“I just want her to be able to come and always talk to me and have open conversations.”

Those are the words from actor Stephen Amell on the type of relationship he hopes to have with his daughter when she gets older.

Fans of the show Arrow already know that Stephen can play the part of a hero. He does an outstanding job of playing Oliver Queen on Arrow. Now you will be able to see him help out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in TMNT: Out Of The Shadows as he plays the role of Casey Jones when the film hits theaters on June 3rd.

In TMNT: Out Of The Shadows we see Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones. After supervillain Shredder escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

I had the great pleasure of talking with Stephen about TMNT: Out Of The Shadows, Arrow, and fatherhood.

Art Eddy: Let’s first talk TMNT: Out Of The Shadows. The film comes out June 3rd. You play the role of Casey Jones. I am very excited to see that Casey Jones is in this film. How did you go about preparing for this role?

Left to right: Stephen Amell as Casey Jones and Megan Fox as April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes Productions

Left to right: Stephen Amell as Casey Jones and Megan Fox as April O’Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Platinum Dunes Productions

Stephen Amell: I didn’t have a lot of time. I finished Season 3 of Arrow. I flew to New York. I had about five to six days. The next think you know I am in an alley in New York City and Casey Jones is meeting April O’Neil and four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Everything was there on the page.

I was fortunate that this is a character that people have seen before on the big screen and in comic books. They gave my character a unique backstory. I am a corrections officer that really hasn’t been done ever with Casey Jones. That really formed my character and allowed me to really make it mine.

AE: The film has some CGI segments. What were some of the challenging parts of filming this movie?

SA: You just have to trust that Pablo, our VFX wizard and all the other guys at ILM aren’t going to make me look stupid. The turtles are a bit taller than they are in real life. So you just have to look at the ping-pong balls above their head.

I complained about it one time and by complain I mean I told Megan (Fox) that I thought it was hard. She turns to me and says, ‘Really? Try looking up at Optimus Prime when he is like seven stories in the air and nothing is there.’

I said, ‘You make a reasonable point there.’ I didn’t complain anymore.

tmnt2AE: You have done work with the WWE. You worked alongside Sheamus from the WWE in TMNT: Out Of The Shadows. How was it to work with him on set? Did you guys have fun on set?

SA: Absolutely. He was really interested in the acting industry. I was really interested in professional wrestling. We would just sit on set and basically just trade stories back and forth. I would ask him a question. He would give me the long form answer that was making me geek out because I am a huge wrestling fan. He would be like is it my turn now? He would ask me acting questions. It just went back and forth like this the entirety of the time we were on set together.

AE: I am guessing because of Arrow you are already in shape, but was there any specific training you had to do for the role of Casey Jones?

SA: It is funny because when I read the script I was going through it and finished it and thought this was amazing. I was like wait a minute there was a shirtless scene coming. It never came.

For training it was simply about making sure that we had a fighting style that was unique to Casey Jones. He is not a ninja. He is a brawler. If he has ever been in a fight it was probably during the third period of a hockey game. We wanted to make sure that it was evident. I didn’t want it to be too polished. Casey Jones shouldn’t be throwing down roundhouse kicks. He should be throwing punches and swinging his stick. Leading with his heart and not his head and I think we did that.

AE: It is tough for a Canadian to play with a hockey stick right? jones

SA: Exactly right.

AE: Arrow is a great show and is going now four seasons strong. When the show first started out what were your expectations for the show?

SA: No. I was just very hopeful that we were going to bring a superhero show to life that people were going to enjoy. I will never forget a certain review that said this pilot is good, but if recent history has taught us anything is that superhero shows don’t really work on TV. That was the prevailing wisdom at that time in 2012.

Now we got eleven superhero shows on TV. Every new show is some form of a superhero show. I am just glad that we pushed the envelope. I feel like we have been burdened is the wrong word, but we have been tasked with introducing a variety of new shows. I think that on occasion that forced us to not step out of our comfort zone necessarily, but pulled us away from some of the stuff that we do really well because our show is so specific.

