The Flash star Tom Cavanagh broke down the logistical nightmare of bringing together the Arrowverse's crossover events.
Cavanagh spoke to TVLine regarding the various complications that went into creating the crossover events. When asked whether there was an Arrowverse star he regretted not having the chance to work with, he explained how difficult such arrangements could be. "That's a great question…. And not to be politically correct, but I would spin it around to say I'm grateful I got to work with as many as I did," he said. "You know how massive an undertaking the crossovers are, and how they largely can't be done. 'OK, it takes us eight days to barely shoot one show. Now in these eight days let's shoot four.' It's an impossible undertaking, and the true heroes are the assistant directors who find a way to schedule it."
Cavanagh noted that another complication of the process was the logistics of having the actors moving between sets. "'OK, Melissa Benoist can be here for an hour, then an hour travel time to the other set, and she can be there for four hours, and then…' It’s just incredible," he explained. "And the fact that somebody like Melissa was as amenable and professional as she was to make it happen! Add in the fact that you got to rub shoulders with the cast from all these different shows and, well, that's a rarity. That's usually a one-off."
While the initial Arrowverse specials were often just two or fewer episodes, the ever-expanding nature of its TV universe saw the crossover events getting bigger each year. Its largest crossover to date was its adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which took place over five episodes. Cavanagh himself appeared in many of these episodes as either one of the many iterations of Harrison Wells, as Barry Allen's main antagonist Reverse-Flash or as Pariah.
"I almost never keep this stuff, but we were on the Legends set for a crossover from two seasons ago, and there's Cress and Brandon [Routh] and Caity [Lotz] and Melissa….. So I kept the call sheet, which is normally Grant Gustin, Tom Cavanagh, Candice Patton and maybe three other names," Cavanagh continued. "This thing was like a hundred names! [Laughs] Like, holy hannah! And that was just one day's work. I’m happy that I got to work with as many of these people as I did. It was unexpected, and in the best way."
The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes and Tom Cavanagh. New episodes air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
Source: TVLine