After the death of her first husband and the abduction of her second, Moira (Susanna Thompson) finally had enough of Malcolm (John Barrowman) and his controlling ways on Arrow. She reached out to fellow Undertaking member, Frank (Chin Han), to order a hit on Malcolm.
BuddyTV spoke with Chin Han about his character Frank, the appeal of the show, and what’s coming up for the Undertaking. After his role on Last Resort, Han went from the warm beaches of Hawaii to cold and rainy Vancouver.
He said the change in scenery was worth it to be part of “… one of the most exciting new shows on television right now.”
Was there something in particular that you really like about Arrow that drew you to the show?
It’s exciting. Wherever there’s a reboot of a new show, I’m always interested in how it will be done. Whether it’s Tim Burton in the 80s or Chris Nolan or even with Smallville when that came out. It’s always interesting to see how comic books are rebooted because comic books are such a strong reflection of the times really.
And, in a way, because of a strong reflection of the times, they have so many elements of mythology and so many archetypes in them. So, I was just naturally curious and interested to see how they did it.
And, how they’ve done it is taken, obviously, a very dark tone to it. It even looks dark with its colors and lighting scheme and it reflects a lot of themes that are relevant like the cycles of violence and what is the nature of justice and also I think Green Arrow coming back to Starling City to take on all the people that profited off of the downtrodden and poor is kinda a wishful thinking of people that suffered through the sub-prime mortgage debacle or the Bernie Madoff scandal. So, it’s interesting to see that. That’s why I was curious to be part of it.
You had a role in The Dark Knight and there have been a lot of comparisons between Nolan’s Batman and Arrow, do you agree?
I think there will naturally be similarities. The origin stories of so many superheroes are similar if you think about it, but I think that through the nature of serialized television Arrow can expand on a lot of the themes and on a lot of the storylines and characters that film does not. So, I think they are both very different.
Frank was introduced as part of the Undertaking, but beyond that he’s quite a mystery. What can you say about his backstory?
You get a sense that they all have a history: the Queens, Frank Chen, and even Malcolm Merlyn. There is a shared history that isn’t quite clear, but we know that involves members of our families and involves our hidden tragedies as well that have driven us to the Undertaking.
Apart from that I can’t say much more. Moira reaches out for this favor with China White and that will cause the power structures to change within Starling City and in that respect put everyone’s lives in peril. Everybody. In a way, Starling City, for all good intentions has become an even more dangerous place to be in than before.
Is it possible that the Undertaking is trying to do good or are they definitely a nefarious organization?
That’s where it gets a little muddy. That’s where we explore the themes of violence, justice, and revenge. When does the hero become the villain?
What else can you tease about future episodes and about Frank?
There are a lot of surprising twists and turns. New allegiances are forged and new enemies are made in this very short period of time over the next couples of episodes.
As the weeks go on, you will find out more about him and obviously with everything in Arrow, there is more than meets the eye. Histories will be reviewed and new storylines will be created from there.
Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET.
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(Image courtesy of the CW.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
