The Flash’s Candice Patton on How She Created Two Versions of Iris West

Photo from Vulture

Since delving into Earth-2, The Flash is back in top form. Undoubtedly, the heart of the show has proven to be the West family, in particular the journalist and best friend to our titular hero, Iris West, played by Candice Patton. While she was a bit sidelined in the beginning of the season, recent episodes have put her front and center. The highlight thus far has been seeing her Earth-2 doppelgänger, who is not only a badass detective but married to a far meeker, non-superpowered Barry Allen. Vulture spoke to Patton about how much she influences Iris’s characterization, bringing her Earth-2 counterpart to life, and why she admires Zoe Saldana.


On her portrayal of the role:

How much of an influence overall do you have on Iris’s characterization?

All of it. We know we were hired because [showrunners] Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti saw in our auditions what we could bring to the characters. That took the weight off of if I could bring Iris to life. We have full reign to create these characters and make them come alive. Obviously there are scripts, and we try to adhere to what’s written. But we have a lot of freedom. That’s what’s so nice about having doppelgängers and getting to play other versions of ourselves — it gives us the opportunity as actors to continue to stretch and play and find other versions of Iris. For me, Earth-2 Iris is a lot like her Earth-1 father, Joe West. How strong he was, and clear-headed about things. It was a matter of keeping her strong and being the exact opposite of Earth-2 Barry Allen.

On the sorts of roles she is interested in (yay sci-fi!):

I’ve always been attracted to two types of roles: The very indie film roles, and then there is a part of me that loves sci-fi and ass-kicking females. I’ve always loved everything Zoe Saldana’s done from Star Trek to Guardians of the Galaxy, [watching] her be a strong, kickass, black Latina woman. In a way, I can identify with that. Those are the roles I’ve always wanted to play.

Check out the rest of the article below:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/the-flash-candice-patton-on-how-she-created-two-iris-wests.html


Photo and text from Vulture.com