David Harewood has been an important member of the cast of Supergirl since its first episode. Since then, his character, the Martian Manhunter J’onn J’onzz, has been through a lot both as the head of the DEO and as a son and brother reconnecting with long-lost family. Yet, one thing we haven’t seen Harewood do is play a large role in past Arrowverse crossovers. With "Crisis on Infinite Earths," that’s about to change.
CBR spoke to Harewood about what it’s been like to get to know his character’s family on Supergirl, the “significant” role he plays in the upcoming "Crisis" and the crossover’s impact on J'onn J'onzz going forward.
CBR: On Supergirl we’ve been learning a lot about J’onn J’onzz’s family over the past few seasons. What has that been like for you as an actor?
David Harewood: Well I keep getting these surprises. I always thought I was the last son of Mars, but I’m not the last son of Mars. There’s quite a few. So it’s been great. The writers always seem to come up with these relatives that are… challenging in some way.
But it’s been just wonderful in terms of acting to be able to work with the likes of Carl Lumbly, particularly Carl Lumbly but also Phil LaMarr. But working with Carl on Season 3, I believe it was, that’s probably one of the… highlights of my career just working with Carl.... And I feel very, very lucky and blessed that Supergirl has given me the opportunity to work with such a great actor.
When did you learn J’onn would be dealing with this brother he betrayed leading into “Crisis on Infinite Earths?”
I kind of knew something about it towards the end of last season [that] it might happen. But it’s been great. I’ve been aware of the character, obviously, for many years. It’s always nice to be able to reach back into J’onn’s mythology.
He’s such an incredible character with such a great pay-off. It’s been a real pleasure playing him and exploring him. As an actor it’s been great to explore the mythology of the character. Maybe one day somebody’ll play him in a movie. He deserves it. He’s such a fabulous, fabulous character.
Did you draw on any personal experience for J’onn’s familial squabbles?
Oh, always. Not necessarily squabbles, but I would say, in the past, exploring J’onn’s character, he was very much alone and you use the experience of being away from your own family and what that would be. So, I guess you do get to use your own experiences in that way.
And Carl Lumbly, I mean, just wow! I mean he actually looked just like my dad at some point. It was really odd ‘cause I lost my dad… about three or four years ago to the same condition [his character lost his father to], dementia. It was really, really amazing to work with [Lumbly] on that and kind of explore that.… Things like that have just been fantastic.
I’m sorry about your dad.
Dementia’s just terrible isn’t it?
Supergirl hasn’t been as “Crisis”-centric as The Flash or Arrow this season but in the mid-season finale we learned that all of J’onn’s trials with Malefic had been a test set up by the Monitor. Why was it J’onn specifically that was being tested?
I think as you’ll see throughout the "Crisis," J’onn… has many capabilities and I think one of them specifically is going to be highly important. And I think perhaps the Monitor was… testing J’onn to make sure his skills are honed because during the Crisis he plays a significant role, and it is specifically because he’s a Martian that he’s able to do that. I think the Monitor is probably right to think of J’onn when he was thinking about… exactly what was happening.
The Monitor told J’onn that his vulnerabilities were his strengths. Can you elaborate on what he might have meant by that?
I can’t particularly elaborate on it for J’onn but I think all of us need to acknowledge our vulnerabilities… And be aware of… putting up these fronts of “everything’s okay, I’m fine.” People do feel vulnerable. People should be free to reach out. I don’t think it is a weakness. Society always thinks that being vulnerable is a weakness and I don’t think it is, I think it’s a sign of openness.
Speaking of going into “Crisis,” this is a massive crossover. When you were shooting it what was it like being on set with all of the people that are involved?
Just fantastic! Very, very, very, very exciting… They’re all such individuals. They all bring their own individual energies and it’s great! It’s really wonderful… spending so much time with them all. I haven’t really featured in many of the previous crossovers, so it was interesting to sit across from this guy and this girl.
And I think we’ve all got some fantastic pictures to post, which we didn’t really want to do or couldn’t do because obviously we didn’t want to give away stories, so I think people are going to look forward to some really nice photographs over the next couple of weeks.
Oh, very cool! What was your response to the part you got to play in the crossover?
It was very exciting. As I say, having not previously featured in the crossovers to suddenly be very much a part of what is happening was satisfying and gratifying. Also a double-edged sword because not having been in the previous crossovers I’ve managed to go home and see my family, which is always nice. So, I couldn’t do that this time. That’s why it was so nice getting home [over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend].
Can you speak to J’onn’s relationship with any of the other heroes or villains in the crossover?
It’s always nice to see Tyler [Hoechlin, who plays the Arrowverse’s Superman]. He’s such a fantastic, fantastic actor and such a wonderful representation of Superman. I think he completely nailed it. And I really wish him well with his new show [Superman & Lois]. That’s going to be really exciting, really excellent. So it’s always nice to be around him, and with some of the other guys…. I’m amazed at how many of them have musical backgrounds… Every now and again there’s a little bit of a number. It’s quite exciting to be around them.
What will the impact of the crossover be on J’onn or Supergirl going forward?
The Crisis is going to affect everybody. So I think specifically with J’onn there is a fundamental change with J’onn that I think will be interesting for fans and interesting for me as a character and an interesting direction… to take the character. So I’m excited to see what these next scripts are going to be.
[Supergirl star] Melissa [Benoist] recently posted a video about being a survivor of domestic violence. What were your feelings about her story and her decision to speak out?
I think she’s incredibly brave and I was really, really proud of her. I love her to bits as an actress and as a person. And I’m 100 percent behind her. And I think we’re incredibly blessed in this company to have people who speak… their truth and are unafraid, as I said before, to show vulnerability… I was really proud of Melissa that day for owning that, being honest. It’s incredibly encouraging and will help other people… be honest about what their own situations are. [Former Supergirl actor and Benoist's husband] Chris [Wood] was a wonderful advocate for mental health, as am I. We’re really lucky to be a part of a cast of actors who are really unafraid to speak their truth and I was very proud of Melissa that day.
"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 and in The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. After the winter hiatus, the crossover will conclude on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and in DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.