‘Arrow’s Stephen Amell Respects Rick Gonzalez For Calling Him Out Over Set Incident

Green Arrow and Wild Dog may not always get along on Arrow, but when it comes to off-screen relationships, it sounds like Stephen Amell has nothing but the utmost respect for Rick Gonzalez thanks to how he handled an on-set incident.

In an interview with Michael Rosenbaum on his “Inside of You” podcast. Amell revealed that while the cast of The CW’s Arrowverse series generally gets along really well, there are challenging moments, especially since Amell says there are those who consider him management on the series which can color some interactions.

“To tell you one thing I really respected was this year, and I also understand that there are actors that are friends on the show but there’s a certain element of me that people are always going to think of me as management just a little bit because anybody can die on the show except probably me and they probably know I’ll probably get the script a little bit before they do or just have different and unique relationship with the producers or the director that maybe they don’t feel like they have,” Amell said. “I get that, which is why I respected what happened so much.”

He went on to explain an incident with Gonzalez stemming from their rehearsal of an important scene in the show: Oliver and Felicity’s wedding reception.

“Rick Gonzalez had a speech in episode nine this year at Oliver and Felicity’s wedding reception and he takes over for somebody who’s giving a drunk speech and it’s a very thoughtful speech and you know, I need to be cognizant of the fact that not everyone has bit and powerful and interesting and emotional speeches in every episode,” Amell said. “Some people go through an episode and have two or three lines and we were just saying the words. We weren’t even blocking the scene, we were just saying the words, and during his first reading of the speech I just, because I’m just sort of joking around in character I made kind of a flippant remark. Don’t remember what it is, but it was just meant to kind of lighten the mood…didn’t think anything of it, came back to set and he took me aside and said, ‘Can I speak with you please.’”

“I said yes, and he said ‘you making a joke like that really interferes with my process. This scene and this moment in the episode is really important to me and I didn’t appreciate what you did.’” Amell continued. “And I said ‘thank you so much for saying that. I am incredibly sorry. It will never happen again. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a joke. It wasn’t even a good one. I’m really sorry man but above all else thank you so much for coming and talking to me about it.’”

The moment sounds like something that could have easily gone the other way or simply not have been dealt with at all. Amell went on to explain that he’s aware that he doesn’t always know when he’s upset people, which for him made Gonzalez’s professionalism even more incredible and deserving of respect.

“The fact that he pulls me aside, it’s squashed, my level of respect for him which was already high jumps up even more and then you go on about your day,” he said.

Of course, when it comes to the characters however, things won’t be quite that simple. Team Arrow found itself deeply broken last season with a lot of personal animosity between newer members of the team and everyone else. While things appeared to improve towards the end Oliver Queen/Green Arrow is in prison now, a situation that leaves things in shambles, according to Juliana Harkavy who plays Dinah Drake/Black Canary on the series.

“I think the team is definitely broken, after all of the animosity that happened between us last season.” Harkavy told Entertainment Weekly. “And now the predicament Oliver is in, and just the sacrifice that he made for us. The hierarchy is broken, so we need to restructure and reevaluate how we approach the team.”

Arrow will return with new episodes on Monday, October 15th, at 8/7c on The CW.