There's a
new speedster coming to Central City. And she's been hiding right under
our noses.
Jesse,
played by young actress Violett Beane, is the daughter of parallel
dimension Earth-2's Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh). Beane was added
to the cast of the popular series in the second season and has quickly
fit in to the universe.
Much of
the season had her held captive by this season's super-villain Zoom. Dr.
Wells was determined to do whatever he had to in order to save his
daughter including double-crossing his friends, or even committing
murder. Luckily, Dr. Wells and his team at S.T.A.R. Labs The
Flash/Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), Dr. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker)
and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) were able to come together to spirit
Jesse away from Zoom's prison.
However,
even after the rescue, not all was good between father and daughter.
Their mutual adversity, and living in an alternate universe, has put a
bit of a wedge between them. We last saw Jesse boarding a bus out of
town, determined to go and find herself. It has been teased that Jesse
will return as a speedster using the super-heroine name Jesse Quick
later this season. Since so far she has shown no signs of super-speed,
we can only imagine what she found out on the road. Or, better yet, the
answers should be coming soon enough.
Not a bad
place to be for a 19-year-old actress who is only on her second TV
series. Beane was a member of the cast of the acclaimed HBO drama The
Leftovers last season.
Recently
we caught up with Central City's newest speedster (which wasn't easy,
just due to the fact that she's really fast) to get the down low on life
with The Flash.
How familiar were you with
The Flash
and the DC Universe before taking this role?
I had
seen a few episodes of the show right before I got the audition
actually, so I was super pumped to go on tape for it! As far as other DC
stories, I'd seen all the Batman's and have been a fan for sure!
In the early episodes, you've just been
known as Dr. Wells' daughter, but I know that your character will be
becoming a speedster, too. Without giving away any major spoilers, what
can we expect from Jesse Quick?
This
season for Jesse will definitely focus mainly on her getting used to
life on Earth-1. It's a huge change for her, and then on top of it
hearing that her father had "killed a man"... It's a lot to handle. In
one of the latest episodes you see Jesse get on a bus to leave town.
That's her way of figuring out life and herself in a way.
What do you think would be the most
intriguing aspect of having super speed?
What's
interesting about super speed is that you almost get a combo deal... You
can sort of freeze time because you're moving so fast. You can sort of
fly at least for a little bit at a time. You can sort of be in two
places at one time.
In what ways is Jesse similar to you,
and which aspects of her character are the hardest for you to get a
handle on as an actress?
Jesse and
I are both pretty sassy, quick-witted, and independent, but she's
definitely WAYY smarter than me! I thought one of the harder parts was
going to be finding that relationship with her dad. I lost my dad when I
was young and I've never really known that kind of relationship before.
Luckily Tom is an amazing man, actor, and mentor and once we started to
work together, the pieces sort of fell into place!
Most of your early scenes this season
were basically you being held captive and threatened by Zoom. As an
actress, was it hard to get into that kind of claustrophobic mindset?
I
actually did go more method with those particular scenes. I stayed in
the shackles in between takes and set ups, just so I could stay in that
mindset. It was interesting doing the dialogue because the man playing
Zoom was actually a stuntman, Ryan Handley. He had never "acted" before
but he was absolutely phenomenal! He really cared about the role and
stayed engaged which was so fantastic.
Who is your favorite superhero (or
heroine)?
Captain
Underpants!
How did you originally get involved in
acting?
I was in
theatre in middle and high school, but didn't really start to focus in
on film/TV until my senior year of high school. We got a new theatre
teacher and we really didn't get along and I that drove me to find a
creative outlet elsewhere!
The
Flash is
your second series, you'd previously done The
Leftovers last
year. How did you get involved in that show and what was the experience
like?
Working
on The Leftovers was such an experience! It was my first time
really seeing the depth of the industry and how many people it takes to
put these shows together. Not to mention HBO was an amazing network to
work for because they're a lot more hands on and they take the time to
get perfect shots!
How crazy is it that at your young age
you're doing your second TV series? Does it surprise you how quickly
things have taken off?
Every
single day! I am so grateful for all the opportunities I've had that
have gotten me here so far, and thank everyone who has believed in me so
far and will continue to. This is just the beginning! :)
If you weren't acting, what do you think
you'd want to do?
I've
always loved baking. I was about to get a job at a bakery before I
booked Leftovers actually. I think maybe in the future I might
open up a little shop! Something with delicious goodies and some
dairy/gluten free options as well!
What would people be surprised to know
about you?
I can
lick my elbow!
What kind of things make you happy?
FOOOOOOOOD. All food, all day.
What makes you nostalgic?
Those super soft sugar cookies with the pink frosting and sprinkles.
Lofthouse cookies I think they're called. So bad for you, but so fluffy
and delicious.
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