Arrow star David Ramsey is excited to see someone new play Diggle one day
- TV Show
Oliver Queen isn’t the only one who has changed over Arrow‘s eight seasons. His right-hand man and brother John Diggle (David Ramsey) has undergone quite an evolution as well, transforming from a scarred veteran and skeptical bodyguard into a father, husband, and Star City’s defender Spartan. It’s a journey that has profoundly affected the man who plays Diggle, too.
“I think John Diggle is someone I admire very much, personally,” Ramsey told EW in a recent interview for SiriusXM’s Superhero Insider ahead of Arrow‘s series finale. “Personally, I think he’s probably one of the most loyal and honest people, and committed people, you could probably ever meet in fiction and non-fiction. There’s that. Without getting too highfalutin about it all, I think he’s a great character to aspire to be. He was great to delve into.”
The character John Diggle was created for Arrow; however in the years since the show premiered, he has made the jump from screen to the pages of DC Comics, following a path similar to iconic characters Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya. Even though Diggle made his comics debut seven years ago, Ramsey still can’t believe it happened.
“He expanded in ways that we had not anticipated. He was easily a character that from the pilot he could have been killed off or written off, and just kind of kept on growing and endearing himself to fans, and people fell in love with the guy,” said Ramsey, who also became a director during the show’s run. “I’m not used to any of this. I’m not used to it. I’m not used to people stopping you in the street or people wanting to take pictures or even interviews like this. It’s still odd to me. The whole phenomenon of Arrow and Oliver Queen and John Diggle and Felicity Smoak, all these characters, it’s still a bit bewildering to me just how this magic has happened. To a certain degree, it’ll still be with me, but also to a certain degree, the pieces that aren’t, I’ll miss.”
Given that Arrow spawned entire universe of shows, there’s always a chance we could see Diggle pop-up on one of the remaining spin-offs (He’s even set to appear in The Flash‘s first post-“Crisis” episode, which airs next Tuesday after Arrow‘s series finale). That being said, Ramsey is also looking forward to the day when the character gets rebooted and another actor picks up the mantle, as has happened with many superheroes on the big and small screen.
“I cannot wait for that,” he said. “I can’t wait to five, 10, 15 years down the road [when] there’s a reboot or something happens and you watch this character evolve through the eyes of some other actor or actress. Who knows what happens! I would love to see that, and I think that’s what it’s all about. That’s part of the stories that we tell. We bring our own experiences to these characters. And again, without getting too lofty with it, I think that’s part of the magic of of why we watch television.”
To hear more of our chat with Ramsey, listen to Superhero Insider this Friday on SiriusXM on-demand.
The series finale of Arrow airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on The CW.
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