Looking Forward to FACTS: Arrow edition

Emily Bett Rickards was born on 24 July 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Her mother, Diane Greig, is a dream psychotherapist. Her father (whose name is not so easy to be found, and believe me I tried) is also a medical professional (some sources say he is a orthopaedic surgeon, but we are not sure about that). We are also not sure about possible siblings for Emily, but what we do know is that little Emily took an interest in the arts from a very young age. She attributes this early interest to her parents' storytelling skills. Emily says her parents were very supportive in her love for performing and her mother encouraged her by enrolling young Emily in musical theatre and dance. In later interviews, she talks about how she always loved to be in stage and about performing in children's plays, like: "Pippi Longstocking", "Oliver" and "Peter Pan".

There isn't much to be found about Emily's early education, but what we do know is that she finished high school early. Subsequently, Emily went on to study at the Vancouver Film School (VFS), which is known for its intensive training in film and television acting. Emily enrolled in the Acting Essential Program, which helped her to hone the skills and techniques she needed to pursue a career in (screen-) acting. She also studied at the Alida Vocal Studio to hone her vocal and performance skills. Emily's ambition during her teenage years went beyond school plays, by the time she was 17/18 years old she was already aiming on a more professional level. Her first professional job was in a music video ("Never Gonna Be Alone") for the Canadian band Nickelback.  She said that during the audition process she had to stare at an X on the wall and people said 'you really like the X, you have a deep connection with the X....ok and now the X is leaving and you're never gonna see the X again'. She also said that she never even met the band, during that whole process. Vancouver is a city with a bustling TV and Film industry and in the following years she did a lot of auditions to build up her reel and had some minor roles in some small projects.

In 2012, Emily got an audition for a minor role in the TV show "Arrow", based on the adventures of the DC Comics superhero Green Arrow. Emily did not know, who she was auditioning for, but she did know it was a 1 episode deal, 2 scenes and one day of work. When she got the job, she heard she was going to play the bright and funny tech expert Felicity Smoak. With her portrayal of Felicity, Emily made a big impression on the show's executives and lead actor Stephen Amell (who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow). They were very excited about the energy that Emily brought to the role. During preview- and press screenings Emily's portrayal of Felicity gained critical acclaim and people loved her. The producers of "Arrow" knew what they had to do, the expanded Emily's presence on the show and gave her a recurring role in the pilot season. When it was time for season two, Felicity had become a fan favorite and became part of the main cast.

It was no accident that Felicity appealed to the audiences this much. Emily gave Felicity distinctive speech patterns and a vulnerability that made her feel like a friend and not just the nerdy tech girl. Because of Emily's versatility as an actress, the writing team wrote all kinds of emotional arcs for the character. With her comedic timing, but also with her ability to play the 'deep hurt' scenes, she became the perfect counterpart for the dark side of Oliver's personality. Over the years Felicity, became the emotional core of not only Team Arrow, but also of the show. Emily left the show at the end of the seventh season and returned for the series finale. She wanted to explore new work and didn't want to be a one trick pony defined by one role. Eventually she played the role of Felicity for 155 episodes from 2012 until 2020. During this time, she also played the role of Felicity in other shows within the "Arrow"-verse, like: "Vixen" (2015/2016), "Vixen: The Movie" (2017), "Supergirl" (2017), "The Flash" (2014-2017) and "Legends of Tomorrow" (2016-2017).

While Emily was on "Arrow", she did do some other projects and played in movies and series like: : "Dakota's Summer" (2014, as Kristen Rose), "Brooklyn" (2015, as Patty), "Paranormal Solutions, Inc." (2016, as Genevieve Kreme), "Funny Story" (2018, as Kim) and "The Clinic" (2018, as Stevens). After her time on "Arrow", she played the role of Amber in the movie "We Need To Talk" (2022). In 2024, she played the Anja in the adventure movie "Autumn and the Black Jaguar". Also in 202, she played the title role in the western drama "Calamity Jane". Most recently she she stepped into the wrestling ring for "Queen of the Ring". This biographical sports movie is set in the 50s, a time when women's pro wrestling was illegal. Emily plays the role of Mildred 'Millie' Burke, a small town single mom, sho grows out to be the first female athlete to become a millionaire.

