THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS PHOTOS AND POSSIBLE SPOILERS ABOUT THE SEASON 6 PREMIERE OF "ARROW". If you have not watched this episode yet, ad do not want to see or read any possible spoilers about it..... do not continue reading or viewing the photos below.
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Arrow started filming season 6 of Arrow last month in a few locations. The two that I caught up to them at was in North Vancouver, in Princess Park that they were using as part of Lian Yu.

On set that day was everyone that we saw at the end of season 5 who were on the island actively trying to get out together. People I saw on set that day included Emily Bett Rickards, Willa Holland, David Ramsey, Echo Kellum, Juliana Harkavy, Manu Bennett and Anna Hopkins. I DID NOT see Katrina Law, but I did see a person dressed as Nyssa al Ghul there. I also never saw Katie Cassidy, Lexa Doig or Madison McLaughlin there.

All that said, who I saw, and didnt see does not mean 1 way or the other who did or didnt die in the episode, as much of what they filmed on this day was simply showing what everyone did in the final minutes before Adrian Chase threw a Donald Trump sized temper tantrum & blew up an entire island. I do know from things I do know about this episode and others so far, 1 person from the lists above is in a coma, and as of the time of writing this, nothing has changed with the character coming out of it, or being killed off yet. I suppose if/when they finally decide that will decide if/when the cast member playing the character decides on returning or not.

I managed to get some autographs that day from Anna Hopkins and Manu Bennett, despite crew being overly pushy about insisting they were "in a hurry" (despite the fact the minivan she said was in a hurry to leave sat there for another 4-5 minutes afterwards)

The area they filmed in was so well concealed by ravines and forest that it took quite a bit of effort to even find ANY shred of area that I could see the scene from. While I could hear pretty much everything that happened, my visibility was limited to two small cracks between some trees.... thus why the limited selection of photos I managed to get. Much of the scene had the cast running, so the only chance to really get a shot of them was after they were done running. 

The best shots I got were of Emily Bett Rickards when she was finished shooting the entire scene, and wasnt in a rush to get back to her starting spot. In the pics, you can see Felicity is clearly covered in a variety of scratches.

After they changed the set up for the scene, I seemingly lost the spot I had as a crew member was then there stopping people from trying to see from there..... so i moved on for that day.

The only shot I know anyone got that day of Manu Bennett on set as Deathstroke was from twitter user @ArizonaJake

A few days later, I managed to catch up to Arrow shooting a scene on the Georgia viaduct. Tis is of course the same viaduct they used for that impressive Deathstroke army marching into Starling City back in season 2. On this day, they had several of the cast there shooting a variety of scenes on the bridge. While most of the shooting while I was there consisted of two actresses and their stunt doubles doing a fighting scene, others were in fact there, and did film at various times.... albeit, mostly after I left.

Katie Cassidy, Julia Harkavy, Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Echo Kellum & Paul Blackthorne were all seen on set, along with most of their stunt doubles as well.

The majority of shooting took place with Harkavy, Cassidy & their stunt doubles. Below, at the bottom, is a quick video of 1 of the takes of the stunt team working thru the sequence.

A special bonus..... a rare guest photographer. Local photographer Lightbox Gallery allowed me to use a few of his photos from the day.. You will notice the difference almost immediately between my shots, done with a $500 camera, and his, done with a $3000-5000 camera.  You can find other photos hes taken of different celebs on his Twitter and on his Instagram

While he did miss some of the stuff with Juliana and Katie out on set battling, he did get quite a few great shots, including a couple of Stephen, who I somehow never even noticed was on set at that time.

Arrow returns to The CW in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada on October 12 ,2017
You can also find my other behind the scenes Arrow blog posts going all the way back to season 1 HERE
You can find my Arrow Autographs gallery HERE

Over the 1st two seasons of "Arrow" (on the CW in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada) I have managed to catch up to the cast quite a few times, in quite a few scenarios. On set, airports, hotels, even a couple cast get togethers. As a whole, the cast has been pretty great with the regulars in town.

I have also gained quite a few photos from those encounters from times that I just, for whatever reasons, never blogged about. They somehow fell thru the cracks of larger posts at the time, or simply I didn't feel there was enough to do a post on at the time.... so here they are. My unseen pics of the past 2 years.

Firstly, the star of the show. Stephen Amell.

