Step aside Detective Comics fans, the fan-favorite comic story is back but this time with a vengeance.
There’s a new spin on a classic crime-fighting comic now playing on the small screen. Gotham Knights is now airing on The CW Tuesdays. In this series, viewers will see characters based on the original comic. After the passing of Bruce Wayne, his adopted son surprisingly joins forces with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for the killing of the Caped Crusader.
One of the characters from the show Navia Robinson, who plays Carrie Kelley, shared details of what it took to play an iconic character, being in an action-filled show, and what fans can expect to see on this CW spin-off of a popular comic tale.
Can you talk a little bit about the character you play in the series?
I play a character called Carrie Kelley, otherwise known as Robin. She goes to Gotham Academy by day, and by night she is fighting crime and more recently in this season fighting crime with a group of other ragtag vigilantes.
What kind of twists can fans expect to see?
The way I’ve been describing it is just like a comic book come to life. It has the wit, surprise, and humor of a comic book, and that’s probably my favorite thing about it. You can expect to see action, of course. I think my favorite part or what I’m most excited for people to see are the dynamics between characters and how those play out. You see all these contrasting personalities trying to work together to ultimately do good. I think it very much parallels the real world.
You’ve starred in a number of works, like Raven’s Home, The Vampire Diaries, and Free Rein. Hw is this role different from the other works that you’ve started in?
This role is different primarily because of the physical or action aspect of it. I’ve never done anything like this before. So it required me to think more about physicality as an actress than I ever have before. Otherwise, I’ve never done something with such a large community behind it. Obviously, comic book communities are very strong and expansive, and I’ve never been a part of that. So there’s something very nerve wracking about it but also very exciting. I think the stakes feel a little bit higher.
What did preparation for this role look like?
I prepared by doing a little bit of research on other Carrie Kelleys being depicted and ensuring that research did not ultimately inform every decision that I made. She’s never been depicted in live-action before, so that part’s novel, but it’s specifically because she’s never been depicted in live-action I wanted to make sure that I didn’t let previous interpretations influence what I did too much to where there’s no originality in what I’m doing. So, I wanted to retain certain characteristics of not only Carrie Kelley as Robin but other Robins of the Detective Comics universe. Added to my own elements, training with the stunt department was a huge part of getting ready. Those two things in tandem are what I did to prepare for the role. The thing that happens naturally in preparation for the role happens with the other actors when you’re just spending time with them and you’re developing bonds and chemistry and little nonverbal ways of communicating that hopefully translate on camera as well.
What do you hope will come of the series or even your character Carrie Kelley in future episodes?
Ultimately, I hope that people who watch the series are inspired by it. It discreetly covers a lot of topics that we are dealing with as actual human beings right now. So we have this younger generation of people trying to overcome the difficulties in front of them or the challenges that society presents them with. It’s good for young people. Each individual is very different and yet they have to try to come together to form some kind of understanding to make progress. I hope people feel inspired by it or at least comforted by the show in that way. As for my character, my favorite thing about Carrie Kelly throughout the season is her discovering what it truly means to be good and what it means to be bad, and often those two things are much more complicated than she thinks. They are not black-and-white things. She ultimately has to learn how complicated those two things are, and that’s my favorite part of her journey.
What type of scenes did you enjoy filming?
Some of my favorite scenes to shoot happened in I think Episodes 104 and then 107, in which Duela [Olivia Rose Keegan] and I work with an actress named Veronica Cartwright [who plays Eunice Harmon]. We got to do a lot of scenes with her, and they were some of my favorite things that we ever did. They were just incredibly fun and energetic. Veronica is an amazing actress. There is a scene at the end of 105 that I really like as well, and that was a lot of fun filming, but I can’t say what we were doing or else I’d get in trouble.
In terms of your career, do you want to continue with roles in this genre?
Yeah, I think I’m totally open to it. I don’t think of my career in terms of what role I want to play but rather the kind of people I want to work with. If I were presented with another action role like this with a creative I really believe in, then I’d want to do it.
Catch Gotham Knights Tuesdays on The CW.
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