Losing a dream role can still sting many years later, which appears to be the case for Katie Cassidy. The actress portrayed the fan-favorite role of Laurel Lance/Black Canary on The CW’sArrowfor four seasons before she was killed off in 2016. The news of Cassidy being told about her demise wasn’t exactly handled the best way, and now the actress is revealing why she believes her time on the series came to an end.
During an appearance on theInside of You with Michael Rosenbaumpodcast, Cassidy went into detail about herArrowcharacter being killed off and how she found out about it. News of a character’s death was teased at the start of the season, but Cassidy didn’t think it would be her. In a case of terrible timing, the actress found out it was her who would be meeting her end while traveling to a comic convention in New York City after the show’s creators emailed her about needing to meet to talk. Cassidy wanted to know what the meeting would be about and after being told, she had to go through the entire convention, acting as if she didn’t know she was being let go from the show. The actress said:
“I was angry at first. And I was emotional because I was sad, and I was angry because I was so happy.”
Why Was Katie Cassidy Let Go From ‘Arrow’?
Letting go of an actress who had been a big part of a series could be done for various reasons, most notably shock value, but Katie Cassidy believes there was more to it than that. The actress said, “I think it was a couple of things. I have theories. I think it was political. It’s a lot.” From there, Cassidy revealed that she felt she was frequently short-changed onArrowdespite her unwavering commitment to it.
“I feel like I’ve always been given the short end of the stick and I have to go. And I didn’t yell. I just cried because I was sad.”
Surprisingly, the Arrowverse Succeeded Where the DCEU So Often Failed
Despite having television budgets, the Arrowverse provided a better shared DC Universe than their cinematic counterpart, the DCEU.
Despite the character being killed off, Cassidy did return to theArrowversefor a guest starring role onThe Flashas Black Siren. Even though things ended abruptly for Cassidy onArrow, she was more than willing to return when producer Marc Guggenheim came to her with the offer. Following her time onThe Flash, the role of Black Siren was enhanced, and it allowed her to return toArrowas a series regular. The producers felt they had made a mistake, and the return was great for Cassidy. The actress said, “And then I was back and like better than ever and happy.”
“I had the support of the fans because that Flash episode I went on…ratings, I guess, were great and…unfortunately, I guess after they killed me, I guess their ratings went down a little. I’m not sure.”
Developed by Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg,Arrowran for eight seasons and a total of 170 episodes. Based on the DC character Green Arrow, the series followed billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), whose life is changed after being shipwrecked on an island called Lian Yu. After returning to Starling City, he begins a life of fighting crime and corruption as a vigilante. The series also starred Collin Donnell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susana Thompson, Paul Blackthorne, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes, and more, across its long run.
Source:Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum
