crew were right in the midst of filming the most recent episodes – hence the secrecy, as they didn’t want anyone to know Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) had ended up in a wheelchair by this point.

All of which is to say, that’s why you won’t see me ask about this big new development for Felicity in the following interview with Rickards and Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance/Black Canary). On a typically long night for the Arrow crew -- this interview was done at midnight and they\'d still be filming for several hours -- I spoke to the Arrow cast members about the threat of Damien Darhk this year, the relationship between Felicity and Laurel and where they stand in the ever-present Oliver & Felicity vs. Oliver and Laurel debate.

Check the top of the page for a video version of this interview.

IGN TV: We’ve got Damien Darhk this season, who right out of the gate has been this big threat. But I almost think, so early on in this season he was a threat, and he\'s a great threat, but is there going to be something else, a curveball maybe? Anything coming that might either assist him or also be a problem?

Katie Cassidy: Well, if we tell you, we might have to kill you.

might kill you. I think what\'s so interesting about him is that we don\'t know the limitations of his powers, because we haven\'t seen him fail yet. So we don\'t know how strong he actually is, and all these powers are so mystical as they are, which also makes him unpredictable. We just don\'t know where he\'s going to go with that. So he could get even stronger, is kind of where I\'m going with that.

Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak in Arrow.

Cassidy: Which I love that aspect, that they\'re bringing into this season. It\'s interesting because, aside from him, we learn about Shadowspire, and they get more involved as the season goes on. There\'s more to come, and I\'m excited for that.

IGN: You guys have a great, growing team dynamic on the show. You always want to see different pairings and the energies of different characters -- Would you like to see your two characters maybe get some more scenes together; an adventure of your own?

Rickards: Yeah, we feel like we\'ve sort of tricked the writers into... Because we stand beside each other a lot, and the thing is, what happens when you have six people in a scene is not all of you get to talk to one another. So I feel like that\'s happening more for Laurel and Felicity -- and they should be friends, because they\'re such similar thinkers… Emotionally.

Cassidy: Yeah, absolutely. It\'s funny because it\'s not a relationship that I really put too much thought into, only because up until Season 3, there wasn\'t a lot of interaction between Felicity and Laurel. It\'s actually awesome, because now, I feel as though -- and I haven\'t really talked about this with you – I’ll do backstory and stuff like that, and I feel like Laurel looks at Felicity and is inspired by her, and Felicity\'s teaching her things. I wish I could say they think the same way, but Felicity\'s a genius... [Laughs]

Rickards: Well, I think they do in an emotional context. I totally agree with the looks. We\'re shooting this scene right now, and my instinct is to turn and look at you for this line, but there\'s no chance for me to do it, so I\'ve actually been fighting this this whole scene; I\'m like doing this weird look to you! I’m doing this weird look/neck thing! [Laughs]

Cassidy: But I do think it\'s inspirational, and I think that anything… if there are scenes that Felicity, wherever she is with her mom or whatnot, if she\'s not in the scene, I feel like Laurel has kind of paid attention to her tech skills and picked up on them. So I don\'t know, I feel that there is a friendship, and I hope and I think that there\'s definitely room for it to grow, for sure.

Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Canary in Arrow.

Rickards: I agree. I justify things. Like if we haven\'t shown on television that Felicity\'s found something out, I justify it with like, "Oh, Felicity and Laurel talked about it. They called each other." Because we never show those things, right?

IGN: I don\'t think I\'m going to shock you guys by saying that some of the fans get very invested in the love stories on this show. There\'s the whole contingent of, "Oh, well, it\'s Oliver and Felicity…" but then there\'s the comic book contingent of, "Oh, no, Laurel and Oliver..." Do you guys have a deeply invested "where you want it to end," or do you just kind of like to see the different dynamics they can do?

Rickards: I like seeing the different dynamics, but I also feel like our story’s our story, and it\'s kind of like where that leads. It\'s kind of where that tumbles, really, and having that fall organically as opposed to sticking to a structure -- does that make sense?

Cassidy: Yeah, absolutely. Also, thinking about it, I felt I was happy -- and the way I look at their relationship -- I\'m happy for Oliver, and I\'m happy for Felicity. I see Felicity as this genuinely beautiful person and good person. Obviously, I still think Oliver is the love of Laurel\'s life, but that doesn\'t mean you end up with the love of your life. So I feel like she\'s come to peace with that. But it\'s also… Laurel didn\'t know who she was as a person when we saw her in Season 1, so she had to find herself and go through this journey on her own. Meanwhile, she got to watch this beautiful relationship blossom.

Rickards: She\'s recreated herself, really. It\'s amazing. I mean, that\'s what happens. That’s real.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.