WARNING: Spoilers for the September 14 episode of DC’s Stargirl “Summer School: Chapter Six” are being discussed within. Do not read if you haven’t seen the episode yet!
Nick Tarabay joined the universe of DC TV playing “Digger Harkness” a.k.a. “Captain Boomerang” on Arrow, and now, he’s returning to the world of DC villainy with a splendidly dark role as “Eclipso” on DC’s Stargirl. We’ve heard his voice, and now we’ve seen Eclipso in the flesh!
How does it feel to join the club of people who have played two different major characters in the DC Comics universe?
It’s an absolute honor and a pleasure, Craig. How many people get to do this? I’m a big fan of DC, and I’m a big fan of Warner Brothers, so I’m honored to have done this and have the opportunity to do this again. It’s an absolute pleasure.
What was your reaction when you first saw the design for Eclipso?
You want the real story?
I was in Greece, Zooming with Geoff Johns, after I auditioned, and he showed me kind of a picture of what Eclipso looks like, but I didn’t have my glasses with me, so all I saw was purple! So I was like, “oh, that looks great!” I didn’t really think much of it. But then when I when I went back to L.A. and started seeing the detail that was going into it, I was like, “holy sh*t, this is intense!” So that was my first impression, but then after that, obviously it changed.
How long was the makeup and costuming process to turn you into Eclipso?
Wardrobe took a couple of months to put it all together. Those guys were building it from scratch. The muscles, the hands… even down to the shoes, to the soles of the shoes, to the diamond in his chest, and the a belt, it all was custom made from scratch. Those guys were amazing.
I think they did the mold of my face in October, and then we finally get finally came together somewhere in December or January. So yeah, it’s a couple of months to put all the stuff together, I would say.
What about when you were on set… how long did it take to put it on then?
It started with four hours, originally, just for prosthetics, and then by the end, they brought it down under an hour. It was amazing. Those guys are pros, man. They know exactly what they’re doing.
Are you allowed to tease what’s going to change for everyone now that Eclipse is actually there?
Well, I can’t go into details, but just put it this way: Since Eclipso shows up, it’s like you’re watching a different show now.
I think this season, starting from Episode One, it felt like a horror TV show, didn’t it? It felt almost like a Stephen King show, right? There was a bit of darkness to it. Geoff Johns showed me a couple of clips, and I was like “holy sh*t, that’s dark, brother.” I think that was a theme that was colored by Eclipso’s presence.
But once Eclipso is physicalized, and you actually see him for the first time ever, the show is never the same. Because once the people get an image of what he is doing, and what can he do, and where his alliances lie, the show is never going to be the same. You’re going to be expecting him any minute, and you never know how or when he appears.
Is there a calculated reason why Eclipso might choose to kill certain people, but then he lets other people live?
100 percent. I mean, this guy is not a slave to his emotions. He’s well calculated. If he is going after a character that you might think that “oh, this is just random,” it’s because that character is connected to something, that something is connected to another thing, and that other thing is where he’s trying to get at. He’s a great chess player.
What does Eclipso think of Cindy Berman?
That changes as the show goes, without giving too much. Episode 6, that is a great introduction to who Eclipso is, and what his true drive is. You may think he’s allies with someone. You may think that he is with someone else. You may think this is why he’s doing this. No. You can never guess him. He’s his own man, on his own mission, and he is unstoppable.
The best way to appreciate Eclipso is taken episode to episode, scene by scene. Don’t try to figure out what he’s going to do ahead of time, because you’re just going to lose the deliciousness of each moment, because he’s way ahead of you.
Do you have any particular favorite things about doing the Stargirl TV series?
It was quite a delight. Let me tell you something: I’m lucky to have a great career like I have. I’ve worked on a lot of great shows. And I’ll tell you, when you look up top, you can tell what kind of show this is going to be, and Geoff Johns is one of those guys that is an absolute delight to work with and an absolute talent. He’s such an open person and available, and that trickles down to everybody on set.
Everyone on set was absolutely welcoming, absolutely open, and they were ready to work. I enjoyed working with all of them. They brought it through and through.
I wish I could tell you more of what happens but to prove that point, but I can’t because I’ll be giving away some stuff that’s happening in the future, but these guys are well prepped. Brec [Bassinger] was well prepped. They take their jobs very seriously. I was incredibly happy and pleasantly surprised of what the show is, and what it’s going to be.
Was it hard to keep people from finding out when we would see Eclipso physically?
I don’t mind people being teased. I don’t mind people waiting, and wanting.
We are in a time and an era where people want things right away. They want the fast food. They want the quick fix. I’m glad that Geoff Johns and the writers decided to let people wait a little bit, because you don’t see that anymore. For example, in Apocalypse Now, you waited the whole movie to see Marlon Brando’s character in the end.
The voice did a job, to make people wait for that. So now that they’re going to see it, I’m okay. Even if they waited to the last episode to show him, the message was still going to be delivered.
You can catch Nick Tarabay on DC’s Stargirl Tuesdays at 8PM ET/PT on The CW; episodes arrive on CWTV.com the following day.
