Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with The Flash’s Natalie Dreyfuss

Flash fans have been patiently waiting for Sue Dearbon to make her arrival in Central City, and that day has finally come. Joining the cast of the show—now in its sixth season—Natalie Dreyfuss is the talented young actress bringing the iconic character from the page to the screen. Pop Culturalist caught up with Natalie to chat about the role, her history with scene partner Hartley Sawyer, and what it’s like to be a part of the DC family.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Natalie: At the time, I was teaching preschool, I had recently quit ballet due to an injury, and I missed the performing arts. A friend said, “You should try an acting class because you love games and there are a lot of games involved. It’s a lot of fun.” I was like, “Hell no.” I grew up in LA, and I had no interest in acting at all. They convinced me to go just for fun, and I fell in love with it. It was very different from dance. I felt like dance was about trying to fit a mold that you know you’re never going to fit. With acting, you could be yourself. It was like breaking the mold. I got addicted to the craft from there.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Natalie: I’ve always been a fan of leading women like Lucille Ball and comedians who were able to do live-audience work. I started my career on a live-audience show for Lifetime called Rita Rocks with Tisha Campbell-Martin and Nicole Sullivan. I learned so much from watching those two: the way they handled their professional lives, balancing their personal lives, and how smart, funny, and great to work with they were. It really set me on a path of wanting to be the best version of myself at work and making everyone around me feel excited that I was there.

PC: You’ve had tons of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Natalie: I’m a huge fan of Will & Grace, and I got the opportunity to work on the show when it was revamped. That was a huge moment for me in my career—doing multicamera work. But honestly, The Flash—booking this job has been one of the more exciting things to have unfolded in my career. I didn’t understand going into it how lucky I was to be a part of the DC family and how exciting it was going to be.

The Flash

PC: Fans have been patiently awaiting the arrival of your character. Did that add any pressure heading into this project?
Natalie: Yeah, definitely some nerves, wanting the fans to be excited to see Sue come to life. No one’s ever played her before, so it was nice that I didn’t have to do an impression of someone else or worry about being different from someone else’s idea of her.

I put a lot of myself into this character and had a lot of fun. That helps with the nerves of wanting it to be something special. I think the feedback that I’ve gotten on social media is that everyone is excited to see someone who feels real in that character.

PC: The version of Sue that we see on screen is very different from the one we see in the comics. As an actress, what challenges/advantages does that bring? Do you have a preference between playing an established character or one that you build from scratch?
Natalie: I think starting from scratch allows you to really play within that world. I also have an amazing partner in Hartley [Sawyer]. Being able to find the chemistry between Ralph and Sue together made it a really fun journey.

PC: You knew Hartley before joining the cast. What’s the backstory on how the two of you met? How helpful was that to building the relationship between your two characters?
Natalie: It was super helpful. We’ve been friends for ten years. We did a comedy show together on TBS called Glory Daze back in 2010. So it was amazing to enter this show that’s been a family for six years and feel like I had a partner that I knew and was able to help me get acclimated quickly.

PC: There’s a lot of mystery surrounding your character. What can you tease about her arc the remainder of the season?
Natalie: There’s a very fun story to unfold when it comes to Sue and her motives and the reason why she’s the way that she is.

PC: What’s been the biggest takeaway being a part of The Flash family?
Natalie: Entering into the DC Universe is so overwhelming. There’s so much backstory and so many amazing things to learn when it comes to the comic world. It can be intimidating. But for me, I look at it as a learning experience, and I really enjoy all of the backstory that is unfolding for me as well as figuring out how it differs from the comics.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Natalie: Love Is Blind

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Natalie: When you say “guilty,” it makes me think of raunchy. So I’ll say Rocky Horror Picture Show.

PC: Favorite book?
Natalie: Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Natalie: I’m a huge musical fan. I will always see Les Mis if it’s in town, and I love In the Heights and Spring Awakening.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Natalie: I love music that might be on the Mad Men soundtrack, like ’50s and ’60s hits, Brenda Lee, and Roberta Flack.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Natalie: Sam Rockwell. Give him a challenge. [laughs]

To keep up with Natalie, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and catch new episodes of The Flash every Tuesday at 8/7c on the CW.

Photo Credit: Josh Heller