While it's well known that actor
John Wesley Shipp portrayed
The Flash in the eponymous 1990's television series (before his role as Barry's father, Henry Allen), season 2 of the recent CW series decided to shake things up by giving Shipp the role of original Speedster
Jay Garrick as well, revealing him to be the man in iron mask at the conclusion of the season. Many thought this was a fitting tribute to Shipp's time in the role, but according to the actor himself, he views his Jay Garrick as his version of Barry Allen, 25 years later.
"I figured Jay is my version of Barry, 25 years later, essentially. So I went back and I watched a couple of episodes of the 1990/91 version to kind of remind myself what I did," Shipp told
ComicBook.com.
"[Jay] is much more reminiscent of my Barry Allen from 25 years ago than my Henry Allen. I went back and I was amazed how much attitude my Barry Allen had in some situations. I went back and I picked up that thread and I brought it forward 25 years, and tried to weave it in. I think that's fun for the audience, too -- that they will see elements of my Barry Allen in my Jay Garrick."
Shipp elaborated that the story decision to make him into Jay Garrick was made in service of Barry Allen's character growth.
"Grant Gustin's Barry Allen is the speedster of the show, so everything is discussed in terms of how it affects Grant's Barry," Shipp explained.
"When the iron mask comes off, and he sees essentially his dad, that's kind of like a one-two punch because it's his dad but it's not. If the iron mask comes off and it was Henry by another name, what would be the interest in that? In conjunction with Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti, we wanted to make Jay very different from Henry."
Shipp also revealed that his castmates - specifically Grant Gustin - were excited to have him return to the role of a Speedster.
"When Grant and I were running lines and I was being Jay, he just put his head down and started laughing," Shipp said.
"I said 'What's up?' and he said 'It is so cool watching you play this.'"
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