Heroic actor of the week: Stephen Amell and Ben Lewis

In this week’s Heroic Actor Of The Week column, we take a look at how Arrow’s Stephen Amell and Ben Lewis stole the show as their characters had some tender father-and-son bonding.

Another week, another star performer (well, two actually). Yep, that’s right, the end of the week means it’s time to look back and celebrate the best performance(s) across superhero television over the past week (4/11).

Last week’s installment of Heroic Actor Of The Week was devoted to the emotional father-and-son scene between Barry Allen and Joe West on The Flash as actors Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin broke our hearts with their tear-jerking performances.

It was the first time that we’ve celebrated multiple performances and that scene seems to have started a trend because now, for the second week in a row, an Arrowverse show has delivered another powerful scene between a father and son. One that, in spite of strong competition from The Flash‘s Carlos Valdes and Batwoman‘s Rachel Skarsten, resulted in the two actors involved becoming our second ever Heroic Actor Of The Week duo.

Stephen Amell and Ben Lewis – Arrow

The conclusion of Arrow Season 8, Episode 3 was, without a doubt, one of the most shocking in the show’s history, as it saw Oliver Queen reunited with the adult versions of his children William and Mia. While much of the subsequent buzz surrounded Mia’s reaction to meeting her father, it was actually the Emerald Archer’s reunion with his son that provided us with the best moments of “Present Tense”.

Catching up on the events of William’s adult life, Oliver became emotional as he heard how his son had become a successful business mogul and, in the episode’s most touching moment, this reaction prompted William to fully open up to his dad and reveal that he was gay – a statement that simply received a smile from Oliver.

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There was something so authentic about Oliver’s tender reaction that just made this so incredibly heart-warming. He knew all along and he never felt the need to mention it to his son because, in an ideal world that didn’t need him to save it from the Crisis, William would have eventually come out to him in his own time. And it was a quick scene that never made a big deal out of William’s revelation because Oliver was so quick to accept him for who he was – simply because he always had.

The authenticity itself, of course, stemmed from the performances of Ben Lewis and Stephen Amell – both of whom absolutely killed it. Though the paired shared multiple standout moments throughout the episode, this one was just that little bit extra special. Their first one-on-one scene together, their on-screen chemistry felt like they had been playing father and son for years, and that wholesome smile from Amell as Oliver reacted to William’s coming out was enough to warm anyone’s hearts – a reaction that anyone’s coming out should be greeted with.

Arrow has given us plenty of emotional scenes before but this was one of its most important. It was quiet, understated and beautiful – much like the two performances involved.

Arrow airs on The CW on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Come back next Sunday to find out who the next Heroic Actor of the Week will be!