Why The Flash Cast Looks So Familiar

When Grant Gustin first appeared as Barry Allen in Season 2 of "Arrow," viewers were introduced to a clumsy crime scene investigator from Central City. As he went on to star in his own solo Arrowverse series, DC fans quickly grew accustomed to his portrayal of the Flash. Gustin is known for the emotional depth he brings to the hero, something executive producer Greg Berlanti saw during the audition process. "From the second Grant came in on his own, we kind of knew that he was Barry and not because he looked obviously like Barry from the comic book, 'cause he kinda didn't," Berlanti recalled in a featurette. "But [because] he had the heart you know, and Grant had the acting chops to carry this role."

Even though "The Flash" is the biggest role of his career to date, this wasn't actually the first show that put Gustin on everyone's radar. Before becoming the scarlet speedster, he first had his big break in 2011 when he was cast for a recurring part in the third season of Fox's popular musical dramedy "Glee." He portrayed Sebastian Smythe, the new captain of the Dalton Academy Warblers who was described as a "promiscuous and scheming male version of Naya Rivera's Santana," per TVLine. Even if he only appeared in a few episodes, his antagonistic portrayal of Sebastian was memorable due to the charm, wit, and confidence Gustin brought to the character.

His most notable musical performances from "Glee" were probably his covers of "I Want You Back" and "Smooth Criminal" with Rivera. The latter single even debuted at Number 10 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart. Despite switching his Warbler blazer out for a protective red suit, Gustin was still able to show off his musical prowess during a crossover episode in Season 3, when he and fellow "Glee" alum Melissa Benoist's Kara Danvers got stuck in a musical dream world. 

"Comic book fans are very opinionated [and] very vocal," Candice Patton recalled of her casting as Iris West during a panel with Popsugar. "So it was very scary stepping into that role when I started the show."

Despite some online harassment, Patton gracefully persevered and made the character her own because she knew the gravity and the importance of her portrayal to young girls of color. "People are always going to fight against change," she told the Washington Post. "But I think I've kind of solidified the role, and it doesn't bother me anymore. Generations after this will remember Iris West as Black, whether that's me, or someone else playing [the role] in the film. It's a great thing."

Similar to Iris West's commitment to journalism, Patton also shares the same dedication to her craft. After her freshman year at Southern Methodist University, she entered a nationwide audition contest for the opportunity to star in multiple episodes of the long-running daytime drama "The Young and the Restless." Out of ten finalists from different universities, she prevailed to the top by becoming one of the two winners of the "Soap Star Screen Test," leading her to land her first-ever acting gig in the role of Robin, which she played on "Y&R" over a handful of episodes from 2004-'05. In addition to playing Iris across multiple Arrowverse series, Patton's also guested on a long list of shows that includes "Entourage," "Heroes," and "Grey's Anatomy."

For millennial viewers, Danielle Panabaker is probably the most familiar member of the main cast due to her history as a Disney star, which began with the 2004 Disney Channel original film "Stuck in the Suburbs." The following year, she continued working with the House of Mouse through the popular superhero comedy film "Sky High." Before landing the role of Caitlin Snow on "The Flash," Panabaker made appearances on a number of hit shows such as "The Guardian," "Grey's Anatomy," "Law & Order: LA," "Bones," "Mad Men," and "Justified." Her time in the Arrowverse series also gave her the opportunity to explore what it's like behind the camera, as she made her directorial debut with Season 5, Episode 18, "Godspeed." (She's since gone on to direct additional episodes of the show.)

Panabaker revealed that it was co-star Tom Cavanagh who inspired her to take on directing. "I think I've always paid attention [to directing] in a really particular way ... I don't think I knew it was in me until I watched Tom Cavanagh direct in Season 3," she told The Mary Sue. "I watched him do it, and I was really inspired and started asking questions and seeing if I could make it happen, and here we are."

Danielle Nicolet portrays district attorney Cecile Horton — who, like Jesse L. Martin's Joe West, serves as a guiding figure to Barry and Iris. As the seasons progress, her character develops metahuman abilities, which leads to her becoming a member of Team Flash. "I've been so fortunate in my character in that she tends to have a bit of an evolution with each season," Nicolet told Nerds of Color. "She's sort of Harrison Wells-lite in that, you know, one way or another, she didn't have powers and then she got them, and they've been kind of consistently growing and morphing with each season."

Nicolet is no stranger to the superhero genre; she also worked with Marvel on a few projects from 2011 to 2013. Far different from her role in "The Flash," Nicolet lent her voice to legendary Marvel hero Storm in the X-Men-centered third installment of "Marvel Anime," a series of four anime shows. After that, she voice acted in three video games — "Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth," "Marvel Heroes," and "Lego Marvel Super Heroes" — once again voicing Storm as well as other Marvel heroes such as Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Maria Hill, and Gamora.

To avid viewers of DC shows, Jessica Parker Kennedy might look familiar through her appearances on the earlier popular superhero drama "Smallville." On the Tom Welling-led series, Kennedy played Bette Sans Souci aka supervillain Plastique, who appeared in three episodes of Season 8. In terms of personality and metahuman abilities, this character is very different from the Nora West-Allen that she plays on "The Flash." The only similar thing about them is that Kennedy's versions of Plastique and Nora are both deviations from the comic book. For the supervillain, her powers were slightly changed in "Smallville," while Nora of "The Flash" was inspired by DC hero XS, who is Barry Allen's granddaughter in the comics.

Before becoming a time-traveling superhero, Kennedy also starred in the short-lived fantasy teen drama "The Secret Circle." She also had a few supporting roles on TV shows like "The Troop," "90210," "Black Sails," and "Colony," as well as appearances in TV films including 2008's teen musical comedy "Another Cinderella Story," which featured Selena Gomez.

Wally West aka Kid Flash is definitely a DC fan favorite, and it was a no-brainer for "The Flash" to bring the character into the Arrowverse during Season 2. The honor of being the first ever live-action Kid Flash goes to the multi-talented Keiynan Lonsdale, who according to executive producer Andrew Kreisberg (via IGN) "embodied all the heart and courage of the hero." Lonsdale's version of the character slightly deviates from the comics, as he was introduced as Iris West's brother instead of her cousin. After his third year as a series regular, Lonsdale decided to leave "The Flash" to pursue other projects and shift his focus to growing his music career.

Before joining "The Flash," Lonsdale landed his first major film project as part of the Shailene Woodley-led "Divergent" film series, playing Dauntless-born initiate Uriah Pedrad in the last two films of the dystopian trilogy. Lonsdale is also known for starring as Bram in the coming-of-age dramedy "Love, Simon."

For the first four seasons of "The Flash," Victor Garber played nuclear physicist Dr. Martin Stein, who became half of Firestorm after accidentally merging with Robbie Amell's Ronnie Raymond in a particle accelerator explosion. Despite leaving the series in 2017, Garber is still one of the few Arrowverse characters who have made an appearance in all of its shows.

Prior to "The Flash," Garber had been in the business for several decades. Apart from his Emmy-nominated role in the action thriller series "Alias," the acclaimed actor's most recognizable role arguably came in James Cameron's epic romantic drama "Titanic," in which he portrayed Thomas Andrews, inspired by the actual designer of the infamous "unsinkable" ship.

Despite having a hard time shooting the expensive Oscar-winning disaster film due to its long night shoots, Garber has only but respect and admiration towards Cameron's dedication towards filmmaking. "He's arguably one of the greatest directors we've ever known," he told The Globe and Mail. "He expects everyone to be as committed as he is. Coming from the stage, my background is to be prepared and to just be always attentive to what the director requires and wants. So I had a great time with him."