Willa Holland, who played the role of Thea Queen in Arrow, left the show after the sixth season’s episode 16, titled “The Thanatos Guild.” Interested fans may like to know that despite the sudden departure, the Arrow star’s exit was planned seasons ago, and not brought about by Stephen Amell’s reported behavior.
In an interview with TV Line, Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim confirmed that the idea of Thea’s character leaving the show began in season 4 due to Holland’s desire to pursue other projects. Guggenheim elaborated:
Willa had expressed a desire to reduce her episodic commitment to the show and that was sort of done in sort of conjunction with an indication that it was likely that she wouldn’t want to renew her contract past Season 6. So, we’ve kind of known for a while that this was in the offing. We revisited it with Willa at the beginning of Season 6, and she indicated that she hadn’t changed her mind, that she was still interested in moving on.
Her exit was one of the happier ones from Arrow, whose characters often saw violent demises. Below, we explore all the various actors who have left the show due to both narrative reasons and personal reasons of the cast members.
Every Actor Who Left Arrow Before the Finale, Including Willa Holland
Arrow has experienced its fair share of shakeups among its cast members, with many of them leaving the show abruptly or returning later. The first major cast member to leave the show was Colin Donnell, whose character Tommy Merlyn was killed in the finale of Season 1 as part of a narrative decision. He did return later as a guest appearance.
Thanks for all the memories and for all the fun and to all of my #Arrow family, especially @StephenAmell, Congratulations on a most amazing run. pic.twitter.com/ODxdgb4Hn5
Kate Cassidy, who played Laurel Lance/Black Canary, followed, was not happy with her abrupt sendoff, as she found out only a few days before it happened. Cassidy went on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum
I was angry at first. And I was emotional because I was sad, and I was angry because I was so happy. I feel like I’ve always been given the short end of the stick and I have to go. And I didn’t yell. I just cried because I was sad.
Ironically, she returned later as an alternate version of her character. Arrow seemingly couldn’t commit to their deaths. Likewise, Colton Haynes left the show due to personal reasons and conflict with Stephen Amell. He also returned later as a recurring guest.
Willa Holland’s departure from the show saw her character, Thea, ride off into the sunset with her love interest, Roy. Similarly, at the end of Season 6, Paul Blackthorne’s Quentin Lance was killed due to narrative reasons, and Blackthorne went on to pursue an opportunity as another TV detective, Detective Tom Hackett, on the ghostly NBC crime thriller The InBetween.
During Season 7, Emily Bett Rickards chose to leave the show to pursue roles on the stage, stating in an exclusive with Collider:
I think I’m going to take a break for awhile, and do a little bit of theater, coming up in New York. And then, after that, I’m hoping to continue doing theater for a little bit longer.
Rickards’ Felicity was written off the show for the narrative reason of taking care of Felicity and Oliver’s daughter in isolation. She returned in the finale of Arrow to give the show the proper sendoff it needed for a cathartic finale. It appears that only Willa Holland got a peaceful sendoff, and we’re left wondering what she’s up to now.
Where Is Willa Holland Now? Movies & Shows She Did After Quitting Arrowverse
After leaving Arrow, Willa Holland kept a low profile but did not quit her acting career altogether. In 2023, three years after Arrow ended, Holland announced her first project following the show would be the modern-day bayou western film The Dirty South (2023). In the feature, Willa Holland played Sue Parker, a determined young woman in a desperate battle to save her family’s struggling business, which is on the brink of collapse due to her father’s neglect.
Speaking to the Digital Journal, Holland highlighted her experience on the feature film:
This movie was a whirlwind. It was an intense, packed 15 days of shooting. I love how true she [Sue] always stayed to who she was, and how genuine her love for her little brother was. There were just so many layers to her. I wanted to keep her grounded and rooted, as well as doing justice to the fight that she was having to do.
An upcoming film by Willa Holland is The Mortuary Assistant, recently acquired by Shudder. Holland plays Rebecca Owens, a recent mortuary science graduate encountering sinister supernatural forces in her new job. The film, directed by Jeremiah Kipp, is an adaptation of the popular horror video game of the same name, originally released in 2023.
According to Deadline, the film will introduce a new chapter in the story, expanding on the game’s world and mythology, and delving deeper into the lore of the demonic entities that plague River Fields. Director Jeremiah Kipp spoke about Holland’s performance in the film (via Bloody Disgusting):
…and most of all the resourcefulness and vulnerability of Rebecca Owens, played so thoughtfully by Willa Holland
Willa Holland appeared in the episode “Based on a Drew Story” as Stepmother in the series Based on a True Story. Despite the role being minor, Holland flexes her versatility as an actor who can bring authenticity to all the roles she’s building in her Hollywood repertoire.
Here is a table that summarises all the roles she has done following the end of her run on CW’s Arrow.
An interesting point to note is that Holland has continued reprising her voice role as Aqua in the video game series Kingdom Hearts. She has voiced the role since 2010, highlighting her skills as a voice actor as well.
What do you think of Willa Holland on Arrow? Let us know in the comments.
Arrow is currently streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
