David Ramsey opens up about how he juggled his roles as Mayor Carter Poole in Blue Bloods and John Diggle in Arrow.
During the Arrowverse Heroes panel at Motor City Comic Con, which was moderated by Joe Deckelmeier for ScreenRant, Ramsey recalled how challenging it was to work on both series simultaneously. However, he said that the professionalism of the leading actors from both shows really helped ease the burden. He praised Arrow star Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen) and Blue Bloods' Tom Selleck (Frank Reagan) for being so flexible and bearing with him when traveling from Brooklyn to Vancouver.
According to Ramsey, the commute was obviously draining. The actor spent six years flying back and forth between the two cities so he could keep both of his roles. However, he made it clear that despite the constant traveling, it was all worth it. He described Blue Bloods as an incredible opportunity and said that its 15-season run was “remarkable.” He added that working alongside Selleck was one of the highlights of his career.
I'm not just saying it because he's here. It was the leadership of both folks on the show, Stephen and Tom, on their respective shows. Obviously, when you're on a show where you need a strong leader, it just trickles down. Like I said before, it was exhausting.
To your question, one was in Brooklyn and the other was in Vancouver. So I was doing the flight back and forth for six years. So, that was tough, but it was great. It was just a fantastic show. I think [it was] 15 seasons they went, which is an incredible run. And now, there's a spin-off with Donnie. So, it was a great experience on that show, great to play the mayor of New York. And Tom Selleck, forget about it.
Ultimately, Ramsey explained that, had it not been for Greg Berlanti, the creator and executive producer of Arrow, he likely wouldn't have been able to star in both series. Apparently, Warner Bros. and CBS were initially uneasy about having the actor work on both shows, as they weren't sure if one person could handle such a hectic production schedule.
However, Berlanti, who also had connections at CBS due to his work on another one of the network's police dramas, Golden Boy, really fought for Ramsey. The actor said he had to make a lot of calls and do a lot of convincing, but he managed to convince both sides. Ramsey added that none of this would have been possible without him.
Arrow is available to stream now on Netflix.
