David Ramsey as Arrow's John Diggle. Photo copyright of The CW.
Happy New Year! I thought I would kick off 2022 with a new round of Sci-Fi Blast From The Past posts. To new readers, Blast From The Past interviews appeared in-print only and not on-line. Today, David Ramsey talks about fighting crime as John Diggle in The CW's Arrow. Enjoy!
Some people believe the number thirteen is unlucky, but for actor David Ramsey it was, in fact, a good omen and a time in his life when he discovered what the future hopefully held for him career-wise. “When I was 13, I was bitten by the acting bug while doing a play, and it was for purely narcissistic reasons – as soon as the audience responded to me, I liked it and wanted more,” recalls Ramsey with a chuckle. “So I enjoyed the instant approval, but that later grew into something very different. I realized this is an art and a difficult one to do as well. Before that, I had played football and did martial arts, but neither of those became something that I really wanted to do professionally. This [acting] was always my first and greatest love in terms of a profession.”
Over the years, Ramsey has tirelessly as well as enthusiastically continued to pursue his passion, playing a variety of characters in several feature film and TV projects. Currently, he can be seen helping protect the fictional Starling City from all manner of super-villains and other baddies as John Diggle in the hit CW TV series Arrow. It was actually one of the actor’s earlier performances as Mayor Carter Poole in the series Blue Bloods that put him on the proverbial radar when Arrow producers were casting the John Diggle role.
“Have you heard of the old adage, ’There are no small roles, just small actors?’ I know that may sound cliché and something that might be taken for granted, but you always want to approach any job with an attitude of, hey, let me give this my all and do the best work possible,” says Ramsey. “Unbeknownst to me, Greg Berlanti [Arrow executive producer/writer] had been watching Blue Bloods. I didn’t even meet Greg when I auditioned for Arrow. One of the other exec producers, Andrew Kreisberg, along with David Nutter, who directed the pilot – and who is currently shooting The Flash pilot – were there. At the time I’d no idea that I was their guy. Everyone there wanted things to work out and were hoping, naturally, that everything in terms of my acting talent was there.
“Happily, it did all work out and I got the part. Again, I had no clue that Greg had been watching Blue Bloods, and had I not taken that role as seriously as I did, things might have turned out differently.”
In the Arrow pilot, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is found alive after being missing and presumed dead for five years following a shipwreck that resulted in his father’s death. Oliver’s family, including his mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) is unaware of just how her son’s time marooned on a remote Pacific island changed him. After his rescue and return home to Starling City, Oliver assumes the duel secret identity of a masked vigilante who becomes known as Arrow. Armed with a high-tech bow and arrows, he pledges to fulfill his father’s last wish – to right the wrongs of the Queen family, fight crime and bring Starling City back from the brink. Unaware of Oliver’s extracurricular crime-fighting activities, she hires a body-guard, John Diggle (Ramsey,) to watch over her son. Just like his TV alter ego, Ramsey had no idea what his involvement with Arrow would eventually turn into.
“I’ve done pilots before, a lot of them, and everyone is always hoping, praying and keeping their fingers crossed that their pilot will be picked up as a series and be even moderately successful, let alone a hit,” notes the actor. “When we did the Arrow pilot, it had this amazing energy surrounding it, and the person I kind of tuned into and who was really the harbinger of that energy was David Nutter. He has directed several pilots and has an incredible track record as far as them making it to series. David was saying things like, “This is going to be big. This is going to be a hit.’ He was the orchestrator of that and really piloted the ship. I think David’s words were a little bit infectious, and got all of us to start thinking, ‘We don’t want to get too excited too early, but maybe we do have something special here.’
“When we received a series order, we were, of course, excited, and then once the show began airing, it became obvious after a couple of weeks that it was one of the breakouts, not just for the CW network, but for the new TV season as a whole. That mushroom cloud then just got bigger. DC [Comics] now had a TV franchise, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming and our show was being compared to it, and now there’s a Flash spinoff in the works. It was, however when we did Comic-Con last year that it truly hit home for me and was the real telling point. There were 4,000 people in the audience and another 2,000 outside waiting to get in and who couldn’t get in. It was a huge thing for a CW show, and it opened my eyes to the fact that Arrow is a show that is resonating with its audience,” enthuses Ramsey.
“I have to mention, too, that as far as John Diggle, what was especially gratifying for me is when the people at DC decided to make him a legitimate, bonafide comic book character. So many people have to sign off on that, and it’s not an easy thing. Obviously I was never expecting anything like that to ever happen, and I don’t think the executive producers on Arrow were ever aiming to try to make Diggle a DC comic book character. It just kind of came about as a result of the viewers, who genuinely responded to him. This was just one more thing that made me think, wow, this is really big, and so much bigger that I ever expected.”