This past season I ran into him quite a few times, seemed for awhile he was at every location I ever went to. So these off set interactions with him might have fallen by the wayside easily enough from late this past season.

Each time, he stopped for me and the others there, and happily signed for us. Hes been a class act here, glad they cast someone who was not just physically capable of the role, but also a good guy with the public off set.

Also, if you don't already... you really should follow his Facebook Page, he is easily 1 of the more engaging & entertaining celeb son FB, and his memes he re-posts from the public are usually pretty good. Hes honestly 1 of the very few things I even go on facebook to see anymore.

Below are pics from an encounter during "Family Day" (a fake holiday B.C. invented for an extra weekend off) & 1 pic from running into him at the end of the season... as well as the WORST photo with ever (my fault...didn't gtell the guard something my camera was going to do) that I got on the set the night they filmed the tunnel scene for the finale. I am definitely gonna have to get that re-done in season 3.

Stephen Amell Official twitter profile

In season 1, I found the Arrow set just a couple blocks from my house. UNFORTUNATELY, it was 1 of the hardest rains I can ever remember me enduring at a set and was all in doors. But I was determined since I really wanted to see the man who would play Count Vertigo, again, Seth Gabel.

I had met Seth many times on the set of another show he did here "Fringe" (a couple of these pics are from then btw... I just had never used them so thought, may as well now).

I caught up with Seth, and he had 2 out of country fans there to meet him too. He stopped even in the torrential downpour to talk to them, and signed for me & my buddy. I joked with him how less than a block away was 1 of the last places I saw him when he filmed Fringe.  He told me he remembered it and when he was coming into work that day he passed it & instantly remembered what he shot there.

An added bonus that day was my 1st ever time seeing Detective Quentin Lance in person, Paul Blackthorne nearly snuck by me because I was looking the other way...but I caught him just long enough to snap off 1 pic. he then signed a couple autographs for my buddy across the street. Since then, I have seen Paul many times. Always been a great guy. Nowhere near as abrasive as Quentin is.

Seth Gabel Official Twitter Profile

Paul Blackthorne Official Facebook page
Paul Blackthorne Official Twitter profile

When Arrow originally cast the pilot of the show, they probably had not even thought of who would play Felicity Smoak. Little did they know a year later she would be the most popular female character on the show & essentially the lead female on the show.

Emily Bett Rickards got cast in the role that is now a staple of every episode. I've caught up with her many times, and shes always been really friendly with us.

Here is 1 such encounter from last May 2013 that I never managed to find time to post.

Emily Bett Rickards Official Twitter Profile

In season 2, the writers of Arrow decided to bring back the Sara Lance character.

However, they wanted someone with a background that was capable of doing physically challenging scenes. So they re-cast her.

In came relative unknown Caity Lotz. The woman who would eventually become "The Canary" (writers clearly wanting to keep the BLACK Canary title for the person they said was going to be it) became a mainstay throughout the season. I managed to catch up to her a few times early on, including this encounter as she was leaving town for Christmas break.

Caity Lotz Official Twitter Profile

In the final week of filming, I managed to catch up to 2 Arrow baddies.

1st up was the man who plays the seemingly unkillable Malcolm Merlyn. John Barrowman arrived in Vancouver to shoot his finale scenes, and I managed to get him at the airport. In true John Barrowman fashion, he gave me a couple wild poses as he came out the door to go to his vehicle. Hes always looking to leave a lasting impression on the fans.

The next day, I caught up to Deathstroke. Manu Bennett did a TV interview to promote an event he was going to be at.

I managed to catch up to Slade Wilson on his way out of the interview, and he happily signed for me, as well, told me quite candidly that it might be quite awhile, if ever, before we see Slade/Deathstroke again as nothing was guaranteed for his return in season 3. I told him the writers always find a way to bring people back, he seemed less certain.

Fingers crossed the Arrow writers find a reason to have him back sooner, rather than later.

John Barrowman Official Facebook page
John Barrowman Official Twitter profile

Manu Bennett Official Facebook Page
Manu Bennett Official Twitter profile

IF I don't get too sidetracked (which happens often unfortunately) I might write my review & opinions on season 2 of Arrow in my new TV episodes, seasons & series review blog I made (so far only has 1 whole entry...kinda slacked off on that). So you can possibly see that soon.

Arrow will start filming season 3 in Vancouver in July.

Arrow Official Facebook Page
Arrow Official Twitter Profile