Everyone deserves to have their voice heard.
Candice Patton
I'm quite a loner. I realized that I'm very introverted, and I get energy by being alone instead of being with other people.
It's not enough to be diverse in your casting. You have to service those characters; you have to make them fully well rounded because people are watching.
As far as someone who I would like to work with - this is super out of the box, and I have put this on my Twitter - Pam Grier. I love her. I just love her fierceness, and she's kind of, for me, one of the first black superheroes. I would love to have a chance to work with her.
I grew up with Batman and Superman but definitely in a cartoon and a movie kind of way. I was familiar with DC superheroes. I didn't know much about The Flash or anything about Iris West!
I think people love the character of Iris West. I think a lot of fans are also excited that Iris West is now African-American. They want to see her be strong and intelligent and a love interest - and so people come out in full force to defend that and honor that. And I think that's cool.
I would love, love, love to do theatre. It's how I started, and essentially, it's my heart.
Luckily, I didn't have many 'day jobs' while trying to find success in Los Angeles. When I first moved to L.A., I worked at Bubba Gump Restaurant for about two days. I didn't even make it through training before I quit. I just didn't care to memorize all the different types of shrimp.
I was never once told to consider anything but my dreams. It's probably one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me, because it never occurred to me to do something other than what I loved.
'Heroes' was great, but I was like the sorority sister, the friend. So often, we as black women, we are cast as the best friend; we are rarely the leading lady. So for me, being on 'The Flash,' it's been so important for me to be the leading lady, to be the woman that is desired by the superhero, to be the hero herself.
My parents have always advocated doing what I love to do.
The last thing we need is women on TV hating each other.
I don't worry too much about learning lines per se. The memorization is the easy part for me, usually. For me, it's more about working on the context, back story, intention, motivation, etc. Once that's in place, the lines come pretty naturally.
First stop when I'm on set is my trailer. I like to set my stuff down and lock the door. Be in my own space for a few minutes.
I didn't read comic books; that's not something that was really available to me as a child. We watched more cartoons and movies.
When you're shooting a TV show, there's not a lot of time to build character.
We would be silly to say that race issues don't exist in 2014.
Geoff Johns, beyond being incredibly talented at what he does, he is one of the nicest human beings I have ever had the pleasure of working with, so he deserves everything that he gets.
I would love to do a non-musical Broadway or Off-Broadway play.
I didn't have an acting job when I moved to L.A. I was just naive enough to think that moving to L.A. was the next step after college. My parents were really supportive.
I learn my lines in a few different ways. A lot of my dialogue sticks with me in a general sort of way when I read the entire script for the first or second time. Then, when I get the shooting schedule, I have a better idea of what scenes are shooting when. I then will focus on those that are coming up first.
For me, Iris West was traditionally white in the comic books. So, you know, comic book fans are very opinionated, very vocal. So it was very scary stepping into that role when I started the show.
I remember being interested in theater when I was in school, but I wasn't always engaged in making it a career. I was a cheerleader in Texas, but I tore my ACL, so I was out for the rest of the season. That's when I started putting more of my passion into theater.
I have my insecurities, and some days you don't want to be photographed. You notice all of your flaws even if others don't notice them. Photo shoots also feel very vain because it's all about you and your looks and your face. I feel I work better on camera.
My favorite part of my working day is hanging with my hair and makeup team. They keep me energized and motivated.
It's so important for young girls of color - young girls of any color - to see diverse women as the heroes of their own story.
The world in which we live is diverse, and I think television and film should reflect that.
Iris is the Lois Lane of 'The Flash.' It's a really special role. Knowing they were willing to offer it to an African American - Iris is traditionally white - I knew how important this would be for so many people.
I get comments all the time on Twitter, and fan mail about how amazing it is to see me play Iris West: a strong woman. It's not really about her being black; she just happens to be black.
It's great to know that young black girls are seeing themselves on TV as leading ladies, and I'm part of that. It's just such an honor.
