WARNING: The identity the cast member who left DC’s Legends of Tomorrow with the Season 7 finale is being discussed within. If you have not watched the March 2 episode “Knocked Down, Knocked Up” yet, you might want to stop reading now!
With that out of the way… KSiteTV was able to interview the actor who left DC’s Legends of Tomorrow with the Season 7 finale. And that person is… Nick Zano, who joined the series as Nate Heywood a.k.a. “Steel” with the Season 2 premiere back in 2015. Nate (and Nick) have been an important part of what has kept DC’s Legends of Tomorrow together over the years, and he came onto the show around the time the show really started getting the critical acclaim it has had in recent years.
There’s no drama or badness around Nick Zano’s Legends departure, but if you’d like to hear from the man himself… here you go!
NICK ZANO: It seemed like it was sort of one of those moments in time where enough time has passed. You don’t get many opportunities to say goodbye to a character properly, and to have a goodbye. It was a really honorable one that Phil [Klemmer] and everyone on the team gave me and I’m really appreciative of it.
Were you happy that the departure didn’t involve killing Nate?
Well, Phil Klemmer was like “I’m hoping you hate LA and you want to come back!”
I’m currently in Los Angeles, and I haven’t been home here since 2014. I’m currently in Los Angeles. That was his [response] and I appreciate that.
Are you happy with where the show has taken Nate over the years?
Oh, man. I’ve gone places I would never ever have thought I would go as a professional actor. It’s like off-SNL. Some do off-Broadway, we do off SNL. I’ve been a Klingon. I’ve been Steel, I’ve been a samurai. I’ve done it all, I can’t imagine where else to go.
What surprised you the most about the overall experience of doing Legends?
[I was surprised by] the amount of rope we were given. I don’t know if that’s because we were kind of low on the list of shows that required attention, but that rope eventually gave us what the show became. Season 1 is a very different thing than Season 2, [where] we started making a bridge. Season 3, we’re like “Okay, I think we could go on this bridge.” In Season 4, we were full-blown off to the races and we never looked back. That, in itself, is very special and extremely rare, to be like “this isn’t working” and then to be like “well, this is completely different in three seasons.”
Before you did Legends you were filming Minority Report up in Vancouver. Because you were already up there, had you been able to meet any of the Legends cast beforehand?
I saw Dominic [Purcell] at a gym once when I was up there. This is gonna be a very risque thing to say: Dom didn’t seem approachable at the time, so we never met, we just shared space at the gym. Later, we would spend a large portion of every waking moment together.
What appealed to you about the role of Nate to begin with?
My first meeting for Legends was with [executive producer] Greg Berlanti and Greg laid out in his genius mind of what the show needed, and he expressed it to me. In that conversation, I went “kind of like this?” and he’d say “Yeah, like that.” Greg’s a certified genius, just so you know. He would give me three sentences, those three sentences were a profound statement of a complicated character, and what that character needs to do on this show. From that moment, I was like “I could do that for sure!” I got really excited about it. Then I met Marc Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer later, and then I went up to Canada and my first scene was with Dom on the ship!
What was it like to have Tom Wilson playing your father?
Tom Wilson is such an extraordinary person and that experience is still one of my favorites. I say this once a season to Phil, “why did you kill off Tom Wilson?”
Tom came in and he made everything better. There’s a finale scene – where he and I are in the rafters when Nate dies. It’s a quick scene and in the script, you fly by it, but when we went up to the rafters, and we’re just hanging up there, 20 feet off the ground, I lock eyes with Tom and we do this scene and I’m overwhelmed with emotion. Because one, Tom was back… he was gone for a couple months. The last time I saw him was his funeral/casket scene. Then I see him again, and we’re up in these rafters and we have this scene. After they yelled cut, it was a way different scene than I read because Tom is so good. He’s so grounded and has such a heavy presence that this scene just took over this other thing. I love that scene so much, and I really did love my time with Tom.
And he’s as gracious as the day as long! Gracious as a day as long! Back to the Future is a core memory for 98% of us, and he’s patient and kind to everyone… I give him all the credit in the world for that.
They did have Nate polishing an DeLorean the year before that happened, didn’t they?
Yeah, foreshadowing! We’re like the Pixar of The CW!
Would you be down for a return appearance if the show gets renewed for Season 8?
Of course! I love Legends. There’s no behind the scenes ill will anywhere, not one drop of ill will badness that you know occurs in television. There’s none of it. This is just the nicest happy ending that you very rarely get.
In addition to what you said about Tom Wilson, but is there a particular memory of doing this show that you will always treasure?
There are so many, I always say when we do an hour long sci-fi show, it’s very, very grueling for everybody. It’s hard especially if you’re out of your element. But I always looked at the small victories, like when we would get a collective laugh as a crew, a cast and everybody, we get a bit of joy, and those little small victories, we got to hold on to that one. Because that one would kind of get us through the [stressful] times.
I’ve had so many laughs to the point of straight tears and almost vomit. I’ve never laughed so much in the workplace in my life as these past 6-7 seasons of a show.
That’s just a testament to really enjoy the people I work with. I enjoy the one-on-one time for maybe 14 hours during a day. So if I got a scene, where it’s just two of us, say it’s a day with me and Brandon [Routh]… he and I go into the set, rehearsing, leaving, sitting together and waiting to go back to work. I love spending time with all my co-workers. So for me, it was just like, “ohh man, this is great! I get to spend the day with you.” Then I would spend a day [working] with Caity [Lotz] and I catch up with Caity. Same thing with Tala [Ashe], Maisie [Richardson-Sellers]… I really just enjoyed my personal time.
Is there anything that you wish you had gotten to do on Legends that you were never able to do?
I wish had more fight sequences with Gary, because those are hilarious to prepare for and I get more enjoyment out of watching Adam [Tsekhman] throw a punch and dodge a punch than an adult male should. I wish I got to do more stuff in the 100th episode with Brandon. Then of course, you hope for certain things, but I don’t focus on what I didn’t get, I’m more of a appreciative person of what I got: A beautiful experience with everybody.
On the subject of what you got, did you take any props or anything with you?
So there’s an inside joke, here is an exclusive for you. Once you leave the show – because they did this once – you got a cake and your puppet. I wouldn’t let them forget this. If you got your cake and your puppet, that meant you were leaving.
Are you going to try to keep the puppet away from your kids?
It’s a little bizarre, to be honest, because it’s an enormous puppet. It’s the size of my child! [Laughs] My kid holding the puppet up, it’s him holding a smaller version of himself.
Do you have any final message for the fans who will be reading this?
Thank you! I love you. I’ve seen your support. I’ve read your support. I’ve heard your support. And I’m grateful for your support. And we’re lifers. They know it, I know it. We are in a community of people who love jokes, who have big hearts. I’m very grateful for them and I look forward to seeing them on the next thing.
1 Comment
I would like to see Nate join Stargirl as Citizen Steel to join her JSA.