This past weekend the Heroes and Villains Fan Fest took place in San Jose, California where many stars from The Flash, Once Upon A Time, Guardians of the Galaxy and more were in attendance. The cast of Arrow had a heavy presence as well, including actors David Ramsey, Willa Holland, and Amy Gumenick, who all featured in a lively and upbeat panel. The trio talked about their respective characters on the show, fielded questions from the audience, and even spontaneously participated in the 22 Pushup Challenge. The panel really showed off the chemistry and camaraderie of Arrow’s cast and why the show works.
a little extra from – she did the 12 push challenge too- in style! Arrow pic.twitter.com/uL4S4ennu5
— TanaviP (@tanavip)
Following the festivities, I got the chance to sit down with the dynamic Amy Gumenick (TURN: Washington’s Spies). The actress – hot off of her starring role in The Binding – has made a mark in the superhero world by bringing to life the DC Comics’ villain, Cupid, in several recurring appearances on the hit CW show, Arrow. Gumenick stepped into the PoG dojo and candidly opened up about the Arrow audition process, her desire for the return of Cupid, the divide with DC’s TV and Film properties, and her own experiences as an actor.
In the past few years, you have acted in a diverse set of shows, ranging from ‘How I Met Your Mother’ to ‘CSI’ to ‘Grimm,’ What has been your favorite genre to act in?
You know, I think that we are lucky that right now we are in a time when there are so many awesome TV shows. That the possibilities and opportunities are endless.
Literally like a renaissance, right?
Yeah! It really is! So I’m always looking for roles that are different than the role I played previously.
Your most notable, recent accomplishment has been your run on ‘Arrow.’ How was the audition process for that?
You know I had auditioned for Arrow several times. Originally I had auditioned for Laurel Lance in the pilot. And I’d gone in for various roles here and there and the right one hadn’t landed yet. David Rappaport cast the show and he is such an amazing person and so loyal. He always brings back actors that he likes. I kind of knew that something at some point would hopefully be the right fit.
But when I went in for Cupid, I didn’t know anything about the character. It was a fake name. She was called ‘Redhead.’ The sides were similar, but different enough that you couldn’t figure out what was going on really. They really keep things secretive and kind of under wraps. Yeah, I had no idea who I was actually auditioning for. And I went in and thought “Redhead…I’m blond. I’m not gonna get it. I’m just going to go in and have fun.” And I think in some ways that kind of freed me up to just really have fun with it. Little did I know that there was magic, like wigs and hair dye!
But it was an audition that I left feeling like that we had so much fun in the room and I had really gotten to play with the character, that regardless of what happened, it was a great experience. And then I didn’t hear anything for about two weeks and so it was a really awesome surprise when they called. And then, I actually found out that I was playing Cupid and immediately started researching comic books and trying to find as much as I possibly could about the character.
So how familiar were you with the Green Arrow universe in general prior to casting?
Not very. I mean I knew about the Green Arrow, but I hadn’t read all the comics. So that was fun from a research standpoint, but what better homework can you get than having to read comic books! It was awesome. So I’ve become a fan since.
You mentioned at the panel, that there are lots of possibilities and ways for your character to come back. If it happened, how would you like to see Cupid return?
I think that it’s so fun that the last time that we saw Cupid, we saw a different side of her. Kind of a more human side. And I think the audience kind of (got) an understanding of who she is and where she comes from and what she’s fighting for. I think that it would be really fun to come back on The Flash. An Earth-2 rendition. A totally different Cupid! Yeah, I think that would be a fun change.
Another thing that was brought up on the panel was the division between the TV and Film side of DC live-action entertainment. Which has been a persistent story. In an ideal world, how would you like to see it handled? Would you like to see one huge (shared) world? Or do you see why there is a division?
I understand why there’s a division and I think in an ideal world it would be awesome to see the two sides sort of make up and become friends. I think it’s a little bit silly that there’s so much separation and almost competition in weird way.
And from the fan’s point of view too, to have some sort of fluidity between the film and TV versions of the DC worlds would be really fun. It would be an opportunity for us to dive a little bit deeper and expose a broader audience to all of the magic that is in the DC world.
There you go… Why did you originally get into acting?
I’ve always known, as far back as I can remember, that this is what I was meant to do. For lack of better words. When I was five, was my first tangible memory of really deciding that this is what I was going to do with my life. I always wanted to do lots of different things. I kind of went through phases, as most children do, different career dreams. But it always came back to acting and I realized as a teenager that by being an actress that I could kind of do all of those things. I’ve always been really attracted to the power and obligation that artists have to give back and teach and inspire. Not to sound cheesy, but to change the world, even if it’s one person’s life. No matter what’s happened in my career, that’s been kind of my driving point. How can I use what I do to make some sort of greater good. Or change the way that someone thinks about something. Or impact them in some way.
What do you have in the future that you are looking forward to, or that we can look forward to?’
I just did a film The Binding, which is a horror, psychological thriller that was just released a few weeks ago. And is available on iTunes, Amazon, and kind of popping up all over the place, which is exciting. And then coming up I shot an episode of NCIS, that airs on September 27th I believe. And then we’ll see! TURN: Washington’s Spies on AMC just got picked up for season four…so fingers crossed! Don’t know my fate on that show yet. And back to the grind and see what’s next. Hopefully something in store for Cupid…we’ll see!
The Binding is available on Amazon now. Season five of Arrow begins on October 5th on the CW Network.
How would you like to see Cupid come back? What do you think of the DC TV and film divide? Let us know on , , , and Reddit! Make sure to share our stories on your favorite social media by clicking below.