ARROW’s Celina Jade: Shado Sees Oliver’s Potential to Find the Hero Within Himself

ARROW’s Oliver has been struggling mightily in his flashbacks to his time on the island, but things might just be turning around. While Slade has grown frustrated with Oliver’s lack of skills, Shado (played by Celina Jade) brings a new perspective to his training…and will help massively shape the hero he has become in present day.

I spoke with Jade about joining the show, training Oliver, and more…

You’ve been in a couple of episodes of ARROW so far, but were you watching the series before you joined the cast?
Celina Jade: I did, actually! I started watching it because Byron Mann, who plays Yao Fei on the show. I had worked with him previously on THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS, so I watched one or two episodes. But I’ve been really busy, so I hadn’t had the chance to watch all the episodes, and next thing you know, I’m audition for ARROW and it’s like, cool! I’m playing his daughter, so it’s like, “Hey, what’s up,  Daddy?” [Laughs]

Given Shado’s presence in the comics, did you do a lot of research before you took this role? Or did you try and bring your own clean slate into the role?
CJ: A bit of both. I did read up on her when I did my audition for ARROW. I try not to get too affected by what I read, because the producers have really taken their own creative liberties, as well as where it’s going to go. So I try and put my own spin on it. Even though she’s a really tough person, every character has their motivation as well as their vulnerabilities. So in comic books, characters tend to be a little more one-sided; very strong. For me, it was finding the roundness of her character, and that’s different from the comic books.

This week’s episode seems like it’s a big one for Shado, so what can you tease about that?
CJ: Basically, Shado’s got to give training Oliver a go. Slade has kind of given up and said, “You’re never going to fight on this island. You can’t fight.” He drops his knife every time, he’s a lost cause. So in this episode, we’ll see Shado start her training with Oliver, and it’s really cool, because her training method is very different from Slade’s. Slade is more of a pragmatic fighter: you really have to toughen up or you’re going to die. It’s threatening, his teaching method.

Whereas Shado, she comes from a background of martial arts. She learned it from her father in China, so she knows a lot about [it]. She knows about the philosophy of it; she’s almost training his mind to get ready for being a fighter, which is actually really important in martial arts. I like to think of her a little bit like Mr. Miyagi in KARATE KID. It’s a very non-traditional way of training and very cool.

What is her biggest frustration in teaching Oliver how to fight?
CJ: Actually, you know, I don’t see it like that at all. She sees beyond his inability to fight. She sees that he’s a really good person, and she sees his potential to find the hero within himself. She’s not that pessimistic; her attitude is open your heart and have faith, and if you really look inside, you’ll find what it takes to be a fighter. So there really isn’t much of a frustration other than maybe his assumption that her methodology isn’t going to work. She knows that it works, so she has that confidence he’s going to get through this and rise above his doubts about himself and his doubts about being on the island and how things are going to work out. She is a uniting but strong force for him. She believes in him.

Have you filmed any scenes with Slade away from Oliver yet?
CJ: So far, no, they’re always together, the three of them. But it’s hard to say later on what’s going to happen…as far as I’m concerned, they’re a team. A team of three, and they’re going to do whatever it takes to get off the island and that army of people.

It’s a really cool team. I love the dynamic of [these] three. The fact that her and Slade have a bit of competitiveness going on and this alpha male here, and then her training Oliver to be the fighter we see later on in the city.

She’s the one who actually teaches [Oliver] archery, and his signature moves that you see in the city are the ones she taught him. It’s cool she had such a significant influence on how Oliver becomes Arrow later on.

How is it for you to have all of your island scenes so separate from the present-day stuff on the series?
CJ: It is a little bit weird. It’s as if there are two stories going on in one series, which actually is kind of cool. It gives the dimensions that ARROW has. But I would love for one day Shado to go into the city and maybe team up with Oliver. I think that would be my dream: to team up with Oliver to save Sterling City. But who knows where we’re going to go.

The show looks like it’s going to be around for a while…it’s possible she won’t make her way to the present day world for a couple of seasons.
CJ: Well, we don’t know. Her future is still very unknown. So every time I read an episode and I see that she hasn’t died, I’m like, “Yes, she’d not dead yet!”

Given that Manu Bennett (Slade) has been bumped to a series regular for next year, have the producers talked with you about your role in the second season?
CJ: I haven’t actually seen [ARROW executive producers] Andrew [Kreisberg] and Marc [Guggenheim] recently; I just got back from Hong Kong, and they’re really busy, obviously, with the season finale at the moment. But definitely later on we’ll sit down and talk and find out where Shado is going to go.

If you had your choice, would you prefer to pop up for guest spots or become a series regular?
CJ: I don’t want to get my hopes up. It would be great to be a series regular, but for me I’m just really grateful to be part of the show and I don’t really want to think about the future. It’s just how do I play my part well right now? That’s all I’m concerned about right now.

Totally fair! There have been a lot of teases that the island story is very important in the final hours of the season. What can you share about that?
CJ: I don’t know yet! We’re shooting episode 22 this week…I’m really excited to find out [about the finale] but at this moment, they’re keeping every one of us on our toes. I keep hearing about it, too! Little rumors about what happens, so I can’t wait to read the episode. [But episode] 22 is definitely big.

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ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8 PM on The CW.

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