Arrow actress to depart
Arrow's Emily Bett Rickards is leaving the series ahead of its eighth and final season.
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Arrow‘s Emily Bett Rickards is leaving the series ahead of its eighth and final season.
Rickards, who plays Felicity Smoak, said on Instagram, “Felicity and I are a very tight two, but after one through seven we will be saying goodbye to you. I thank you all for the time we’ve shared. The elevators we have climbed. The monsters we have faced and scared. And the burgers we have dined.”
She continued, “I will keep her in my heart for always, and I hope that you can too because she would not be alive if it weren’t for all of you.”
US reports suggest her contract was up and she opted to move on.
Co-creator executive producer Greg Berlanti and executive producer / showrunner Beth Schwartz said in a joint statement, “We’ve had the pleasure of working with Emily since season one and in those past seven years she has brought one of TV’s most beloved characters to life. And although we’re heartbroken to see both Emily and Felicity leave the show, we’re completely supportive of Emily and her future endeavors. She will always have a family at Arrow.”
Rickards originally appeared as an IT technician at Queen Consolidated, later becoming Oliver’s wife, and stepmother to his son William.
Source: Deadline
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3 Responses
My problem is that I’m no longer a keen comic book fan so do not keep up with the history of these DC characters but as far as Felicity Smoak is concerned, at least in this Arrowverse, she was lucky to remain as long as she did, it was only the open ended story that is Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, plus the crossovers, that kept a chapter open for Felicity to be in it, much the same could be said regarding some of the other support characters as well. There was obviously a lot of loyalty among those involved in making Arrow to keep the original cast together, now it seems the DC universe showrunners have seen the writing on the wall and are diversifying with a more adult content.
I just find this whole situation a little bizarre and fishy… it only has an order of 10 more eps to wrap up the series. She’s an original cast member… I’m not sure why she wouldn’t see it til the end…?
That’s how I feel too. It seems so strange to not just finish it out. Its 10 episodes. She’s one of the more loved & popular characters on the show (& half the main loved ship) so its a shame to loose that. I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t just see the show through to the end when it is such a short season. Why not just agree to do less in the show for those eps so you get more time off?