The Flash is just about to wrap up its sixth season a few weeks earlier than intended, but hey ho. It’s had some ups and downs over that time, but one thing fans can agree on is that Grant Gustin’s always been stellar as the Scarlet Speedster and is the one and only choice the producers could have made for the part of Barry Allen. It’s shocking to hear, then, that the actor himself was convinced he was not going to land the job back in the day.
While speaking to Michael Rosenbaum on the latest episode of his Inside of You podcast, Gustin recalled how he felt like he was completely wrong for the part at the time, with the young star even on the verge of not going to his audition.
“Even when I got the audition I didn’t want to go because I was like I’m not going to get it and I get a lot of audition anxiety and you know, if I don’t want to waste my time or their time,” Gustin said. “The breakdown [for the character] was even like 20, mid 20s to early 30s or mid-20s to early to mid-30s and, again, I was like 23 and looked like I was 19 maybe and I didn’t want to go to the audition at all because I thought it was so irrational to think that I could book it.”
Thankfully, Gustin pressed ahead and won the part with his talent. In this same interview, Arrow star Stephen Amell joined in over Zoom to offer his own perspective on Gustin’s casting. From Amell’s point-of-view, his co-star was perfect for the role off the bat and he was certain from the very first table-read that they’d found the right guy to be the Flash.
Even though he’s now been a bonafide superhero for the best part of a decade, Gustin went on to reveal to Rosenbaum that anxiety over whether he’s worthy of his success and feelings of Imposter Syndrome are things that he’s continued to struggle with ever since. For the full hour or so interview, which is really fascinating stuff, follow the link at the bottom of the page.
The Flash continues with episode 6×18 “Pay the Piper” next Tuesday on The CW.
