GalaxyCon in Des Moines, Iowa recently hosted several of The Flash cast. In attendance was Grant Gustin, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, and John Wesley Shipp. Fun Q&A panel and here are some of the highlights of the discussion in it.
They were asked about what the best thing to come out of The Flash was for them.
Danielle: An incredible education. 
I mean, we were on the show for so many years and got exposed to so many different things. I feel like I learned a lot on the show.
Carlos: Yeah, I would agree with that. 
I’d never done anything on camera before this show, so it was, like, a perfect training ground for me, especially ’cause I was surrounded by, you know, these guys that not only have they done it before, but they really know how to do it, and they have a gift and a natural innate ability for it.. And I was able to watch how these guys were just able to mold the material to their will and just make it their own and make it make it feel like real people telling a real story, with real circumstances, and it was it was the best education.
Grant: Yeah, I think for me, I’m sure this is true for John, too. 
I mean, being at these (conventions) always reminds me that it’s just now getting to be a part of the Flash’s legacy forever, which has been around long before I was born, before John was born, and now we get to be associated with it for the rest of our lives and careers, and no matter what else we go on to do or who else plays the character, it’s something that I get to be able part of forever, which is pretty special.
John: I remember in 1991, there we were in southeast LA fighting the sun, coming up one more time. They yelled cut on the series. 
I ripped the wings off, threw them in the air and swore I’d never get another superhero suit as long as I lived. But to have the opportunity on Grant’s show to come back in Crisis on Infinite Earths and give my story, which was interrupted, after one season, a closure was very meaningful for me.
Question: When you guys researched your characters, is there any particular storyline for all of you that when you read it that helped you really connect with the character when you read further into it as you’re researching it? Was there any particular moment for all of you that you connected with a character when you read a particular storyline?
Danielle: I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t do that much research. 
I felt like, especially in our first season, it was so layered and there were so many storylines I was trying to hold on to, that if I tried to also understood understand the comic books and those storylines, I would have gotten really confused.
Grant: Did they know you were going to be Killer Frost?
Danielle: Yes, they teased it. 
They said they had plans to, but as you know, you never know when those plans will come to fruition.
Grant: I hadn’t read a lot of comic books at all growing up. I was a fan of the genre, but mostly like animated shows and live action films. 
And I did read it as much as I could, just because I was excited. and it was I guess research, but I was mostly just excited to read as much of it as I could. I know that with a lot of the fans, the new 52, it had its flaws, but I loved specifically the artwork. I liked how it looked. 
And it felt like a good entry into like seeing with his backstory, what Barry’s relationship with his mom and dad was, and that was kind of the foundation of our season one, and really the whole series with Barry was the foundation that he had as a kid with his family, and then that loss that he had, and it really defined him. So I feel like that was kind of my starting point. But then, like, Danielle said, I mean, our show was very much like its own thing. 
So you it was really just like discovery and research, like every episode, every season as it went and kind of building its own thing from the ground up.
Carlos: Yeah, I mean, most of Vibe’s stuff is New 52, so you know, New 52 was the entry point for me as well. But, kind of like what you’re saying, our show was very much about establishing its own identity, even though it pulled a lot of inspo obviously from the comic books but I ultimately felt like I’d be shooting myself myself in the foot to try to incorporate things from something that was so different.
John: I really took everything I needed from Danny Bilson and the late Paul DeMeo’s hour and a half script, and I realized that they were treating the character a new way of telling these stories for television, and taking the characters, truthfully, if not realistically, because it’s not a realistic universe, but these are real human emotions, he’s weaving his way through getting these powers and being very uncomfortable, wanting to be rid of them at the beginning. 
I just took everything that I needed. And I think as with the new show, we were all lucky to have producers that were lifelong comic book fans. I always got the feeling with the new show that they were not creating content for a mass audience, you know, that they were writing shows that they wanted to see. 

Question: what’s something that each of you would change about the show?
Danielle: 
I wish we filmed in the summer in Vancouver.
Grant: See now. I did one episode in L.A and it was actually worse, like, being in the suit and the heat. So I wouldn’t do that.
Carlos: Speaking for my character’s stuff and my journey with the show, they made this decision to have Cisco take a cure and get rid of his powers. I understood why they made that decision, but I just didn’t agree with it. 
So, you know, if I could change anything, I’d probably change that. I think, to me, Cisco always liked his powers, you know what I mean? But I respected the storyline, obviously, as a consummate professional, I did exactly what I was told to do.
John: One of our executive producers left the show at one point, and he told me that if he had stayed, his intention was to do the trial of Henry Allen, that it shouldn’t be that Henry Allen got out of jail, and suddenly all was hunky dory. 
And I would love selfishly to have played the trial of Henry Allen.
Here is the link to GalaxyCon’s video of The Flash Q&A panel to get more from this fun panel in September 2025 in Des Moines.
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