Black Canary Will Undergo 'Year of Growth' on Arrow S6

Black Canary is back in action for Arrow Season 6. Having survived the explosion on Lian Yu, Dinah Drake has thrown herself into her work for Team Arrow and her job as a cop for the Star City Police Department. Despite the tragedies of her past, Dinah has truly settled into her life in Star City, but there's one small problem. She has noticed something that her Team Arrow peers haven't: Dig is having trouble in the field, and that could put their team members at risk.

Speaking to CBR, Black Canary herself Juliana Harkavy discussed working with Dig actor David Ramsey and why the two characters' relationship is "loaded." She also offered some insight into Team Arrow's dynamic in Season 6, Dinah's growth, her potential as a love interest and more.

Some of your most compelling scenes so far have been with David Ramsey. What was it like to work so closely with him?

Well, working with David has been amazing because he is truly one of the most talented, just kind and awesome people that I've met ever, anywhere. So it's been really wonderful and an honor just working with him and learning from him. And the scenes have been really fun, because they're really charged scenes, they're really loaded, and Diggle and Dinah are two fierce characters. They're friends, but there's a lot of fire there, so I think the scenes have been fun to film for sure and, from what I hear, they've been fun to watch, so that makes me happy.

Will we see Dinah get to interact as closely with another character?

Definitely! I think this season the team is really going to come together, as a whole and then the individuals within it are going to develop as well and their relationships are going to get deeper. You're going to see Dinah becoming close with, I think, many members of the team, but Diggle and Dinah, they're friends, they're close and I think that that's the first relationship that we're going to sort of see more of this season and it'll change and it'll grow.

What other characters would you like to see Dinah interact with more?

Definitely Felicity. I think that they're the two women on the team and in the bunker together and I love Emily [Bett Rickards] and I love working with her, so -- on a personal level and for Dinah's sake -- I think more interaction with her would be great. Honestly, other than that, I think I would just like to show a little bit of her relationship with everyone, because the team is so interesting because of the dynamics, so it would just be nice to explore all of them, you know? Curtis and Renee… There's a comedic element there, and they bring out Dinah's lighter side. Hopefully, we'll get to see a little bit of everything.

Black Siren has taken serious umbrage with Dinah. Will we see more of that conflict in the episodes ahead?

I think so. I think that that's a battle that hasn't been finished yet, and they have so much history between them and there's just so much to resolve. So yeah, I think we can probably expect a rematch.

Season 5 began to explore Dinah's background. How will Season 6 continue to do that?

In Season 6, Dinah has more time to show herself as a whole, complete character, so other aspects of her life: her personal life, other sides of her emotionally besides just when she's fighting on the team. So Season 6 is going to give her an opportunity to expand and fully develop. It's been a lot of fun filming this year because she has a lot more substance and a lot more meat, and she's dealing with a lot more on the team. She's dealing with a lot more emotionally. So it's just been a year of growth for her.

How is she settling into her job at SCPD? Will we see more of her as a cop as the season continues?

For sure, yeah. I think that the SCPD is really -- she's really passionate about it. She's on Team Arrow and that's sort of what she does off the clock, but that is her home. That's her base. She's a cop at heart, and she was promoted this year. She's a good cop. She's a detective, and I think she's going to continue to blossom in her career. I also think she's going to try to use it to help out Team Arrow and walk that line between being a cop and being a vigilante. It's like a delicate balance, but she's learning how to master it.

Now that she's really built a home into Star City, could we see a love interest for Dinah?

That could be in the cards too, you know? I think that definitely something that after all these months fighting and on the island and just sort of blowing stuff up with the boys, I think it would be nice to see her settle in a little bit to something. That could be on the table for her. I think where last season she absolutely was still grieving, she absolutely was kind of out of her mind a little bit, and so the team reeled her in, so that was not so much on the table for her. She needed to get herself figured out. Now, this season, she's got her job going strong, she's more settled into Team Arrow, and I think she might like a little personal time as well with somebody.

Tell me about the first time you put on that Black Canary suit.

The first time I put on the suit was one of the more surreal moments that I've had on the show. I guess that we got a bit emotional and I got a little overwhelmed… I felt like a hero! Like I physically felt like a superhero. You just can't help it when you put that costume on. I really realized the magnitude of what I'm doing and the responsibility. Little girls are going to look at that and just… look up to it. It was one of the most significant moments for me on the show. The costume is very symbolic of the character coming into her own. It's symbolic of my own struggles in my own life. Everything culminated into this moment, so it was very powerful.

Recently, in the comics, Dinah has become something of a rock star. Would you like to see that side of her come out on Arrow?

It's so funny you say that, because I always say that that's one of those things that is in my head all the time, but you might not see one screen. In my head, Dinah goes home and she jams on her guitar and she likes music and I don't know if that's something that we actually would ever delve into on the show, but that's one of my favorite parts about the character. I have a Dinah playlist on my phone that I listen to at the gym. I don't know why, but that just really spoke to me when I found out she was in a band in the comics. I was like, "Oh, that's amazing!" She definitely has a musical aptitude. That's just one of those little things that we don't have anything in there yet, but I think that's one of my favorite parts about the character.

What's on your Dinah Drake playlist?

Hold on, let me pull it up. I don't know if any of them are appropriate! [laughs] I know there's some Beyonce on there for sure. So of course, "Run the World" by Beyonce; Drake: "0 to 100." I have MISSIO: "Middle Finger." I have all of Logic's albums. "Everybody." And then I have some death metal. [laughs] It's a big mix! From Beyonce to death metal. But that's totally Dinah!

Starring Stephen Amell as the Emerald Archer, Arrow airs Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on The CW. The series also stars Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey, Willa Holland and more.