Grant Gustin says season two of The CW’s The Flash will find Barry Allen having trouble dealing with the acclaim that came from his heroic deeds in season one. Chatting about the series during roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Gustin said Barry will have a hard time adjusting to this new love from the citizens of Central City.
“He doesn’t really feel like a hero because we’ll kind of see pieces as to what happened with the singularity when we come back and how it affected all of the characters,” offered Gustin. “I think one of the things that’s really weighing heavily on Barry is he knows that Eddie stopped Wells and he was the hero that day, but everyone’s kind of giving the credit to The Flash. And that’s not fun or easy for Barry, so I think that’s one of the harder things he’s dealing with right now. Now he feels he can’t really work with anybody because of the way everything goes down. He feels like he’s jeopardizing everybody and he wants to be a lone wolf for a little bit.”
Now that Gustin has one season of playing The Flash under his belt, he says he’s better equipped at figuring out what to concentrate on when it comes to training. Before season one, Gustin admitted he’s not a fan of running but he’s come to accept the fact that it’s integral to playing the part.
“[Running is] the one thing that’s remained a part of my training consistently over the past year just because…especially these first few months, I know now that it’s hot in Vancouver even though it’s usually cold. Right now it’s hot and I’m in my leather suit and I’m on the treadmill. So I was in LA in 97 degree weather running outside in a hoodie to get ready for season two,” said Gustin, laughing. “I feel much more prepared overall for season two, for sure.”
In addition to physically intense scenes, Gustin says that emotionally it was the scene with Barry Allen’s mom, Nora (played by Michelle Harrison), in season one that hit him the hardest.
“I think that was really well deserved just from the way that Greg and Andrew and the writers developed the whole season. I thought that moment was completely necessary and I thought that it was perfectly crafted. The first time I read that scene I was a mess. Like, I can’t think about it actually without getting a little affected,” explained Gustin.
He added: “After we shot that scene, I hadn’t experienced anything as an actor quite like that since college. Like being in acting class and kind of ‘being there’. I mean, it just really rocked me. I went home that night after shooting that scene – and it took like four or five hours because of logistical things – and I was still sobbing in the shower after that day. I felt very emotional after shooting that scene for days. I felt like I had said good-bye to someone I truly love or someone had died. That scene definitely affected me more than anything else.”
On a lighter note, Gustin admits he’s hopeful there will be more karaoke in Barry’s future. “The one thing I wanted for season two was just to have that episode 12 fun – just because when we come back it is pretty heavy still. Obviously just because of the way the first season was ending we’re having to deal with all that. So it’s out of the gate pretty season one emotional and heavy, but hopefully we’ll have more fun and karaoke at times,” said Gustin. “I even mentioned it, like, ‘Why not frequent that bar and bring Cisco and have that be a thing that we do on a regular basis?’ But, I don’t know. I’m definitely pushing fun for season two.”
The CW’s The Flash season two premieres on October 6, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT.
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