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John Barrowman

SHOOT: Stephen Amell & Co. Film ARROW at Telus Tower for 1×22 – Updated

What will it take for Oliver Queen and his vigilante alter-ego The Hood (Stephen Amell) to stop The Undertaking and save Starling City, as well as defeat the archer who last put him in hospital? The Big Bad of the final episodes of Arrow’s first season is nefarious Starling City businessman Malcolm Merlyn  and his alter ego The Dark Archer (John Barrowman).

Everyone wants to see the next showdown. So when John Barrowman tweeted the view from high up in an unidentified office tower in downtown Vancouver three weeks ago Saturday and then Stephen Amell indicated he was filming there too, local Arrow fans hunted down the Telus Tower in time to see both men down in the lobby dressed in business suits. No bows. No arrows.

Meanwhile, Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) and girlfriend Thea Queen (Willa Holland) are trying to find The Hood too. Fans and photographers pressed up against the glass to see a rehearsal of how close they get as Roy and Thea run into her brother Oliver (but not his alter-ego) in what [turned out to be the lobby for Merlyn Global Group].

Update:  In the scene, Oliver tells Roy sternly that it’s a bad idea to seek out the vigilante which makes Oliver a wimp in Roy’s eyes.  Roy might change his mind about Oliver when he finds out who the Hood really is.

Update: And what was Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) doing in the lobby dressed in a red Big Belly Burger jacket?


Read More »SHOOT: Stephen Amell & Co. Film ARROW at Telus Tower for 1×22 – Updated

WEEK: April 1-7, 2013

WEEK: March 4-10, 2013

[sz-youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m657-K0hyk&feature=youtu.be” /]

WEEK: February 25 – March 3, 2013

PROMOS: ARROW 1×16 Dead to Rights

The Holy Shitballs episode, as Arrow star Stephen Amell calls it on Twitter, filmed on location inside the Westin Bayshore Hotel with assassins Deadshot (Michael Rowe) and China White (Kelly Hu) trying to kill Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) at a benefit honouring Merlyn for his work with Starling City. This is where I saw the Dancin’ Merlyn Boys ahead of their scene.

 Related: The Dancin’ Merlyn Boys (John Barrowman & Colin Donnell) at Westin Bayshore Hotel

Last Wednesday, Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) asked Frank Chen (Chin Han), an associate in The Undertaking, for help in ordering a hit on Malcolm Merlyn. Read More »PROMOS: ARROW 1×16 Dead to Rights

WEEK: January 21-27, 2013

SHOOT: The Merlyn Boys (John Barrowman & Colin Donnell) Film ARROW 1×16 at Bayshore Hotel

Ummm, people of Starling City. Am I the only one who noticed all those Triad guys dressed up as waiters at your big gala scene last night in the Westin Bayshore Hotel?  Merlyn father-and-son (John Barrowman and Colin Donnell) seemed oblivious to it. Speaking of those Merlyn Boys, is this the best father-and-son casting since those Bishop Boys on Fringe?

Barrowman and Donnell arrived at set together and had such fun rehearsing in their tuxes that they did an impromptu song-and-dance number together up and down the escalator in the Convention Centre. I don’t have photos so you’ll have to trust me that it looked like something out of a Fred Astaire movie. Besides their obvious resemblance, the two men share a theatre background.

In the scene below, Malcolm Merlyn, accompanied by bodyguards, is the recipient of some kind of award. His son Tommy hangs back as his father takes the stage to accept. After a brief speech, Malcolm steps off the stage into the crowd  as the room goes dark, a fire alarm starts flashing orange and the be-jeweled, be-gowned rich folk of Starling City exit the building. What happened?

Read More »SHOOT: The Merlyn Boys (John Barrowman & Colin Donnell) Film ARROW 1×16 at Bayshore Hotel

WEEK: October 8-14, 2012