"
Arrow's Katrina Law: How Laurel Has Changed Nyssa
Arrow's Katrina Law on the danger Nyssa is in, her relationship with Laurel and what she'd make of The Flash.
29 Apr 2015 By Eric Goldman
The Daughter of the Demon has been in flux lately on
Arrow, as things have changed drastically for Nyssa al Ghul, played by
Katrina Law. The heir apparent to her father’s legacy, Nyssa found herself passed over by Ra’s al Ghul when he named Oliver Queen as the person who would take his place. In the wake of this, Nyssa has been spending more time than ever in Starling City and found a new focus by continuing the training of Laurel Lance, now that she’s become Black Canary.
This week’s Arrow, "Al Sah-him", puts Nyssa in the spotlight, though in a dangerous way. With Oliver now having accepted Ra’s al Ghul’s offer, the League of Assassins returns to Starling City - and Nyssa is the one they’re after.
I spoke to Law about what to expect this week, Nyssa’s dynamic with Laurel, her thoughts on Oliver Queen and more, including what it might be like seeing Nyssa meet Barry Allen on The Flash.
Katrina Law as Nyssa Al Ghu in Arrow.
IGN: We know that this week’s episode find The League back in Starling and targeting Nyssa. Do they intend to bring her back to Nanda Parbat or could things be more dire?
Law: Things could be more dire. Basically, now that Oliver has accepted the role of Al Sah-him and become the new Ra’s al Ghul, you have to take out all of your potential contenders and Nyssa is definitely a potential contender. So I think this is life or death for Nyssa.
IGN: And how is she reacting to all of this? She’s already basically lost what had been her identity. Now seeing these former allies of hers coming for her, does that change things even more?
Law: Nyssa is an interesting character, especially in how she reacts to losing her title. You would think that she would rebel a little bit more but I think she has so much respect for the League and the ways of the culture and everything she’s been brought up with that she accepts it. She isn’t happy with it but she does accept tradition. She does accept the prophecy and she has, as gracefully as she can, bowed down to the needs of the League. Now that the League is after her, I think she fully accepts that as well. Nyssa, being the type of person that she is, she will not do what Malcolm Merlyn did, which is hide. She will face the League with dignity and as much honor as she possibly can.
IGN: She and Oliver have had plenty of fights, but they also have worked together at times. What does she think of him now and how clouded or not clouded is it by the role her father chose for him?
Law: I think she is extremely bitter toward Oliver, through no fault of his own at this point. I think she has dealt with her issues regarding Oliver and Sara and him becoming a fighter in general. She has given him respect but when it comes to becoming the new Ra’s al Ghul, it’s a bitter pill for her to swallow. She’s coming to terms with it but she also knows that if he is part of the prophecy that her father believes in and that the League is ultimately going to accept, that she needs to accept as well.
IGN: We’ve actually only seen her interact with Ra’s al Ghul directly a handful of times. Might there be another father daughter-confrontation on the way?
Law: Oh my gosh. There may or may not be a massive-father daughter confrontation coming up soon.
IGN: Talk about her in this new dynamic with Laurel, because it’s a very different role to see her in, mentoring and sort of trying to be this positive force for her. Has that helped give her a different focus in the wake of everything that’s happened?
Law: I think Laurel has been essential in Nyssa’s survival at this point. She has given her a focus and she’s given her a reason to exist, essentially. Nyssa’s world is very black and white. You are either dead or alive and you are either right or wrong. In the League there are no grey points. The great thing about the Laurel character is that she’s introduced Nyssa to a different world, one that she’s never experienced before, one where she’s allowed to smile, one where she’s allowed to be happy, one where grey does exist and is completely acceptable. So I think, in every sense of the word, in the situation, Laurel is just expanding Nyssa’s mind. I think Nyssa is starting to figure out who she is, outside of the League of Assassins. I think it’s a little daunting and scary at times but at the same time, I think she’s really excited, at the same time, at the prospect of who she could become.
IGN: I’ve seen more than a few fans ask if anything romantic could happen between Laurel and Nyssa or if it’s strictly a friendship/mentorship situation.
Law: I’m sure Nyssa would be all about it. I don’t know that Laurel would be all about it. But you don’t know until you try!
Katie Cassidy and Katrina Law in Arrow.
IGN: The network episode description mentions how Laurel asks Felicity and Diggle to help Nyssa. Safe to say that help is something that Nyssa is a little reluctant to accept, given her nature?
Law: I think Nyssa’s reluctance to accept their help is because she knows that the League of Assassins is after her and whatever the League wants, they normally gets. At this point, she feels very protective of Laurel and because of Laurel she feels protective of Team Arrow. She knows that if she accepts their help that she is now dragging outsiders into what she considers personal, family matters. I think she’s very reluctant to accept their help because she knows what it will mean for them and that it could result in their death as well.
IGN: You mentioned Nyssa changing and opening up emotionally in a way that she hasn’t before. Has that been fun for you as an actress, having introduced this character with this wall up, to peal that away a little bit at a time?
Law: Nyssa is so much fun for me to play. It’s always fun to play a character who is strictly black and white because that’s not how regular humans function, or most humans -- I don’t function that way -- in society. So to have such a strong sense of right and wrong and have it clash so completely with other people’s sense of right and wrong is really fun. Especially when Nyssa is willing to go to the ends of the world to enforce her convictions. So getting to have Nyssa interact in a normal, everyday life situation, such as a diner, is fun because little things that you take for granted such as knowing that ketchup goes on fries, or something as simple as that, it’s just a mystery to her.
IGN: So will there be a karaoke episode?
Law: [Laughs] I’m pushing for it and I think Marc [Guggenhim] is going to be on board soon.
IGN: [Laughs] They did one for the Flash! I see no reason that they can’t have one for Arrow too. What’s it like becoming more of the ongoing world of the series lately and seeing her stick around Starling and interact more with the characters?
Law: It’s a great character and I think the writers have been doing such a great job with developing her and taking it slowly and not pushing her onto the audience too much. It’s great because the fans have really accepted her. I think some fans love her and other fans are still kind of like, “I don’t know what to do with this character and what to think about it” but I think that’s the fun of it. Getting to interact with the rest of the cast of Arrow and the crew is just a joy because they’re all amazing. There’s not a single person who is terrible. I love working with them and Vancouver is fantastic. It’s just a fun character. Getting to play a girl who kicks ass all over the place is badass.
IGN: This is a very big world they’ve created. There’s two ongoing shows and a third that might be on its way. Would it be fun for you if you got to bring Nyssa over to Barry Allen’s neck of the woods or maybe the folks in this new spinoff?
Law: I think Nyssa’s character would be so much fun to watch in The Flash world because she just really wouldn’t fit in which I think would be hysterical. But that also means we have to see if she lives past this episode, so there’s that.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04...e-of-assassins-and-how-laurel-has-changed-her
"
"
"
I guess you're right. I should've known from this pic:
Katie though 
