Keiynan Lonsdale and Carlos Valdes Talk Grappling With Their Characters' Dark Sides In Season 3

On The CW, The Flash is generally considered one of the brighter, happier superhero shows...so [...]

By Russ Burlingame

On The CW, The Flash is generally considered one of the brighter, happier superhero shows...so this year when both Wally West and Cisco Ramon started sulking around Central City, some fans have been worried that the characters would change from the people they've always loved.

Not so, according to the actors that play them, although that doesn't mean that the losses they've suffered -- the death of his brother due to the Flashpoint paradox in the case of Cisco and the loss of his powers (which manifested only during "Flashpoint" but nowhere else yet) for Wally.

The pair, so far, seem to be enjoying the new challenge presented by season 3, and have a pretty good sense for what the purpose of their current trials are.

"It's been really interesting, really challenging in a lot of ways, too," Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco, told reporters during a visit to the set of The Flash yesterday. "I feel a lot of ownership over this character and so I've found it interesting to balance the comic expectations of this character while at the same time grounding him in the realistic grief that he's undergoing at this moment. It's been interesting and continues to be interesting to explore how that grief defines Cisco and his trajectory from here on out. It becomes clearer as more episodes transpire how Dante's death plays a role in Cisco's growth as a person."

While Wally can't quite put his finger on what's "missing," that doesn't mean it's doing him any less harm than what Cisco is going through at the moment.

Keiynan Lonsdale and Carlos Valdes
(Photo: Russ Burlingame)

"For Wally, I think before we ever met him, he's always been missing something in his life," said Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays Wally. "I think initially that was his father and his sister, in spite of not knowing them. Now that he has that, it's discovering that there's something missing within him. I think he has always felt a little bit unsure of his place and what he's supposed to do in this world. Now especially dealing with the fact that he's having dreams and knows that there's potentially another path for him, he's sort of mad about that."

"He's not reckess for no reason," Lonsdale added. "We'll see his passion. Obviously there's a desperation there because he wants to prove himself an I think we start to understand why he is reckless. I think he dsometimes doesn't put enough value on his own life, which is something that he needs to learn, but it's definitely going to go deeper and deeper as the dreams go further and start to manifest in different ways, he'll be more affected."

The Flash airs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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