John Scot Barrowman M.B.E. was born on 11 March 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland. He was born the youngest child of John and Marion Barrowman. John's father worked for the heave machinery company Caterpillar Inc., while his mother was a singer and worked in a record shop in Glasgow. John is the youngest child, he has an older sister named Carol (8 years older) and an older brother named Andrew (14 years older). John's sister Carol, talked about how John was a nightmare when he was little and that he was always crying. John's father asked Carol to push him around the block. When she said she didn't want to, he jokingly wrapped little John in a newspaper and jokingly threatened to throw him in the bin. So Carol, reluctantly 'agreed' and gave a friend her pocket money to do it for her, because she couldn't stand John's crying. John remembers his brother and sister babysitting him and one time they soaked his dummy in the syrup and stuffed him in a closet. When they finally let him out, he was bouncing off the wall from all the sugar.

When John was 9 years old, his father was transferred to the United States. The family moved to Joliet (Illinois), where his father got a better position within the Caterpillar Company. John went to Joliet West High School, where his high school music teacher encouraged him to use his artistic abilities and his love for the performing arts. His English teacher moved him into the school's Gifted Program and also coached him for the Speech team. His talent and hard work brought him to compete in statewide speech competitions. This sharpened his reading skills, which would come in handy later when he had to read the scenes for plays.. At high school, he participated in school musicals and plays, as well as in community theatre. After graduating high school (1985), John knew what he wanted and he enrolled the University of Iowa for a semester to study Drama and Music. Subsequently he briefly attended DePaul University in Chicago, where he studied Voice (also for a semester. In January of 1988, John moved to Southern California and  studied Musical Theatre at the United States International University in San Diego. 

In 1989, he spent the summer in the UK studying Shakespeare (as part of his course). Here he landed his first professional role as Billy Crocker in the Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes" in London's West End. From here on he became a leading man in West End shows and he appeared in productions, like: "Matador" (1991, as Domingo Hernandez), "The Phantom of the Opera" (1992, as Raoul), "Miss Saigon" (1993, as Chris), "Sunset Boulevard" (1994-1995, as Joe Gillis) and "The Fix" (1997, as Cal Chandler). It was around 1995, that John also started working on screen. In 1995 and 1996, he played the role of Peter Fairchild in 21 episodes of the drama series "C.P.W.". In 2000 / 2001 he landed the role of Peter Williams in the prime-time soap opera "Titans" (produced by Aaron Spelling). Unfortunately the show got cancelled after about 11 episodes, due to low ratings. In the show John played a true soap opera villain. In 2005 his life changed when "Doctor Who" was revived by the BBC and John was cast as Captain Jack Harkness (an ex Time-agent). jack was the first openly bisexual character in the history of "Doctor Who". The character was immensely popular, so a spin-off was inevitable. 

The spin-off was named "Torchwood" and was created by Russell T. Davies. The show was conceived as a darker and more adult spin-off of "Doctor Who". Fun Fact: The title "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who". The show focuses on a secret British organization investigating alien phenomena. John played the role of the immortal Jack Harkness for 41 episodes of "Torchwood"  from 2006 until 2011. Besides this he also voiced/played Jack in 7 episodes of "Torchwood: Web of Lies", in the 2015 video game "Lego Dimensions", in 13 episodes of "Doctor Who" (2005-2021),and in 9 episodes of the audio drama series "Torchwood" (from 2015 until 2025). and other parts of the franchise. During his time on "Torchwood", John also had a guest role of 5 episodes in "Desperate Housewives" (as Patrick Logan). In 2012, he played the role of Jeremy in the the biographical political war movie "Zero Dark Thirty". After his time on "Torchwood", John had achieved a cult status in the UK, but he wanted his new role to have a more international audience again.

In 2012, the CW was developing a new superhero drama called "Arrow" (based on DC Comic's Green Arrow). The show's creators were familiar with John's work in "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" . They were looking for an actor who could play a mysterious, charming and morally ambiguous man. They wanted someone who could charm and intimidate at the same time. Mid 2012, John was cast as a guest star in the first season of "Arrow" as Malcom Merlyn. It didn't take long before it became clear that Malcolm's alter ego was The Dark Archer (Arrow's first nemesis). Eventually John played the role of Malcolm in 68 episodes over 7 years. He reprised the role in other series of the "Arrow" verse , like "The Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow". John later said that he doesn't seen Malcolm as a villain, he says Malcolm does what he thinks is good for the world, his moral compass is just a bit different...After his time on "Arrow", John remains a busy bee. He appears in multiple TV programs, returned to stage, announced a men's clothing collaboration, wrote a children's book with his sister, is a strong advocate from LGBTQ+ rights and so on.