Following an appearance on Batwoman, Arrow alum David Ramsey will be back this Sunday for DC's Legends of Tomorrow. However, "Stressed Western" won't involve his character John Diggle at all -- at least, not in the traditional sense. When Ramsey appears as a guest star on the Arrowverse series, he will play Bass Reeves, the U.S.' first Black deputy marshal. In true Legends fashion, there are plenty of twists in store for Ramsey's version of the historical figure, and he offered CBR a glimpse at what's to come on the episode he both starred in and directed.
Speaking to CBR, Ramsey broke down what makes Legends of Tomorrow so different from the other series in the Arrowverse. He explained why he wanted to approach "Stressed Western" like a Coen brothers movie and shared the joy of working with a creative team that was willing to try anything. He also confirmed a connection between Diggle and Reeves, highlighted the aspect of the episode that was most important to him and more.
CBR: Welcome back to the Arrowverse! What was it like to be back in the middle of the DC Universe again?
David Ramsey: Well, it's like the mob, right? You're never really out of it. So there's that. But it's great. It's great. I like to think that we hold the name Arrowverse, because Arrow started it all. That makes me feel great, right, to still be a part of that.
But to just see where it's evolved! With Superman & Lois, it was kind of a natural evolution to where the Arrowverse has gone, just the way it's shot, the storytelling. It was evident there! We were shooting with anamorphic lenses and shooting for 7-8k video. Beyond the technical aspect of it, it's just this slower pace, really involved drama that has superheroes in it. So I think that's kind of the next evolution of the Arrowverse, and it's just exciting to be a part of that.
Legends of Tomorrow is, obviously, an entirely different beast than the other Arrowverse shows. How did that impact your approach to directing this episode?
Well, every show has a style, but certainly, I think this episode and this show, amongst the other Arrowverse shows, is probably one of the more stylized -- probably the most stylized. This episode was very stylized.
But the approach, when you get handed a Western, right, as a director... you get the assignment from your showrunner, who is fantastic, but you look at it like, "Okay, Western. How do we want to approach this?" The great thing about Legends is that you almost come at it with whatever idea you have: "I think this is gonna be a little more Coen Brothers." "Great, David!" "Okay, I think we're gonna shoot a oner, or this kind of transition at the end..." "We don't do a lot of oners on the show, but we are going to do it in your episode, David." This is the response I'm getting back from the showrunner, as opposed to maybe other shows, where it's, "Hey, we don't do that. We just do this." You go to Legends, and it's, "Show us what you want to do to enhance the story."
You don't get that a lot as an episodic director, right? Episodic directors, they kind of come in, guns blazing, and that's it! They disappear, and then another one comes in. So to be told, "Hey, we want to hear your ideas. What do you have to enhance the story? Yes, I like it. That's great. That type of style? Let's do it." You know, it's just great. I think that's part of what makes Legends fun for these traveling directors; at least, it was for me.
Now, that's just a purely selfish point of view, but on top of that, you have these great relationships. I was fortunate enough to get one where it was the first time we see Sara return, as a human-alien hybrid clone, and to deal with with the weight of that amongst these really well-established relationships that she has aboard the timeship was just a lot of fun. Just a direct answer to your question: that's what you're really hone in [on], as a director. The spectacle is great, the western is great, the monster is great, the aliens are great, but it's really about the relationships.
What were you most excited to bring to this episode's story?
Well, there was a couple of things. Number one, you're rubbing your hands together when you have wonderful showrunners telling you, "Yes, what's your idea?" Because again, most times, you don't really hear that as episodic director. It's, "This is what we do here, and do it," right? So that's part of it, because it's like, "Okay, what do I want to do here?" To me, it kind of screamed Coen brothers. There's a lot of that feeling, particularly in the saloon and the outside gunfight. There's a lot of that feeling of a Coen. That was the first thing.
But the second thing was really -- and just as important as the style of the episode -- was the relationships. The relationship between Tala [Ashe, who plays Zari] and Behrad, the relationship between Ava and Sara, the relationship between Constantine and Adam's character [Gary]. Those relationships were really the things that stuck out to me. How do I tell that story? How do I earn these close-ups, coming out of the spectacle and getting into the meat of the of the relationships? To me, that's always it.
When you deal with these Arrowverse shows, you're dealing with superheroes, how do you make aliens and superheroes and a timeship grounded? The way you do it, is you get into the relationships. So I think, for me, with me traveling around this universe as a director, that's the one thing that stands out. Every show has its own personality, but we watch them because of the relationships.
So if I can tune into that, I think that's what I do as an actor. What's the relationship? When I watch shows from different directors, no matter what show it is -- a CW show, whatever show it is -- it's always relationships, right? So for me, you get out of your own way, after you read the script, and say, "Oh, I want to do this! I want to do Coen brothers!" So you have that power trip for a little bit, right? [laughs] And then it's like, "Okay, what are the relationships?" And to me, that's what really stood up off the page.
At what point did you discover you'd be playing an entirely new character in Legends of Tomorrow? How was that pitched to you?
When I was pitched, "Hey, David, we want you to direct and reprise Diggle across the Arrowverse, and some of these episodes, we actually want you to direct and guest star." I loved Diggle. I love the fans. I love CW, love Warner Bros, love the Arrowverse. And direct?! It was a no brainer, right?
Well, COVID happened. 2020 disappeared, and some things changed as to how we're going to approach Diggle across the universe. One of those changes was what we were going to do on Legends. So I was approached by the showrunners and the writers and they said, "We think we have a great idea with Legends. We don't want to touch John Diggle at all. We're on a timeship. Wouldn't it be interesting that, if someplace within John Diggle history, he's a distant relative of Sheriff Bass?" And I said, "Well, that's interesting! What's the story?" They told me that Sara would be coming back and it'd be the first time we see Sara and Bass would be part of that, but it'd be kind of mixed up. He'd be a bad guy, but not really a bad guy, just because of this alien. Well, then they go into all this Legends stuff. Fantastic!
So yes. The answer to your question is yes. This is the first time I'm ever playing a different character, but it was pitched to me: "You play Bass Reeves." Absolutely I'm going to play Bass Reeves! That's the funniest thing in the world! He just so happened to be someplace! In pure Legends fashion, we don't spell it out. We don't say, "Hey, look, he's a distant relative of John Diggle." We just have John Diggle playing him, or someone who looks like John Diggle but was really Bass Reeves playing him, and it's fun! It's very Legends.
Also, I think there was a certain expectation: "Oh, you're in a timeship! Last time we saw John Diggle, he encountered a green box. Maybe that's what we're going to talk about on Legends!" I think, in pure Legends fashion, it turns it on his heel: "Nope, it's not what you expect! It's actually something totally different!" I think that's the fun, the continued fun and irreverence of Legends. So I think Bass Reeves, played by John Diggle, is completely the story you want to tell on a show like Legends.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano, Tala Ashe, Matt Ryan, Olivia Swann, Jes Macallan, Adam Tsekhman, Shayan Sobhian, Lisseth Chavez and Raffi Barsoumian. Season 6 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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