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'Arrow' Star Michael Rowe Surprised By His Deadshot Casting

Being a TV superhero is pretty great. "I've got the best job in the world," said Michael Rowe from his booth at the Motor City Comic Con at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich.

He tells the story of how the role of Deadshot wasn't what he auditioned for. They brought him in to play an Army sniper named Finn, but when the red eyepiece and wrist-mounted machine guns came out they told him he would be playing Deadshot. Rowe was shocked. "You've gotta be kidding me man," he said recalling his reaction at the time.

Working With The Big Guys

The ambiguous anti-hero was pitted against massive co-stars in the show. So how does he handle the mismatch? "They're all like professional wrestlers," he bulked up a little after joining the cast to keep up.

First he fought Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen and then they had him up against David Ramsey's character Diggle. "He's like 6'4" 230 pounds," said Rowe. A scene called for Diggle to choke Deadshot. "It felt like he didn't even need two hands," he said.

The show works their craft to makes it believable. "Thank god for movie magic," he said laughing.

Suicide Squad

Rowe is excited to see where the new "Suicide Squad" movie will take the character he brought back to center stage.

"We did a good job at what we were doing on TV and that gave them the confidence to take it all the way to the film version."

"Interesting" is a word he used to describe the casting of Will Smith in the movie.

On Being Recognized

The first time Rowe was recognized for his celebrity was at a bar in New Zealand on a promotional tour. His tough Newfoundlander hackles were raised by a group of guys giving them a stare. "They're really staring us down. Get ready," he recalled telling his co-stars. Turns out they were fans which was a surprise to Rowe since he wasn't aware the show aired over there. In fact it's quite popular Rowe tells us.

Has he ever seen something at a con that he really wanted?

Fans will often show him drawings of his character. He has asked for them to send it to him in the mail, but he's still waiting.

Being in Michigan

He only took the trip from the airport to the hotel, but when we asked if he had heard of our local culinary trademark, the coney dog, he thought we meant a corn dog.

"That sounds delicious man," he said when we described it.

Head over to Motor City Comic Con all this weekend and see Michael Rowe this weekend.

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