Dragon Con 2015: Candice Patton Press Conference

Greetings comic book fans. The final press conference I was able to attend at Dragon Con 2015 was with The Flash star Candice Patton. I was even lucky enough to get a photo with her at the end of the press conference which you can see above. Below are some of the best questions asked during that conference.

Season 2 is supposed to have a much more emotional arc for the West family. What can you tell us about that arc and also about Mama West?

"What can I tell you? Mama West has been absent from Iris’ life for a very long time. She’s been told one thing and comes to find out from her father that that’s not true. That her mother has been gone for a completely different reason. And that comes as a shock to Iris, and that’s something that she kind of has to struggle through for a little bit."

So there is a rumor going around that your role in Season 2 will be one of a wrangler for the team, is there any truth to that rumor?

"Yeah it’s a semi-truth. I keep getting Google alerts for that as well, like, “Iris West New S.T.A.R. Labs Leader!” And I’m like, “Oh God! People are gonna be in for a shock.” Um no, she’s not the new Wells of S.T.A.R. Labs. Basically what I think was being referred to was this idea that Iris is one of the few people who can really really talk to Barry and rally him when he needs to be rallied. And there comes a point very early on in Season 2 when she needs to do that with Barry and kind of get S.T.A.R. Labs back together and back on their footing after this whole singularity has happened. They’re all shaken up, and I think a lot of them are at the point of walking away. And Iris is the one who tells them, “We’re a team, and we have to fight to save the city.” So that’s kind of her role in terms of being a leader in that sense. But you know Iris is an iconic reporter and journalist and that’s how we know her from the comic books, so that’s more of her role that we’ll see in Season 2. We’ll see her kind of step into that and be a kick ass reporter for Picture News."

Now that Iris is on Team Flash, how does that effect her job as a reporter?

"Yeah I don’t know. Um, it’s nice having Iris finally in the know, because there’s no secrets being held from her. She’s not getting in the way and she can kind of use her assets. I’m not quite sure how that will look in terms of her journalism career and how she helps the Flash or how Flash helps her. Uh, I’m assuming, you know, she’s going to find herself in some very tough and dangerous situations, and it’s nice to have someone like the Flash whose looking out for you when you’re reporting about really dangerous stuff. So yeah, that’s about all I can say about that."

Are there any scenes in Season 2 where Iris saves the day?

"Yes, there are several that I’ve shot already, which is cool. Iris, even in Season 1, we saw her as tough and kind of a bad ass. The more we can see of that … she took down the Clock King, she knocked out Peek-A-Boo with a wrench, and there’s more of that happening in Season 2. I will tell you there’s one scene where she ends up jumping out of a building, like out of a window. So there’s a lot of cool fun kick ass stuff for her."

Have you been having fun doing more of the stunt work aspect of the role?

"Yeah, it’s never too heavy. You know, we have contracts which say we can’t do certain things unfortunately, because I would totally love to do it. But my stunt double will often step in, so I can’t take a lot of the credit for a lot of that. I wish I could. But she makes me look great! But yeah, more of it I like, even the little bit that they let me do, I love doing it, it’s a challenge, and it’s really fun for me as an actor."

What’s your process? How do you get into the character?

"You know, now that we’ve been doing it for a season, I don’t really have to get into the character; I live with her everyday. Which is nice, you know, it’s not something I have to come to work and really like think about, because I live with Iris every single day. When I’m home from work, when I’m on hiatus, when I’m here with you guys, when I’m walking around, I’m thinking about her. But in terms of when I started, a lot of it was going back and reading the comics, understanding what was so beloved about Barry Allen and what was so beloved about Iris West and their relationship. For me, it’s about learning the script and knowing my lines. And then when you’re working with actors like Jesse Martin and Grant Gustin, it’s so easy, it’s really easy, so you don’t have to work that hard. Siting down with Grant, we just have a conversation, and what you see is what ends up on TV. It’s really quite easy, and I wish that I could say that it was harder, but I’m working with incredible actors. And Grant is just one of those young actors that just has a gift. He really makes you as an actor look great when really it’s him doing all the work."

How does Iris deal with the loss of Eddie, and how does her relationship with Barry evolve now that they are end game, you know that we saw that in the future?

"Yeah it’s interesting. Obviously she’s devastated that she lost Eddie. She loved Eddie, and she loved him until the last moment, and I think we saw that when she was holding on to his body. When we pick up Season 2, I mean there’s flashbacks to the Singularity, but we’re kind of picking up six months later, so she’s had time to grieve. I mean obviously you don’t get over someone that you loved in six months, but it’s not something that we see Iris dealing with everyday, the loss of Eddie. So she’s at a place when we pick up where she’s sort of putting her life back together and trying to move forward. And in terms of her relationship with Barry and how that will evolve, you all know that Patty Spivot is coming on, so there’s a relationship going on there. As far as Iris, I don’t know if she’ll have a love interest this season. I’m assuming that that would happen, I hope that that happens. That’s always fun. And Barry and Iris, it’s one of those things you know, “Will they, won’t they?” and we’re hoping to have six, seven seasons, so I think it might take a while West/Allen fans."

So if you’re going to be in the lab a lot more, do you get to interact a lot more with Caitlin? How will your friendship with her develop?

"I think it’s just hard when you only have two female characters on the show, and I think we’re remedying that this season a lot of other female characters: Patty, and Linda Park is coming back. As far as Iris’ relationship with Caitlin, I don’t know that it’s that in depth yet. One thing they do share in common is that … oh, caught myself almost saying something! I don’t know, to answer that question. I do know that there will be more female relationships, Iris West and Linda Park specifically have a friendship that will be prevalent in Season 2, which I’m excited about. They work together and they are both very strong-willed women, and they support each other, and that’s a great message for people to see."

You can see Candice Patton as Iris West in the second season of The Flash, which premieres October 6th on the CW.

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