Five Questions About "Lost Canary" with 'Arrow' Star Juliana Harkavy

Tonight's episode of Arrow might not be named after the all-female DC super-team the Birds of Prey -- they already did that in a previous episode -- but it has been tied to the concept since it was first announced. Titled "Lost Canary," the episode brings together Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), the Earth-2 Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), Sara Lance (DC's Legends of Tomorrow star Caity Lotz), and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) in a story that may help set the standard for Laurel's status quo going forward. The episode had a largely female behind-the-camera presence, too, and when we had a chance to speak with series star Harkavy last week, she expressed how excited she was by the opportunity to work opposite some of the Arrowverse's most badass women.

We already shared some of that conversation -- the part where she talked about working with Katie Cassidy, and about being excited by the fact that they got a chance to do a female-centric episode with Emily Bett Rickards, who will depart the series at the end of the currently-ongoing seventh season -- but there was more to say. You can check out the rest of our conversation below.

What was your first thought when they told you this episode was a go?

It was so exciting! We heard that they were going to do it, and then when it actually became a reality and we had a female director, and female writers as well, all of us were just thrilled. It was an honor. It was really an honor, and I appreciate so much that Beth was so passionate about doing this, because working with the women on our show felt so unique. It had been so many years that we've been doing this, but it was just an amazing experience. It was wonderful.

As somebody who came in around the time Team Arrow started to really shake up on a regular basis, how has that been as an actor? Has it felt like this show is just always moving at a breakneck pace?

A little bit, yeah, it does. I would say there were more consistent things that we would come back to back during season five. Even just being in the bunker -- when you think about earlier seasons, we spent so much time having long discussions in the bunker with the whole team, and slowly that's been phased out between the prison stuff and then being deputized. So having the SCPD, we really don't have that planted sense of the home base as much so it can feel like we're bopping around a lot, but I quite like it.

I think when you have so many episodes that you're shooting, it's good to keep it changing, keep it moving. I think Beth has done a really good job of doing that, but still having it feel like the show. And it has felt a little bit more rooted as we've ended this season.

When you're spending time in the Bunker these days, it's always trashed. Being physically in that space -- is that almost a metaphor for what you're talking about, that this is literally the cobwebbed version of the old show?

That's so funny. Yes, very much so. You feel, and you remember when you're in there, all those old scenes where everything's shiny and bright and new and you know we're young and then coming back to where it's all grown over and there's been so much change. It's definitely metaphorical, I don't think I've ever thought of it that way but it is. You're right.

Obviously this episode is going to see you really being rooted back with people who you've been working with for a few years, even if you don't necessarily share a ton of screen time all the time. How has that been, going back and forth between the old co-stars that you've been with for a few years and then the new folks in the future stuff?

It's been exciting. It's been nice to have something different to do. You go to work, and you play two versions of the same character. Especially because I've never played a character as long as I've played Dinah, so it's been really nice to give her somewhere to go and to get that area to play with where she's back and forth and you can play up things in the future or play down things in the future or in the present based on where she's going. It's almost been like a game. It's been really fun.

What was it like finally getting to work with Caity Lotz? That isn't something you have really had a chance to do.

That was great. One of my favorite parts of the shoot. Caity is one of my favorite people to work with. I'm incredibly inspired by her, so I got to really see her in action and I got to see her really do her thing, which is frigging impressive, I got to say. I was like, "wow, I really kind of have to step it up a little," after I saw Caity working. I'd be like, "okay, I'm gonna roll under this thing." And she'd be like, "I'm just gonna backflip over it." She effortlessly is just the most badass person ever. So it was incredible working with her. Very, very inspiring. Very fun.

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