Who is White Canary?

Real Name: Sara Lance
Appears on: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow
Played by: Caity Lotz

As the de facto leader of the Legends of Tomorrow, a found family of misfit superheroes who protect Earth from anomalies in the fabric of our reality, Sara Lance earned her seat in the captain’s chair after the untimely death of her friend and founding member Rip Hunter. Though she is no stranger to tragedy, having also witnessed the death of her sister, Black Canary, and former lover, Green Arrow, Sara perseveres through adversity. She’s been a lethal member of the League of Assassins, died and was resurrected, and even fell in love with Ava Sharpe, an Advanced Variant Automation clone. Whenever Earth faces a crisis, Sara and her team of Legends will be there to answer the call of duty.

Essential Episodes

Arrow Season 2, Episode 4: “Crucible” (above)
Arrow Season 2, Episode 13: “Heir to the Demon”
Arrow Season 4, Episode 3: “Restoration”
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 1, Episode 6: “Star City 2046”
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 3, Episode 9: “Beebo the God of War”
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 4, Episode 1: “The Virgin Gary”

Powers and Abilities

• Tactical Expertise
• Martial Arts Mastery
• Indomitable Willpower
• Stealth

Inside the Character with Caity Lotz

What excites you about playing White Canary?

The one thing that’s been so cool about Legends of Tomorrow is it really provides room for growth. Sara’s changed so much and she’s gone through so much, especially this season. Her life’s starting to get better, especially with her finding love and finding her team. One of my friends recently mentioned how nice it is when you can take a character to a happy place. It’s almost like real life when you go through hard times but your character’s able to mature and be happy. I never really thought about it that way, but it’s so cool to be able to usher a character to a happy place.

I think a lot of people really resonated with Sara Lance’s struggles and the darkness that she faced. A lot of people really understood that and were attracted to her fighting spirit—the way she wanted to make it through all of these things. To be able to see Sara actually make it through and get to a point where she’s happy, healthy, adjusted and can have a relationship with people and find love, it’s really important. For a lot of the fans who have gone through hard times along with her, to be able to see a character who’s been through that and ended up at a good place is really nice.

What’s your favorite moment your character has had in the Arrowverse so far?

There are moments that have been fun for me as the actor getting to play the role. I loved all of the crazy water stuff we got to do in season two of Arrow. Filling up the freighter and running through it while it’s full of water and there are all these sparks and a waterfall that I’m getting sucked through before drowning in a pool—all of that stuff was so much fun. I feel like we got to do some really big stunts that season.

I think doing the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover was also really special. Doing scenes with Grant was really nice. Legends has kind of always been its own thing and not so ingrained with the rest of the universe, but in that crossover, it finally felt like, “Oh no, we really fit in here.” Even though we do our own thing and we are our own thing, it felt like we do really belong here. We’re integrated with this world and universe even though we are so different.

Do you find you identify with Sara in some ways?

Yeah, for sure. You can’t help but infuse the character with yourself and I’m sure the character infuses my life just as much. I think sometimes Sara’s so hard, tough and strong and we kind of mesh on that journey. I think I was a lot tougher, stronger and more guarded and as I’ve gotten older, I’m softening up a bit. I think Sara’s also softening up a bit, which has been cool to see. I really love and admire her leadership skills and the way that she can inspire people, and I think that’s something I try to be like along with her. Being a good leader and a good teammate and just really being able to support and be there for other people. That’s something that I admire most about Sara that I want to try to emulate in my own life.

Is there a moment from White Canary’s appearances in the comics that inspired an aspect of your character?

Not really because I think it was largely Laurel Lance who was the version of Black Canary that you mostly see in the comics. I think Sara Lance was kind of her own little thing. She had her own story.

How many bisexual characters were there on TV when she debuted? I’m so grateful for the way that they portrayed that and that it was something that was important to the studio, network and writers. Once I found out about that aspect of the character, it became extremely important to me too. Getting involved in the community and going to Comic-Con and just hearing how impactful it was for people to be able to see a character on TV that felt like they felt. It helped them not only feel seen and understood, but I also think it helped a lot of people who didn’t understand what it was like as a bisexual woman. To be able to see a bisexual character on TV, it just brings more understanding all around, even with people who don’t identify as that.
 

Both Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow are now streaming on Netflix.

Look for more DCTV Pride Profiles in DC Pride and all throughout the month on DCComics.com.