It is about a guy on the street level with no superpowers. It is important going forward that Legends (of Tomorrow) is up and running, Supergirl is established, and The Flash is up and running that we get back to and keep our focus on the things that Arrow really does well.

AE: I also have to say congrats for how you made Oliver Queen into your own character. It is tough when there is an established 474character like that in the comic book, but you are doing a great job!

SA: I appreciate that. Thank you.

AE: Switching to fatherhood now, I recently read that you won’t be taking your daughter to the film because she doesn’t like movie theaters. Did you have any fears like that when you were a kid?

SA: I was absolutely, totally, utterly petrified of the scene in the first Superman where Lex Luthor puts the Kryptonite chain on him and he almost drowns in the pool. That scene slayed me. Not only could I not watch it, but I would start to get nervous when it would show up in the movie. Even when we were getting close to it. I would leave the room. I still don’t like watching it.

AE: What are some of the core values you look to instill in your daughter as she grows up?

SA: I just want her to be honest. There are going to be things that she is going to experience in the world today that I am not totally going to understand. I was hanging out with my buddy yesterday who has a daughter in her first year at a university. She was talking about things that were going right over my head.

So I can only imagine that five years or ten years from now kids are going to be into stuff and technology is going to be in a spot where it is going to be moving faster than I am capable of understanding. I just want her to be able to come and always talk to me and have open conversations. Just because she might get into something that I don’t approve of doesn’t mean we can’t talk about why I don’t approve. I just hope that she will view me as someone who she can trust and confide in.

AE: What was the first thing that popped into you mind when you found out you that were going to be a dad?

Stephen and his daughter. (Image from Stephen Amell's Instagram account.)

Stephen and his daughter. (Image from Stephen Amell’s Instagram account.)

SA: That is an interesting question. The thing that I focused more on was is my wife healthy? Is my wife happy? How is she feeling? What is she going through? I didn’t totally conceptualize the idea until my daughter was born.

Once she was born it really made life so much simpler. I say that to people and they look at me sideways because they think kids are so much work. Obviously, they are. At the same time at points in my career I feel like my priorities got out of whack. I gave credence and attention to things that didn’t necessarily need it.

Now she is my number one priority at all times. That will never change. It then becomes way easier to slot everything else where it should be in your life. My daughter first. My wife and my family second. If she hears this she would agree with me. She would say the same thing. Everything else falls where it should. Shooting arrows is important. Having a career is important. If it doesn’t fall in line with priority number on and priority number two than f*** it. I don’t care. I just say no. It just made my life a lot simpler and the path a lot clearer. My inclination to work hard becomes much easier because I know who I am working hard for.

AE: What advice do you have for new dads out there?

SA: The greatest piece of parenting advice was from my father-in-law. He looked at me one day. This was after about four bourbons. He goes, ‘Junior.’ He calls me Junior. I don’t know why. He said, ‘You get what you expect.’

I thought that was the best piece of parenting advice that I have ever gotten. You get what you expect. It is going to be a terror at a restaurant and you never bring them. They are going to be a terror. We learned with Mavi that just because you don’t get immediate results from something doesn’t mean that your kid isn’t learning. We signed with Mavi for six months before she signed back.

Stephen and his daughter. (Image from Stephen Amell's Instagram account.)

Stephen and his daughter. (Image from Stephen Amell’s Instagram account.)

She got it. She was getting it. The moment she signed back for the first time I was like oh wow I don’t need instant gratification with parenting, with discipline, with lessons, with language and with new activities. Keep doing it. Keep trying. One these days your kid just gets it and it is amazing.

Life of Dad Quick Five

AE: What is your favorite family movie?

SA: Christmas Vacation.

AE: What is your favorite song to dance to as a family?

SA: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

AE: Describe the perfect family vacation.

SA: Somewhere with a beach and no clocks.

AE: You also started up Nocking Point Wines. What is your favorite type of wine from your brand?

SA: Probably a nice cabernet.

AE: Did you have a favorite super hero when you were growing up? I am guessing it was Superman.

SA: It was Superman. The Christopher Reeve Superman for sure.

Follow him on Twitter at @StephenAmell and facebook on facebook.com/stephenamell