"Arrow" has lost one of its allies.
Colton Haynes, who has portrayed Roy Harper/Arsenal since season one, is leaving his role as a series regular on the CW show. During the latest episode, Roy took the fall for Oliver and pretended to be the Arrow. He later staged his own death in prison and escaped.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, "Arrow" executive producers Greg Berlanti and Mac Guggenheim confirmed the actor's exit from the action series but said he will "appear in one additional episode this season."
"When we made Colton's deal, he was coming off of Teen Wolf where he was beloved, and he had a lot of opportunities," Berlanti said. "So we did a trial thing where we said, for his sake and ours, 'We'll just do a bunch of episodes and see if you like it and if you enjoy it.' And he did. Then pilot season came up that year and before another pilot could snatch him up, we made a two-year deal, so we always knew we were on a clock."
Berlanti also revealed that Haynes' role on the show was always expected to be temporary in order for him to commit to other projects.
"We're grateful that he, in the nascent stages of our show, really gave us the time and commitment to help get the show out there and get seen and talked about. He was such a wonderful element as a character and a person," Berlanti told Buzzfeed. "It was super sad, but everybody kinda looked at each other and realized that he's at the start of what I'm sure will be an incredibly, incredibly impressive career."
"Arrow" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EDT on The CW.
