'Arrow' Star Josh Segarra Reveals Prometheus Origins and Endgame (original) (raw)

_Arrow_‘s big bad has been hiding under Oliver’s nose this whole season.

The most recent episode of Arrow revealed that Star City District Attorney Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) is actually the ruthless villain known as Prometheus, also known as the Throwing Star Killer, but not known as Vigilante, despite his comic book origins. We already know how Oliver will react to the news, but what’s Chase’s next move? EW turned to Segarra to get the scoop:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Did you know from the beginning that you were actually Prometheus?
JOSH SEGARRA: Clarify beginning. [_Laughs._] When I first spoke to Marc [Guggenheim] and Wendy [Mericle], they described who I was going to be. I really can’t remember if they mentioned the name Prometheus or not in that first conversation. I remember hearing the name throughout, but I didn’t associate that with my character. I don’t know why I didn’t. You’re waiting to get to work, and you’re waiting to see a post online that says you’re joining the cast, and it says “Vigilante.” Then, when I read that, I go, “Interesting, okay, okay, I didn’t know I was going to play this guy. That’s pretty fun.” That’s when I did all my nerdy stuff that I take a lot of pride in and did my reading. I spoke with Marc or Wendy where I was telling them about how I’m reading up on Vigilante and Chase, and they’re like, “Oh, yeah, oh, okay, we have to explain something to you…” “Oh, got it! That makes a lot of sense now. I feel like you guys would’ve told me this, right?” “Yes, sorry!” Thankfully we got to have, as much as we could, an in-depth conversation about who Prometheus is going to be, who they wanted him to be, and what I thought I could bring to the table. So that all started permeating very early on before I got out here to Vancouver. Honestly, I’ve gotten clarity on who he was throughout the journey, as well. That’s what’s been fun about him is that I’m truly creating him with the writers of the show, and the people are creating him with me. I’ve had the benefit of having some smart folk take care of me along the way, and it’s been a pretty fun process, introducing this guy to the world; it’s been very cool.

Can you talk a bit about what motivates him, because Chase is basically doing everything he hates Oliver for?
Absolutely. There’s a fire inside of him that has been fun to explore. What motivates anybody to do anything? Why do you grab a bite to eat? Because you’re hungry. But this is a much bigger thing. Why did this guy end up in the mayor’s office next to this mayor? How long has this plan been in motion? That’s what’s been fun to play. That’s where you don’t know when he started, you don’t know when this plan all started, you don’t really know why isn’t he trying to kill him right now? Why didn’t Chase try to kill him a long time ago? That’s a cool little secret nugget that I get to keep inside. So what motivates him? I think you’re going to see that play out a little bit more. Chase is going to give a lot of clarity to that soon. That’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.

What is Chase’s ultimate goal with Oliver? Just to watch his life crumble to pieces?
Oh, absolutely. I think it’s just to burn the world around him. All the things he’s trying to bring to light in Oliver, you see those qualities in him. What drives him is to maybe watch it crumble around him, to play the game, to play the chess match, to put him in checkmate, [_laughs_] which is [the title of the episode] this week. I hope you dig it this week, where he looks at him like, “Hey man, I got you, now what?” and then we get to watch Oliver respond.

Chase has kidnapped Susan (Carly Pope). Is she just a bargaining chip so Oliver doesn’t kill him? And should we be worried about other people in Oliver’s life?
One, yes, it is a bargaining chip. I think you nailed it right on the head. He knows that she matters to Oliver. Chase knows that Susan matters, and that’s the move. You take the people who matter most, right? It’s Chase going, “Hey man, I know that you care about her, so I’m going to take her.” Two, I think that’s also the move that goes, “Hey, I know that you’ve been seeing Susan, and I got her, but I also know everybody else that you’re close with. I’m not just here, I’m everywhere else.” That has been fun to play with with Stephen. I’m a big fan of his and a big fan of the show, so I’m trying to take the things that I enjoy and put them into the show as well. I’m trying to take things that I’ve seen and be like, “Hey man, let’s do this.” This week, you watch that permeate with these guys and see that Chase is coming for Oliver.

Does Chase think he’ll survive all this? Or was he going in basically with a death wish?
I wouldn’t call it a death wish, but I think this is the most important thing to him. What drives this man? If you allow fogginess to get in the way of what your end goal is, you won’t achieve it, right? That’s what Chase is doing. He’s playing this game, and he has the checkmate in his brain, and he knows how he’s going to get there, and we get to watch if this man gets there. So, is it a death wish? No way. But if he were to die, I think he’s okay with that, because this is the fire, this is what he’s been planning for years, this is the endgame, this is the goal, and he’s going to win it. That’s what drives him: He’s going to win.

What kind of connection does Chase have with Talia (Lexa Doig)? It seems she also trained him. To what end?
I do know that they have history, because she trained him. She knows who he is. To be honest with you, I don’t really know the answer to what extent their relationship will be on the show. I know what I’ve created in my head is that she has history with this man, and there’s a reason why she says to Oliver, “He calls himself Adrian Chase.” I know those reasons that I had to find for myself as an actor, so I don’t want to muddy the waters. But, to that regard, I know there’s history, and she trained Chase. She gave him certain skill sets that Oliver possesses. You’re going to have a good time watching how that plays out, the skill set at least. That’s an exciting part of this for me because that’s the little boy in me — that I got to come out here, and I got to train with the bow and arrow, and I got to work on some combat stuff. Those are all things that he got from Talia.

Were you in the costume at the beginning of the season or just recently?
I was. Oh yes, I was. I’ve been in it from the very beginning. There have been parts of course that I give a lot of love to my [stunt double]. He kills it for me. That’s my dude right there, because he’s creating this guy with me, and he’s really important to me. There are definitely times where he’s killing in that suit, and I sit off to the side, and I watch my man do his thing, I watch him do something I respect a ton. But from the very beginning, I made it very clear, and I was very happy that they embraced it with open arms, that I would love to play in the suit. That’s an important part of me to this character. I want to do as much as I can, because everything when he’s in the suit, Chase is exploring something that makes him who he is out of that suit, and that’s important to me to craft this guy. I wanted to do all of him. I wanted to create this man so that I could introduce him to the world. I’ve been very fortunate, everyone from the editors down to the crew, everyone is taking care of this guy. I’m blessed to do it, because it’s been very cool.

Is there anything you can tease of Chase’s endgame?
He’s coming for this guy, he’s coming for him, that’s all I can say. Chase wants to watch the world around Oliver crumble, he just wants to watch it crumble.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.