As a former soldier and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, John Diggle is more than qualified to act as Oliver Queen’s bodyguard. In the Arrow pilot, he explains to the young man, “I don’t want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will far outweigh your comfort,” Sadly, John’s commitment to his work is lost on Oliver, who does not want his services. The two soon part company, but their paths cross again when Arrow saves John’s life after he is mistakenly shot by an assassin. Diggle discovers Oliver’s secret and agrees to join him in his crime-fighting exploits. Much to Ramsey’s delight, the characters’ onscreen relationship has developed into something more than the typical hero and loyal right-hand man.
“I have to thank the Arrow writers because they’ve put words into John’s mouth that work against the urge to make him kind of mundane,” notes Ramsey. “He’s written in such a way where he’s not mundane, but he could be played as someone who simply facilitates the growth of the lead character. Of course, that’s part of all our duties, to facilitate Oliver’s journey, and John could have easily just gone that route. However, to the writers’ great credit, they’ve given him lines like, ‘Hey, I’m signing onto you team, but don’t expect me to be your sidekick.’
“I think there’s a tone that came with those words that helped me an as actor hone into who Diggle is. This is a guy who will say to Oliver, ‘I will fight you, and, yes, you’ll probably win, but when we’re done, you’re going to know you were in a fight.’ That’s Diggle’s attitude, but there’s a reason or higher purpose behind it. As an actor, the challenge for me was getting into the human aspect of who my character is. I think Diggle can have a Star Wars/Yoda-type of ethereal vibe going on where it’s like, ‘I know what’s best for you, Oliver. I’m right, you’re wrong. Follow me, kid. I’ll show you the path. ’That can sort of get in the way of who he is as a man, which is what I wanted to hone into.
“What I feel makes John appealing is that unlike Oliver and a lot of the people who come into Starling City and possess super-powers or superhuman abilities, Diggle is someone who everyone can be. He was born an ordinary guy and wanted to do the right thing. John had opportunities to do the wrong thing, but he wanted to make something better of himself. He became exceptional at what he did, but not a super soldier. He didn’t have a super serum or spend five years on an island where he was honed and compelled to change who he was as a result of some cathartic experience. He’s also not this super-whiz like Felicity [Emily Bett Rickards] or Barry Allen/Flash [Grant Gustin], or a super-assassin, either. Diggle is just an everyman or a regular dude who has an outlook on the world that was gained through the trials and tribulations of just living. That, I think, is what makes my character accessible or relatable to a lot of the viewers, and I could not be happier about that.”
Born in Detroit, Michigan and one of six siblings, Ramsey made his debut over 16 years ago playing a small role in the TV series Lovers and Friends/For Richer, for Poorer. That was followed by a handful of other small screen gigs as well as appearances in such films as The Nutty Professor and Con Air before he booked the lead playing Pastor David Randolph in the half-hour UPN (United Paramount Network) TV sitcom The Good News.
“That was my first real [acting] stint, and words can’t describe how elated I was when I got the part,” says the actor. “I came out here to Los Angeles in 1993, and three years later I was the lead in my own show. That’s something a lot of people in my profession only dream about. The show was short-lived, but still a good lesson. After that I became for the most part a journeyman actor, getting a show here and there, and doing a guest-appearance here and there. TV movies of the week are in most cases a thing of the past, but back then, the networks were making plenty of them. As such, I got to play a lot of wonderful roles like, for example, Muhammad Ali in Ali: An American Hero, and I was also in a TV movie [Mutiny] that Morgan Freeman executive produced.
“The next big thing that really came along for me in terms of visibility was years later, and that was the Showtime cable TV series Dexter. That show helped put me back on the map. Like Arrow, it had a tremendous following and put me on a different radar. From there, I went to another show called Outlaw with Jimmy Smits. It only ran for eight episodes but, again, it gave me some visibility. That took me to Blue Bloods and now here I am on Arrow. So it’s really been in the past few years that there’s been a resurgence in my career that, to be honest, hadn’t really been there on a level like this before, and I have Dexter to thank for that.”
Along with his work on Arrow, the actor can be seen in the upcoming feature films Draft Day and Nailed. In an industry where fame and fortune are often the key incentives for someone wanting to pursue an acting career, Ramsey believes there is a single grounding force that will best serve those striving to be more than a one-hit wonder.
“I think it all has to start with as well as come back to the craft and wanting to connect not only to those around you but also those watching,” he muses. “First you connect with the material, followed by your director as well as your costars, and then finally to your audience. It’s the same thing I was doing and that touched me when I was 13 years old and doing that play. Now as an adult and an actor, I try to re-create that same feeling with every project I work on.
“The success of a show, the ratings, becoming a DC character, however many people who may show up at Comic-Con, all those things are icing on the cake. Of course, they’re things that you really, really want, but at this point in my career, I can’t do this solely for those reasons. They’re too fleeting, and I’ve had more failures than successes,” jokes Ramsey, “so it would be a rather depressing life, indeed, if that’s all I focused on. So it has to be about the connections, and if I can find and make those connections, then I’ve touched the part of me that need to be stimulated creatively. That’s really the goal of this [acting].”
Steve Eramo
