Is Tala Ashe’s Zari Headed for a New ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ Twosome? (VIDEO)
Q&A
There’s a whole lot of fakin’ going on in the April 28 episode of Legends of Tomorrow, as well as some very real developments on a certain relationship-y level.
The hour, entitled “The Great British Fake Off,” finds Constantine (Matt Ryan) and Zari (Tala Ashe) stuck in a 1910 boarding house with a slew of encores, including two famous bank robbers, a London serial killer and, well, you’ll see. We don’t want to spoil anything so let’s just say that “the most influential influencer” and an exorcist with a terrible track record make for the most entertaining pairing. But is there more to these two than banter and hotness?
We’ll let Tala Ashe, who has been killing us with the new and delightfully Kardashian-y version of Zari, explain exactly what is up with her character and the bloke in the trench coat. Check out an exclusive sneak peek at them in action, below.
Hey Tala, how are you doing?
Tala Ashe: You know, it’s the strangest of time. But I’m here and I’m healthy.
Well listen, let’s talk about Legends because this has been a great season for you.
Oh, it has.
Now, I’ve loved Zari since she first showed up, so I was very concerned about this new one. But you’ve gotta be having so much fun playing her.
I am having fun. I mean, I went through a bit of a mourning period, like I think like many of the fans did, because I also love what I’m calling Zari 1.0. So it was definitely an adjustment period and I can see that, watching back at the earlier episodes. I’m already the hardest on myself and I can kind of see myself navigating that, like there’s kind of a resistance in the first few episodes as Zari 2.0. But yeah, then I started to have a lot of fun. The thing about Zari 2.0 is that there is more of a buffet of a way of being, you know? And it’s fun to rediscover what her relationships are with characters that Zari 1.0 and me, Tala, already had. And finding that, ‘Oh, Zari 2.0 is more attracted to this character and is more interested in being friends with this person.’ As an actor, I’m so grateful that the writers let me explore that.
I would never have imagined putting like Zari 1.0 with Constantine (Matt Ryan).
No, no. In fact, I think we did have an episode last year where it was sort of like, “OK, these two people are very different.” [Laughs]
Jeff Weddell/The CW
But now, ever since the Shakespeare episode, we see that things between those two may be headed to a place that maybe the Nate (Nick Zano) fans are going to be uncomfortable with?
Uh huh. Yeah. [Laughs] And you know, Nick Zano and I are really good friends. And Matt [Ryan] and I really good friends. So, I mean, for me, I’m sort of spoiled with the two of them. They’re both such great men and such great actors. And as much as my heart is with Zari 1.0 and her love for Nate, with Zari 2.0 I was excited for her to explore those things with Constantine.
And I think Matt and I were both really surprised, actually. When we first got the script, we were both like, ‘Uh… how is this going to work?’ On the show, I can’t think of two more polar-opposite people, except maybe Zari and Rory (Dominic Purcell). It’s as far on the spectrum that you can go with the two of them. So we were both thinking, ‘I don’t think this is going to work.’ But then again, Matt and I work well together. And there as a kind of attraction that I felt inside Zari 2.0 when I was first playing her, like ‘Oh, that’s interesting!’ There was a crackling [energy] that I think surprised both of us.
Does it help that you both have theater backgrounds?
Yeah, and in a way, real life mirrored the show, where Matt and I totally nerded out over that Shakespeare episode. We were sending like Google docs back and forth making, creating a cutting of Romeo and Juliet and making sure the verse made sense. [Laughs] Yeah, I know. And you know, Matt and I have both done Shakespeare, so there is a commonality. Matt is a really hard worker and he is so committed to his character in a way that I really admire. He takes the weight of the character’s odyssey and the complications of Constantine really seriously and I so respect that. It also means we are able to meet each other in the work. I just wasn’t sure that Constantine, being who he is, would be able to take in Zari 2.0. But that kind of became the fun challenge… she is tryin to get in there with someone who really probably isn’t interested in what she thought offering. [Laughs]
Dean Buscher/The CW
When you first joined the show, there was all of this talk about Zari possibly being Isis. And without spoiling it, they lean pretty heavily into it in “The Great British Fake Off.” How far are do they plan to go with this?
I know, I know. And I wonder, too. [Laughs] I think… uh, I’m not sure if they want to tackle that part yet, but who knows, you know? Maybe that’s Season 6?
Speaking of Season 6, did you guys wrap the entire season before productions had to shut down?
We shot the whole season. We got really, really lucky. We wrapped at the end of January, so we got out right before everything got crazy. All of us feel very grateful to have finished our season and been home by the time things shut down. Whats great for the fans is that they will see what was intended to be the end of our season.
And we are getting close to that. What can you tell us as we get deeper into the final episodes of the season? Where is this gang headed now?
Not where you think. [Laughs] In true Legends style, the penultimate episode is such an amazing, ambitious episode that was directed by first-time director Marc Guggenheim…
Oh yes!
As you know, he’s the creator of Arrow and one of our EPs. And it was so fun. Not to give anything [away], but what they gave me to do in that episode was so challenging and so fun. Yeah, I’m really proud of where we got to go this season.
Dean Buscher/The CW
I also love that this show has become so female-driven.
Yeah, I do, too! And I’m there again, in this penultimate episode that I probably shouldn’t be talking about but I’m sort of teasing. That one is really female-energy heavy. We all had a lot of fun time being away from the boys and getting to create our own land of ladies. [Laughs]
And now, the finale is called “Swan Thong,” so can you please tease who ends up in a thong?
Oh Damian. All I can say is that the reference being made there… how can I put this? I came in to work on a day I wasn’t even filming to witness it and literally, everyone was saying, ‘We have never seen you happier.’ So I don’t know… it was truly one of my favorite days of work ever. And I can’t give anything else away, it was just a delight. [Laughs]
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Tuesdays, 9/8c, The CW
