‘The Flash’ Preview: Violett Beane Talks Gorillas, Evil Jesse Quick

Jesse Quick is back from Earth-2 to help fight off an invasion of superintelligent, occasionally psychic gorillas — or, as they call it on The Flash: just another Tuesday. Violett Beane took time away from thwarting bank robberies and running circles around her fellow speedsters to talk with us about evil doppelgängers, the support of her co-stars, and plans for her character going forward.

Jesse was unusually subdued when we saw her last week. Her normal effervescence was missing for a couple of reasons. “She’s the Flash of her planet,” says Beane, and having to ask for help, “that weighs on her a little bit. She can’t save her father on her own.” Of course, this is a struggle familiar to Flash fans: Barry often grappled with the impulse to go it alone in episodes past.

Also bothering Jesse, says Beane, was “coming back and seeing Wally and how much she missed him and how they didn’t really keep in touch as much as she had hoped.” It’s a culmination of those things — along with the simple worry for her father — that brought her down. With both issues addressed last week, though, we’re “definitely going to see Jesse stepping forward and taking a lead in the next couple of episodes. I’m looking forward to that.”

The actress hopes Jesse will pull things together on a personal level as well. “I think Wally and Jesse make a lot of sense to each other,” Beane says of the couple. “They found each other when they were both a little lost. I think their relationship is kind of beautiful. I’d love to see it keep going. I know a lot of the relationships on the show are doomed from the start, but hopefully this isn’t one of those.”

Of course, the other major man in her life is now two men. The expression on Jesse’s face when she realized she was hugging H.R. and not her dad, “Harry,” was a little like that of a toddler who’s seeing her bearded father clean-shaven for the first time. But once she gets over the shock, they find they’re able to establish a connection. “The writers have been building Jesse and H.R.’s relationship — you’re going to see that a little more in the next episode.” Despite not having a daughter of his own, she says, “They share more than just their appearance. I think that another version of yourself has got to feel for a family member of your other self. I think it’s interesting, the relationship they’re going to start having with each other, and I’m looking forward to people seeing it.”

If you count our world as a parallel Earth (technically, we’re Earth-Prime in DC continuity), Beane and Tom Cavanagh — who plays all the multiple versions of Harrison Wells — do indeed have something of a familial relationship. Most of her scenes were just with Cavanagh early on, so “we’ve gotten pretty close onscreen and off.” He’s a tremendous resource, though she says he’s “incredibly respectful” and doesn’t offer unsolicited advice. But he has taught her and Candice Patton — who plays Iris — a lot about the technical side of making a show.

The set of a television show like The Flash is a strange combination of the real and unreal. The gorillas that populate the screen look imposing, but on set, it’s just “a stuntman in a green suit,” says Beane. Or, at least, it was. “I guess it wasn’t actually working for the CGI process, so now it’s just a tennis ball on a stick.” She says the actors rely on each other to figure out what’s going on and to make sure that everyone is seeing the same thing.

When it comes down to it, though, acting is all about making person-to-person interactions real. “The more intimate one-on-one scenes with Harry and Jesse or Wally and Jesse — that’s the stuff that’s the most fun for me [as an actor] and for Jesse.” As Violett, though, “the scenes with all of us at S.T.A.R. Labs talking” are her favorite. “Just hanging out. It’s always fun to have everyone around.”

With Cavanagh getting to play so many different versions of his character, we asked Beane how she would play an evil version of herself. She laughs before answering. “She’s younger, so it could be cool to see her as a mean girl who isn’t really that smart, the opposite of her. But somehow, she’s got evil villainess powers because of it. Maybe she chews and pops bubblegum and that has some sort of power? Like she can blow people up in a bubblegum bubble!” Barry had better watch out; Mean Jesse and Killer Frost would be formidable foes for Season 4.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.