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Arrow Star Stephen Amell Renews Grant Gustin's Valentine's Day Wish

With Grant Gustin signing up for a ninth (and what could be final) season of The Flash and Heels star Stephen Amell recently flashing back to his Arrow days (more on that below), we can't help but feel a little nostalgic as the network's DCU slowly evolves into its next iteration. Much of that has to do with the rumblings of The CW being sold and WarnerMedia & ViacomCBS taking back their IPs for their respective streamers. But whatever the future might hold, if there's one thing that's clear it's that Amell and Gustin have a bond that extends well beyond the Arrowverse. So it's only fitting that on a day like today (don't make us have to write it twice), Amell reminded his friend that his well-wishes still remain.

Supergirl -- "Elseworlds, Part 3" -- Image Number: SPG409a_0784r -- Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash -- Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW -- © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Here's a look at Amell's Valentine's Day reminder to Gustin from earlier today:

And here's a look back at the original tweet:

As Amell continues training before heading back in front of the cameras next month for the second season of Heels, he took some time to share a very cool (but all-too-brief so please share more) look back to when he was first training for the Arrow shoot. Here's a look at the clip from his 2012 Arrow training days, eight months before the foundational Arrowverse series would first hit screens:

Back in August 2021 when he was a guest on the Hero Nation podcast with Deadline Hollywood's Dominic Patten and Anthony D'Alessandro, Amell was open and honest about the final two seasons. Basically, he didn't want to come back for them. From a creative standpoint, he believed that the show had "done everything" it could after six seasons and that the filming structure had become too formulaic. Amell also found it "frustrating" how the series was always passed over for recognition and awards consideration. While Amell makes it a point of giving individuals their due, it was pretty surprising to hear just how creatively burnt out he was by the time the sixth season wrapped. So who convinced him to stay? Arrow producer Greg Berlanti– and it looks like it took Amell becoming "Green" Arrow in an entirely different way for it to happen.

Arrow -- "Burned" -- Image AR110b_7476b -- Pictured: Stephen Amell as Arrow -- Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW -- ©2012 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved
Arrow (Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — ©2012 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved)

"I just thought that I had another year, and I thought that I had more in the tank, more that I wanted to share with this industry and this career that I've chosen, and I wanted to be inspired again," Amell explained. "So Greg Berlanti, who's way smarter than I am, as evidenced by his prolific nature in film and television, convinced me… He basically put me to a place where it would've been fiscally irresponsible to not do a seventh season and then complete it with a truncated eighth season." During his appearance on the Inside of You podcast with host Michael Rosenbaum in November 2020, Amell revealed that there was a time over that summer when production on Heels was riddled with huge question marks. But since Amell was already quarantining, wanting to work, and on stomping grounds that he got to know for eight seasons of Arrow, he decided to give Berlanti a call. Amell's pitch: he's already in the area and since The CW shows might be having issues getting American actors over the border, why not whip up another season of Arrow or at least keep it "on the radar," as Amell asked Berlanti to do:


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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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