Since her first appearance in Season 6 of The Flash, Sue Dearbon, as played by Natalie Dreyfuss, has captured the hearts of so many fans of the show. A charismatic socialite who uses her financial resources for good, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Now back this season, she pairs up with the show’s leading lady Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) as they help troubled meta teen Tinya (Mika Abdalla) reconnect with her long-lost mother. Through it all, Sue has all the flair and confidence to command a presence on screen and enrich the already electric energy that Candice Patton brings as Iris.
We were able to speak with Natalie Dreyfuss earlier this week on how she enjoys playing Sue, working on The Flash with Candice Patton, and the importance of having a creative outlet for artistry during the pandemic.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Thank you so much for speaking with The Nerds of Color today.
Dreyfuss: Thanks for having me.
How has it been shooting on The Flash and especially during the pandemic?
Yeah, it’s been the best possible thing that could have happened to me to be honest. Everyone that works with me knows I just come in with bells and whistles because work is always a miracle when it happens, but when it happens in such a difficult moment, and you get to make something together, it’s really really important and gave me a sense of purpose and kept me kept me golfing so I really really loved working on that season.
That’s really great to hear. What’s your dynamic been like with other people on set?
Yeah, like I said, I think everyone knows me as the girl that loves it here. They’re like, “Oh, she’s here. She’s excited.” So yeah, I just have such a nice time with this specific group of people. We really get along well, and I’ve been on a lot of that in my life and just kind of depends on the group and the dynamic and I really love this one. The cast and the crew. I just find them to be totally lovely to be around and also in a beautiful setting in Vancouver.
Yeah, absolutely. That’s wonderful to hear. So on your character Sue Dearbon, all the fans love her. What do you like most about her? And what do you hope where do you hope to goes further in the show?
Like kind of love that they call her “Sue DearBond,” I just think it’s funny. That’s some comic book writers some that at some point was like, timed and everyone else. No, I’m joking. But yes, Sue is amazing to play because they let me have fun with her. They encouraged it. They want me to really bring as much of myself as I can to this character and have it be this dynamic person that’s not just you know, somebody’s wife or somebody whose girlfriend or a side character but her own strong female character with lots of complex traits and backstory and it just makes it feel like something I can really sink my teeth into.
What’s it been like working with Candice Patton?
Yeah, it’s been awesome. I always get excited when I get to work with a new character because her and I had not gotten to work together very much before that. And we immediately bonded over our shared love of Wordle definitely introduced me to world so every day it was like did you get the work? And, you know, lots of just inside jokes and comfortability between us and we have a lot of real conversations to in between, which is nice, because some people don’t really want to have that dynamic with you on set, and I just found her to be really open to having some real chats. And it’s a tough time. So being there for each other. It was really really lovely.
I‘m so glad to hear that the show has really been that sort of release for you of like being able to be in this creative, collaborative environment. How has that been nourishing for you as an artist and as a performer?
I couldn’t be more grateful to have this outlet in my life at this point. Like I said, I’ve been in this business a long time. Anytime you get to work. It really is such a miracle. There’s so many hurdles that have to happen for you to be able to get to a set and get to this point where you get to make something together. But when it happens in a time when you feel really scared and really lost and unsure. Making something with it is just the most beautiful thing that you can do with any of those emotions and being along people alongside people that are comfortable talking about how vulnerable we all feel and and being real with each other. You know, not putting on some sort of weird fake face of that all everything’s great. I’m having the best you know, we ever were all much more real with each other because it’s an it’s a lovely set of people that care and they’ve been together for now for eight years. So it’s a family and there’s a lot of like genuine relationships there that where we actually care about each other and can say, How did you wake up with like a crushing weight of anxiety today? Me too. And everyone just breathes a sigh of relief that we just said it and it’s okay. So I acknowledge that things are hard. And then let’s make something that’s entertaining and fun together and use that as a as a way forward.
That’s so wonderful to hear. So back again on the show, what do you like most about Sue and Iris’ blossoming friendship and the sort of mysteries they’re able to tackle together?
Yeah, it’s been fun for us to be this. We almost joke about having our own, you know, like female detective show, where we’re like solving mystery left and right. Because it’s fun for us to go ahead and dive into the storyline together as a team and, you know, I the assumption is that I have been her landlord and that’s how we sort of know each other, but we didn’t get to see that play. Out in the show. So it’s fun for us to come together and be like, Oh, wow, we get to really build out whatever kind of friendship and relationship these two might have. And so we’ve had a good time sort of feeling that out together and how playful would it be or how like serious would it be and her and I are playful people so there’s definitely a lot of fun that’s going on between us and you get to see that play out in the episodes and we just felt comfortable with each other. So that was the most fun part of building out that and solving these mysteries and having them unfold for us together as just to sort of really strong female characters, and to really struck females in life. You know, being able to work together and make something come to life. It makes us feel good.
You can watch The Flash Season 8 Episode 10 “Reckless” streaming now on The CW App
