Father of the Flash: An Interview with John Wesley Shipp

Of all the remarkable things that The Flash has done, of which there's been an awful lot, one of thecoolest was casting the original small screen Flash, John Wesley Shipp, as Barry Allen's father,Henry.

Shipp played Barry Allen for one season in 1990 and 1991, and while his show might not have been acommercial success at the time, it's time to acknowledge its influence. While it may not have thegenerational appeal of Adam West's Batman or Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, for a particulargeneration of comic book and super hero fans, 1990's The Flash was a touchstone. It gave fans aglimpse of how much fun live action super heroes could be, even if mass audiences weren't yetready.

Which is a long way of saying that it's appropriate that Shipp was cast as Barry's father on The CW'sFlash, since his take on the character could arguably be seen as the father of today's small screenheroes. And as any parent can tell you, it's not always easy being a father. It certainly hasn't beenfor the falsely incarcerated Henry Allen, who arrives at something of a turning point in tonight's newepisode, "Crazy For You." But don't take our word for it! We recently spoke with Shipp abouttonight's episode, along with what we can expect from his upcoming reunion with Mark Hamill'sTrickster and what qualities he shares with the man currently wearing the red and gold.

So, let's start with the obvious question... Are you ever going to get out of prison? Or are we alwaysgoing to be looking at you behind the glass?

Well, those are two different questions! One question is if I'm ever going to get out of prison, and Iwould say...probably. But am I going to be behind the glass all the time? I can tell you,unequivocally, no. We know that Joe now believes in Henry's innocence, and [in tonight's episode]Henry and Joe start having some interactions, which circumvent Barry and lead to Henry gettingroughed up and landing in the infirmary. That means we see Henry relating both to Joe and to Barrywithout a glass partition, which is cool both physically and metaphorically because we also get intosome father/son issues without that partition between us. Does the father recognize the son, and ifhe does, how will he let the son know that? That's explored tonight in a way that I'm very excited tosee.

How do you think it must feel for Henry Allen to see his son grow up and develop from afar? As afather, I can't imagine doing that.

I can't either. But Henry, from the moment he's convicted is thrown into such a surreal environmentthat he's got to be suffering from some kind of PTSD. He has a wife murdered, has a ten-year-old sonwho's taken away, is convicted of doing it in his son's presence... That's a handful.

One thing is we tried to acknowledge the anger that Henry would have toward Joe after Joe tells himthat he believes he's innocent, while at the same time acknowledging that if Joe hadn't been there,who knows what would have happened to Barry? Even though there was probably some resentmentthat Barry works for the police department like Joe instead of becoming a heart surgeon like Henry,there still has to be a degree of comfort in that he knows Joe's a good man and that his son is in goodhands. I think by the time our show starts, we see a man [in Henry] who has accepted that fourteenyears later, this is how his life is going to be going forward. Henry might have participated in hisson's quest to find meta-humans that may have been responsible for the murder in order to giveBarry an outward focus. But by the time the pilot comes, he's ready to say, "It's time to let it go."And then Joe finds out and we learn everything that we know about Harrison Wells, and we're downa whole different road.

I also have to respect the character that I'm playing. I really think that Henry, once he realizes thathis life if not over is certainly curtailed, his focus is Barry. Barry's well being is really the only thingthat Henry has at the point that the pilot opens. Now, with Joe onboard, that presents an interestingsituation for Barry, doesn't it? Now Barry is no longer his father's only window on the world. Watchhow he deals with Joe and Henry going around him to work on something in tonight's episode, andhow he feels about Henry reaching out to somebody else other than him. These writers know whatthey are doing. I'm constantly in awe with how they're balancing all the elements. It's a very complexshow.

It really is. I was thinking about how Barry has three father figures on the show. There's Henry, JoeWest and Harrison Wells, and now the Harrison Wells dynamic has changed and almost become asubversion of what it was. It just seems like it would be so difficult for Henry.

Well, there's a lot of poignancy to it. At thevery start, I didn't know if they'd want toinvolve the old show or not. They could'vegone one of two ways. They could've made aclean break and make it all new, or integrateelements from the old show. Before I knew I'dbe involved, people were saying that I shouldplay Jay Garrick, but then I found out aboutGeoff Johns' recreation of the Allen family inwhich Papa Allen is convicted of killing MamaAllen in front of ten-year-old Barry, which of

course, got me imagining what that would've been like 24 years ago when I was playing Barry. Ithought, wow, if I'm asked to participate, that's the role I would want, and shortly thereafter, that'sthe role they offered me.

How would you describe your relationship with Grant Gustin? You two have shared a role. That'spretty unique.

It's interesting! There are a lot of connections there. Grant and I both are from Norfolk, Virginia. Hewas born on January 14th and I was born on January 22nd, and he was born the year that I wasdoing The Flash.

I also feel, and I felt this from the first moment I saw him on Arrow, that we work from the samepremise. We try to get to the truth in the moment. It's not just about razzle dazzle, it's about heart.Certainly, we honor the special effects and the comic book element. But when it's time, and you're inthat cubicle with the glass between you and the phones, and it's time to talk heart-to-heart, Granthas the ability to do that. I believe that I have the ability to do that as well, and we complement eachother in those moments.

As far as sharing the same role, I look at it as if he's playing my Barry ten years younger. Grant's 24and I was 33 or 34 when I did it. That gives him some advantages in terms of the tripping over hisown feet aspect that Barry has. He can play the humor more easily being that much younger. But thecharacter of Henry Allen in this incarnation is such a good character that even if I hadn't playedBarry 24 years ago, I would still want it. It's very rich, it's layered and it's conflicted, and I loveplaying those elements.

Looking ahead, are you excited for Mark Hamill's return to the world of The Flash?

We just got through shooting that episode! We both talked about how unique and special it was to beable to revisit a project like this. Obviously, I'm playing a new character, but he's the same characteronly older and more seasoned. Whatever poison is circulating in the Trickster's system has had timeto deepen and turn more acrid. Then they balance that with having Devon [Graye] play the younger,trickier version of the Trickster.

We were talking about how unique [the whole experience]was and how this is the second time he's done it veryrecently. He never thought he would get to do Star Warsagain, and he never thought that we'd be on a Flash settogether again. Even though I'm in a different role, we'restill relating very much the same was as we did in "The Trialof the Trickster." He has a reason to take me captive [in theupcoming episode], like he did when I was the Flash. Theyplay with the similarities, although there are differences. It'sgreat fun. He's a legend. At one point, Mark and Devonwere doing a scene and the director looked at me and was like, "Mark Hamill! That's Mark Hamill!"

It's the Flash's 75th Anniversary this year, and I was wondering, as someone who has played theFlash and is still very much involved with the character, why do you think he's remained so popular?

When we were at San Diego Comic-Con before any of the shows had aired, I was asked about all thedifferent comic book shows and movies. I said that they're presenting a lot of different comic booktreatments and it'll be interesting to see which ones the modern audience will gravitate to. We're theride at the amusement park. We're the more hopeful one. This is an era of The Walking Dead, where

you need to have a hatchet in the head every five minutes for it to be considered entertaining. That'snot us at all. But then we premiered, and one of the reviews mentioned how refreshing it was tohave a super hero where one of his powers is optimism, and I thought, "Wow, it's going to be us.We're going to stick."

It seems like the audience is ready for sincerity and optimism again. That was all considered toonaïve and unsophisticated for a while. It had to be gritty. We certainly have elements of grit, but athis heart, Barry Allen has always been a pretty good guy. He's sort of the everyman that people canrelate to. It's certainly what I love about Grant Gustin's characterization. He's so likable.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) on The CW.

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