Speed Date: Caity Lotz Doesn't Want a Stupid Barbie Doll

How often do you get a chance to go out on a date with a superhero?

We’re guessing the answer to that question is not often enough, so we’re taking you along for our Speed Date with Caity Lotz, better known as the scintillating crimefighter Black Canary on the popular TV show “Arrow.”

After starting her career as a dancer and model, Lotz successfully transitioned into acting with a high-profile first gig: A three-episode arc on Season 4 of “Mad Men” playing Stephanie, Anna Draper’s college-coed niece who catches Don’s dirty eye. From there, Lotz landed increasingly larger roles in projects including MTV’s mockumentary “Death Valley,” the horror film “The Pact,” and the dance movie “Battle of the Year.”

[Related: See All of Yahoo Entertainment’s Speed Dates]

Lotz takes on one of her most ambitious roles yet in this week’s Blu-ray release “The Machine,” a high-concept sci-fi action flick that takes place in an imaginary future where androids are used on the frontlines of a Cold War chilling between the U.K. and China.

"I play Ava, who is an artificial intelligence scientist. She is basically able to come up with the software to make a conscious machine," Lotz told Yahoo Movies, phoning in from the "Arrow" set in Vancouver. "Then I also play The Machine, who is an android with the same body as Ava. And she’s got superpowers… not super powers, but she’s an awesome, super-strong android."

It’s a challenging dual role indeed, which features a whole lotta of Lotz. Since we we’re intrigued about the woman behind the machine, we asked Lotz to partake in our rapid-fire questionnaire intended to really get to know a new face in your life in just a few brief minutes.

See Caity Lotz in “The Machine” trailer:

Where did you grow up?
Caity Lotz: San Diego, California.

Did your parents have another name for you if you turned out to be the opposite gender?
They would have named me Jessie if I was a boy, which would have still been a cool name for a girl.

What was your favorite doll or action figure growing up?
I hated dolls. I remember I got a doll once for my birthday and I cried. It was a Barbie… I was a tomboy. I played sports and hung out with the guys. I wouldn’t be caught dead with a Barbie Doll… I liked Beanie Babies, does that count?

What table did you sit at in the cafeteria?
At lunch we’d go dance. We used to go into the gymnasium and dance. Because I was a major dancer, all growing up. All my friends were dancers. We’d get our pizza and we’d eat it while we were walking to the gym to go dance.

When did you realize that you wanted to become an actor?
When I was 21. I was living in Germany for two years and I was singing in a singing group. And when I came back, I went on tour with Avril Lavigne dancing and that made me realize that dancing wasn’t for me anymore. I was ready to move on from dancing. And I’ve always been interested in acting. I just never did anything about it. So as soon as I got back from tour I started taking classes and I just fell in love with it.

So what was the first movie you ever saw?
"The Little Princess." That’s the first movie I remember watching. I loved it. And I remember I used to act out parts from that movie.

Can you still recite it?
"All girls are princesses." I remember that.

Do you have pets?
I’m looking at my little French Bulldog right now. He’s sleeping on the couch. Beasley.

What rock star in history would you most like to party with?
Can it be two? Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. They’re like the coolest cats ever. And I don’t want to party with just… Axl Rose or something. I like really creative bohemian types.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
I hate being woken up unnecessarily. I hate getting woken up when I don’t need to be woken up, because sleep is so precious to me and I usually don’t get a lot of it. If somebody calls my hotel room at  eight in the morning on my day off, then I’m not happy about it.

[Related: Speed Date: Brie Larson Loves Girls Bathrooms, Hates Abbreviations]

What did you do last Friday night?
Last Friday night. That’s a hard question. What did I do? We were shooting until God knows when in the morning. On Fridays… we shoot sometimes until the sun comes up.

What is the worst job that you’ve ever had?
I don’t know if I ever really had a terrible job.I started working as a dancer when I was 17, out in L.A., like doing commercials and videos and that was pretty fun. Before that, the only thing I did was teach dance, which was fun too.

What was the first professional dancing gig you got?
The first one I remember was a music video for the artist JoJo. It was like JoJo and Lil’ Bow Wow. I ended up actually not even dancing in it, I was just like her best friend in the video and we walked around Six Flags laughing. I just remember because since I was 17, they had to have a tutor on set and it was so embarrassing because there were cute boys there and the tutor was like, “Don’t talk to her. She’s not an adult yet!”

What was the first acting gig you landed and how did you get it?
"Mad Men" was my first thing. Actually I was talking to [series creator] Matt Weiner about it and I was telling him how it was so awesome that he cast me, because I had no credits. He was saying sometimes it’s sketchy to hire somebody for the first job because you don’t know if they could freeze up on set, or it might be totally different once they get on set. I just auditioned for it and I remember I came back that same day to go read for the director and for Matt, and Matt just gave me a bunch of direction in the room and then they, yeah, they hired me which was really cool because after that, people were like, OK, she’s an actress, and they believed it.

What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever wore?
I was Charlie Chaplin one year so that was kind of cool.I just thought it was a fun last minute costume. I got to wear a mustache. But I was still a sexy Charlie Chaplin, of course.

What is your sign?
Capricorn.

Are you a typical example of that sign?
On certain things, yeah. Definitely really stubborn and hardworking, but I’m also really optimistic and kind of free spirited, which I don’t think Capricorns are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be like realistic pessimists. I showed them.

What was the worst date you’ve ever been on?
I went on a date with this guy once and he was on his phone, like all the time. Texting… he even took a phone call and was like making plans for later that night while I was sitting at the table with him. I didn’t even say anything, I just got up and I left.

What are your deal breakers?
They have to like my dog. Have to love my dog. Deal breaker. They’ve got to be hard working and driven. That’s really my big one. And smart. Got to be smart.

Who should pay on the first date?
You should.

I have one final question for you: Would you like to get together and go out on a free date with us again?
Nah… I’m just kidding. Sure.

See Caity Lotz in a clip from “The Machine”: