With the new exit, it leaves Stephen Amell, David Ramsey and Paul Blackthorne as the only original series regulars from the pilot.
- Mar 30, 2018
AceShowbiz - Fans of "Arrow" bid farewell to one of original cast members of the show. [SPOILER ALERT!] The Thursday, March 29 episode turned out to be the last episode fans of The CW series saw Willy Holland, who has played Thea Queen a.k.a. Speedy.
"We're very sad to see Willa go. She's been a critical part of 'Arrow' since its inception and a wonderful and talented person to boot," "Arrow" exec producer Marc Guggenheim said in a statement.
"We talked about some requests [Holland] had for us in terms of how her episodes would be utilized and grouped, and at what point in the season she would be written out, and we accommodated her on all those fronts because, look, at the end of the day, we love Willa and we love working with her," Guggenheim continued. "She's done right by us and so we wanted to do right by her."
"But we're in our sixth season now and supportive of her wish to stretch her legs and pursue other creative opportunities. The door is always open for Willa to return if she has a hankering to," he added.
In the episode, titled "The Thanantos Guild", Willa's character was seen leaving the town to pursuit of righting her father's wrongs. Willa's exit, however, doesn't seem to be that surprising. It was said that Willa had been wishing to leave the show since season 4.
Even though she's still credited as a series regular, Willa's appearance was visibly reduce in the past two seasons. Willa, who portrayed Oliver Queen's younger sister, only appeared in 14 episodes out of 23 episodes of season 5. Her character was also depicted to be giving up vigilantism for an office job.
With Willa exiting the show, it leaves Stephen Amell, David Ramsey and Paul Blackthorne as the only original series regulars from the pilot. Emily Bett Rickards is not listed since she was upped to a series regular only from season 2.
