Stephen Amell Interview - Actor teases arrow season 2

Stephen: The show is a lot free-er. I mean, we're in our second season. We've only had one new director so far. So everyone that's come in is has sort of known the game plan and we're doing a lot of the things that worked for us last year and not doing the things that didn't work. I think the storytelling is tighter. But for Oliver, he has much less of a weight on him. There was very little that was heroic about what he was doing last year, say for, what he attempted at the very, very end. It was all vengeance and revenge and the burden of his father. So for Oliver this year, he's just much, much more relaxed, much more easy going. Because what he's doing and how he's spending his nights is making him feel good. He's not really chasing a ghost anymore. Interviewer: There might not be much room for romance right now, but where is his heart? Is his heart still with Laurel? Or is his heart just closed off from everybody? Stephen: Well, he has a very critical line in the sixth episode we're not talking about that at the moment. But, he is in a spot where he is convinced that he shouldn't be with anybody, that he could really, really care about. That doesn't mean he can't be with some people that he sort of kind of cares about. That's one of the things that we actually touched on in the first season. And we are also in season two as well. That I think that if you gave this guy some truth serum, he would admit to being a little bit lonely. Interviewer: How has working with Diggle and Felicity changed his mission? Stephen: Well, it's expanded it. It was a very narrow scope in the first year, leading into the first season, excuse me, the second season. The first episode, we're dealing with hood copycats and in the second episode, it's a very straightforward, people are stealing medical supplies that are earmarked for Glades memorial. And we're seeing Oliver be really upset by people messing with justice and what should happen in the city to make the city a better place. And both Diggle and Felicity have imparted some of those values onto him. Because again, he didn't learn. He learned a lot of martial arts on the island and he learned how to use a bow and arrow. And, he learned how to become a killer but I wouldn't necessarily say that he became a great person there. So, they've given him a lot of empathy and a lot of understanding of there's more than one way to win a fight. Interviewer: Stephen, what would you say is the biggest thing you learned between season one or from season one I guess going into season two? Stephen: Just for a practical standpoint that it's a good long run and that there's no way to fake it. When I used to do long distance running. I still do but you can fake almost any race. You can not totally train for it and make your way through it. You can do with a half marathon if you really tried. It's not going to be painful, but you can do it. You can't do it with a marathon. I know, I tried. And, it just ends up with you walking and crying and everything going horribly wrong. And, the biggest thing that I learned in season one is, you're talking about a 180 to 190-day shoot plus all of the other commitments that going along with it. Plus, including the travel and so you just have to pace yourself. And, in a couple more days we'll be a third of the way through season two for us, and I'm doing a much better job. I feel just as good if not better than I did when we started shooting. I have strict rules on how much sleep I get a night, because ultimately... I saw a group of you guys on the Tuesday that I was on the Tonight Show and that was two days after we had wrapped. So, I went and did the Tonight Show that night and then that night or the following morning I went [cough], and I was sick for a month and a half. My body broke down. Interviewer: Wow. Stephen: And, everyone told me that was going to happen. But, I can't have that happen again. So, I've learned that lesson.