Rachel Skarsten has joined the cast of Reign for its third season which premieres at 8PM tonight (October 9) on The CW. Skarsten is playing Queen Elizabeth, and her presence will surely shake things up for the show’s third season.
Rachel is also familiar to a lot of fans for one of her earliest roles — she was the first actress to ever play DC Comics’ Dinah Lance on television in the modern era, with the short-lived but well-loved WB series Birds of Prey.
We spoke with Rachel this summer about her new Reign role as well as her Black Canary legacy.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: What kind of drama is Elizabeth going to bring for Mary in Reign Season 3?
RACHEL SKARSTEN: Lots of drama. It’s going to be very interesting, because Laurie McCarthy’s establishing two courts – so it’ll be both the English court and the French court that Mary’s still at. So, how those women are going to interact, and how they’re going to impact each other’s lives is still a bit of a secret, but I am sure that she will bring lots of drama.
There’s an alliance with Queen Catherine, I hear?
Well, we don’t know yet if Elizabeth’s taken the bait for the alliance with Queen Catherine, but I do think that those two devious women are going to come up with some good plots, so I’m excited.
A number of actresses have played variations of Dinah Lance since you portrayed the character. Have you been paying attention to that?
I know! You know what? I tune in to Arrow to see Katie [Cassidy]. She does a great job. It’s interesting to see other people’s interpretations… although, [Black Canary]’s a very famous character in her own right, so there are similarities between all of us. I’m just proud to have been the first.
Would you ever be open to appearing on Arrow at some point?
You know, actually, I am really good friends with Stephen’s cousin Robbie. I’ve met Stephen before. They’re both lovely, so, absolutely. I would totally appear on that show.
You did a Birds of Prey reunion earlier this year [at the Hollywood Collector’s Show]. How did that go?
It was crazy seeing Ashley and Dina…. I mean, I have almost doubled in age since I was on Birds of Prey… and to see them, and the three of us being back together, and how fun it was that the dynamic was basically the same so many years later… it was so nice.
For Birds of Prey, you were the youngest in the cast, and now you’re more among peers. Can you talk about that?
Both on Birds of Prey and on Lost Girl, I was the youngest, and I didn’t think that I would luck out a third time, having cast members who were so generous with me. Truly, they’re all so lovely. I’ve been dying to hang out with them… I just want to hang out with my new friends! They’re so lovely. I’m stoked to be on this show.
See Rachel Skarsten in Reign Season 3, premiering TONIGHT on The CW!
