The CW hosted some very happy journalists this afternoon with a screening of the Tuesday, March 31 episode of The Flash, titled “Tricksters,” followed by a Q&A with executive producer Andrew Kreisberg and the legendary Mark Hamill himself.
The episode brings Hamill back to the role of James Jesse, who he played for two episodes of the classic 1990-1991 CBS Flash series, and the new Flash installment also reunites him with John Wesley Shipp and Vito D’Ambrosio, two stars from the original show.
Being a fan of comics brought him into the four-color world, which has also seen him voicing the Joker and creating his own Comic Book: The Movie. (Hamill also attended one of the first-ever Comic-Cons in San Diego) When we spoke with him he talked about how he became involved with The CW’s new Flash.
“When this version came on, my daughter Chelsea is a big fan, and I watched it from the very first episode,” Hamill recalled. “In fact, I even thought, since they were doing Weather Wizard and various other Rogues’ Gallery characters, I wondered if they were going to do the Trickster. And then, again, I got a call from my business people saying ‘they want you to do something on The Flash.‘ And I was thinking, you know, like a colleague of John Wesley Shipp’s; a professor… something age-appropriate. I’m not getting back into that one-piece jumpsuit; the spandex deal. So, I said ‘well, who do they want me to play?’ and when they said The Trickster, I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t figure out how that could be, unless it’s some kind of weird time travel episode. I don’t know. I was very skeptical, but then I called Andrew [Kreisberg],” he said, and the producer’s explanation of what things would be surely pleased him, since he came back to the show.
“The one thing that impressed me about the show is how smart the writing is. It’s got the fantasy element, the comic book elements… but it’s really strong in characters, I think. The backstory with the father wrongly accused, from the very first episode, that’s really a strong hold on the audience. And, you get to know so much about the personal lives of these characters… so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when they had such an ingenious idea as having Devon Graye play a new Trickster,” Hamill enthused.
Of course, having a new Trickster affected more than just Hamill’s TV alter ego of James Jesse. “I mean, when I read the script, I said ‘WHO’S THIS PUNK GETTING ALL MY STUFF?’ You know. I reacted just like I was in character. Because he really gets to do all of the fun Trickstery things, with the parachute bombs and whatnot,” he said, before praising Devon Graye, who plays the copycat Trickster.
“I’d seen Devon working, and he was very, very good, but there was a take where he confesses his devotion for me, and he was so real,” he recalled. “It was astonishing in how troubled a kid this was. I’m just doing my crazy comic book guy that’s just not tethered to reality in my mind, and he brought it so close to home, in terms of how emotionally damaged he was. I’m telling you, it just moved me beyond words. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a worthy successor,” he praised.
KSiteTV Editor-In-Chief Craig Byrne has been writing about TV on the internet since 1995. He is also the author of several published books, including Smallville: The Visual Guide and the show's Official Companions for Seasons 4-7.
