Hence seeing Jefferson creating a newbullet-proofsuit.
I was extremely excited.
What was your audition process like?Interestingly enough, simpler than I thought it was going to be.
Credit: Bob Mahoney/The CW
It came relatively quickly.
I went in for a taped read, because it was a tape read for the producers.
It was interesting because the day I went in, I had two auditions that day.
I went to the first one and then this was the second one.
We live all the way in Pasadena and I was in L.A.
I got called in.
The casting director was like, Well, lets go!Hurry up!
We gotta get you to that concert!
[Laughs] I did my thing.
I felt really good about it.
Then, I think, relatively shortly after, they said they wanted to test me.
I went into that test process, it was actually really easy.
Fortunately, I got it.
What does it mean for you, as an actor, to suit up as this character?
How did you feel the first time you put on the suit?It was pretty amazing.
I wasnt sure if it was actually going to come about, because Im no longer in my 20s.
So selfishly I was extremely excited.
This is a dream come true for me.
I was extremely excited.
Whether it was this project or anything, I take my work very seriously.
I kind of always go 100 percent.
That wouldnt change regardless of the character, but its just the honor.
Because there are so few, this is a historical undertaking that Im honored and excited [about].
Im really excited about that.
Hes done a lot of good through education, but theres also something lacking on the streets.
Because of that, he gets pulled back in.
First of all, wearing the suit the first time cost him his marriage.
Hes divorced, but he still wears his ring.
His strongest motivation is getting his family back together again.
So hes pretty conflicted.
Is there excitement or fear that his daughters have powers of their own?We havent gotten into that.
Hes been through it.
He knows what it takes and the toll that it takes.
He knows the danger thats involved.
Theres going to be that fear.
He also knows his ex-wife and how she feels about it.
I think its going to have a profound effect on his family.
The origin story aside, they dont have the ties of a family thats keeping them tied to reality.
The fact that he just has the real world ties make it different.
He has the ability to have limited flight, and thats the superpower I would love to have.
He controls all things electrically based, along with martial arts and the hand-to-hand combat thing.
Without getting into too much, there are things that the new suit provides that the old suit didnt.
Itll be very fun, lets put it that way.
But also, again, were a different bang out of show.
Ive told people were a family drama with superpowers on top of it.
Then, Im really more intrigued about what happens as my daughters develop abilities.
So Im really excited about unwrapping all of that more than combining universes.
Speaking of, you actually played a villain onLois & Clark.
Which do you like better: Playing a hero or a villain?
As an actor, the flaws are the things that are juicy to play.
If the character is perfect, it can be a little boring.
Im intimidated and also excited about all the action.
We havent even touched on Gambi yet.
Gambi is like a childhood friend who helps him design the suit and his mentor.
We havent touched on him yet, so Im excited to get into all of that.
And just the repercussions of putting the suit back on.
We havent seen the day after yet of like, Wait, what did I just do?
What does this mean?
Im excited about getting into all of that.
Black Lightningwill debut midseason on The CW.
