Willa Holland is Thea Queen

For those of you who like Ollie’s little sister, Thea Queen, here’s a little Q&A for you from The TV Addict:  

Maybe you could talk a little about Thea’s crush on Tommy [Merlyn].  That seemed to come out of nowhere.  It was absolutely adorable.  He shot her down so beautifully.  But yet, what does she see in Tommy?

WILLA:  I think it was something that just kind of ?? at that moment, she had never really thought of Tommy like that, and it was something that kind of just got put ?? instilled into her brain.  She totally thought he was talking about her.  So it was just something that it kind of came out of left field for her.  And she acted upon it not necessarily in the best way, and I think it’s been put to bed for the moment.  I definitely think she learned her lesson that time, I think, is not going to approach it.  And if she does, she’s going to do it a lot smarter next time.

How are you most like your character and what are the big differences?

WILLA:  I love my character.  I absolutely do.  Because she is not your typical teenage celebutante billionaire, not that there’s that many of them.  But she’s very grounded in her own sense.  Before Oliver left, I like to think that Thea, when she was 12 years old, was more like a bookworm and kind of like a smarter child out of the bunch and always kind of looking up to Oliver but also seeing what bad he was doing and knowing to stay away from it.  And then the second that he disappeared, having your father taken away from you and your brother, like those two main male figures, I think she tried to kind of relive in their ?? put herself into his shoes and try to live her life vicariously through what he left behind, through all the partying and all that. I like her a lot.  And how am I different from her?  I definitely never went through that crazy, crazy partying stage.  I played the characters that did, so I never really needed to do that too much.  And in this industry, you know, even at the age 14, it’s not unheard of to be invited to the Chateau Marmont for some party or something like that, and they actually let you go, even though at the Chateau, you’re legally not allowed to stay at that hotel unless you’re 21.  So how could somebody underage get in there?  But anyway it’s just ?? you know, growing up in Hollywood, you kind of succumb to this, so I think I did the best to steer clear from it.  But it is very interesting playing characters that do go into that, because I want to bring people away from the negative outlook on girls that are going through that situation.  Because they always think that they’re just spoiled and have everything offered to them and the reason why they’re doing that is because they just have the opportunity to.  But I think that there is more to it.  I think they are acting out.  There are reasons why they are doing this.  Because they actually do have everything handed to them on a silver platter and they could be living life perfectly, going to Harvard on the perfect A?track, but they choose not to for a distinct reason, and that’s actually to piss off their parent, but for a reason.  There is a reason for all those things, so yeah.

How do you compare the hero of ARROW with the other superheroes?  What do you think is special about him?

WILLA:  Well, ARROW is necessarily a vigilante, he doesn’t actually have superpowers.  Like Batman, he’s kind of just using his own awesome physical abilities that he’s acquired over the five years on the island and that crazy salmon ladder thing that he can do.  But I think that what makes him different is the fact that Oliver attacks these things ?? he’s very smart about this.  He’s had this kind of five year revenge plan that he’s kind of worked up to the T.  And even if things don’t necessarily go as planned, you always see him consistently adapting, and I think that’s something that I enjoy about his take on a superhero, is that he’s very reactive and able to adapt and he’s reactive and able to adapt.

You can read the full Q&A at The TV addict.