Ryan Choi, who assumes The Atom mantle after Ray Palmer in the comics, is one of many fan-favorite DC characters set to make his debut during the Arrowverse's massive "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, and the actor behind Choi, Osric Chau, has spoken up about his surprising audition process.
A longtime fan of the character, Chau was first introduced to Ryan Choi/Atom comics as a child and hoped to one day get a chance to play the legacy hero on the big screen. Being so dedicated to the role helped Chau recognize which character he was actually auditioning for when producers brought him in to read sides.
"When I came to audition - there were fake sides, but I knew right away," Chau told Newsarama. "I'm like 'This is Ryan.' Like I told the writers in the room like 'This is Ryan, right?" I think I definitely caught them off guard."
To keep things secretive, producers often use fake names for characters when they're auditioning actors in order to prevent spoilers, and, in this case, Chau was told he was auditioning for a character named Steve Wagner. However, he clearly knew things weren't as they appeared.
Osric Chau is already familiar with The CW thanks to his fan-favorite turn as the prophet Kevin Tran in Supernatural, and now the actor is set to return to the network as Ryan Choi in the Arrowverse.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" begins Sunday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Supergirl, then continues in Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. After the winter hiatus, the crossover event will continue on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and conclude in DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT.