The Flash star Candice Patton has revealed that she’s had a similar experience on The CW show as John Boyega had making the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. The British actor didn’t hold back in an interview published by GQ this week, in which Boyega blasted Disney for sidelining the actors and characters of color in the movies as well as opening up about the “uproar and death threats” and other racists messages he’s received online over his casting in the franchise.
On Wednesday night, Patton shared GQ’s tweet of the article and revealed that she understood where Boyega was coming from. “Similar experience. Similar feelings. Grateful for this,” the actress tweeted, along with a heart emoji.
Similar experience. Similar feelings. Grateful for this. ❤️ https://t.co/irZi1hkIVo
— Candice Patton (@candicepatton) September 3, 2020
Patton plays Barry Allen’s wife Iris West in the series, a character portrayed as Caucasian in the DC Comics universe. Unfortunately, Patton has had to endure a lot of hate and obscene treatment online due to this over the past seven seasons of the show. Fans have also accused The Flash of sidelining the character of Iris, and it’s possible Patton is alluding to having had these feelings herself in her post.
Thankfully, current showrunner Eric Wallace has spoken about his desire to ensure that the actress gets the material and screentime she deserves as the series’ female lead. Over the last season, Patton has got to play two different versions of Iris: the real one, trapped in the Mirrorverse, and her duplicitous doppelgänger, who’s been living Iris’ life in the real world.
When season 6 left off, forced to wrap up early due to the pandemic, Iris was still trapped in the Mirrorverse and starting to lose her mind, leaving some to wonder if she could become another Mirror Master and turn out to be a villain in season 7. We’ll find out what happens next when The Flash returns to The CW in January 2021.
