Actress Allison Paige recently made a guest appearance on The CW’s The Flash as speedster villainess, Trajectory. Scoop talked to Paige about her time on The Flash, as well as other TV shows and movies, what she’s working on now, and convention plans.

Scoop: What drew you to acting?
Allison Paige (AP): I grew up as a dancer, my whole life, and did that professionally when I was young. Then I did this hip hop pilot that I booked out of New York. It was my first time in front of a camera and I realized that there were other forms of art than just dance and that really drew me to acting. I was like, “Oh, I like this. This is fun and I can still be creative with art.” I was like 17 when I did that pilot.

Scoop: It’s interesting that you figured out so early what you wanted to do.
AP: As a kid I was always putting on performances and dancing on stage, so it kind of felt natural moving from the stage to in front of the camera.

Scoop: I’ve noticed that a lot of actors say that they were always performing, whether it was in plays or just putting on skits for family.
AP: Oh yeah. I started dancing when I was three, so I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t performing for people.

Scoop: Which actors or actresses have influenced your career?
AP: Oh gosh, so many. Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet I admire so much, because I like to think of myself as a chameleon and strive to not be in any sort of pocket or specific type of role. I love how they are super, super brave with their choices. They pick characters that fall all over the map and they have so much human empathy for what other women are going through. They really insert themselves into these stories and these characters. So I’ve always strived to be that type of actress and not have any limitations or be scared to attack a character or life circumstance that I might not be able to relate to or might not look like I’d be able to relate to. Those two women just blow me away with the choices and their work.

Scoop: They definitely are both amazing women. Have you met either of them?
AP: No, I would probably just cry [laughs].

Scoop: I got to meet Cary Elwes a few years ago and I grew up watching The Princess Bride, so it was all I could do to act like an adult.
AP: [Laughs] That’s how I was when I met Robin Williams. I met him while I was catering for one of his movie premieres. He chatted with me for a minute. He was an incredible artist and it took everything in me not to just fan girl all over the place.

Scoop: Recently you played Trajectory on The Flash. What was it like playing “the female Flash”?
AP: I was super honored to be the first female speedster. The speedster ability is just badass and I loved being such a powerful, kickass chick, but also still having my demons and my complications. As kickass and awesome as she was, she was still very complex and had a lot of levels to her and stuff going on. It was great to get to challenge him and be the female version and sort of mess with him a bit.

Scoop: As Eliza/Trajectory you basically played two characters in one. How do you prepare for that kind of dual role?
AP: I’m a Gemini, so I like to think I have two sides to me anyway [laughs]. I sort of just tackled them separately. Trajectory is a different person, to me, than Eliza is. I didn’t really connect them as the same person. Trajectory is one person and Eliza is another person to me. So I handled it that way.

Scoop: Did you perform your own stunts as Trajectory?
AP: I would’ve loved to. Some of the stuff, some of the running and simple stuff. But, all of the badass flipping and falling into cars and crazy stuff was all The Flash’s amazing stunt team. Those guys are incredible. My stunt girl was getting thrown around and she was great.

Scoop: Did you get to see any of the behind the scenes work on how they did the special effects, like speeding up the characters?
AP: Yes, I got to do the treadmill work, which was actually a huge green screen on a treadmill. Their stunt team was teaching me how to run like a superhero, which is more upper body than my legs moving really fast. So they let me do that, then I got to do this crazy full body scan with pictures and measurements of every inch of my body in the suit so they could use that later in the special effects. It was crazy to see it that way and then the final product, because it’s nuts what they can do.

Scoop: What did you think of the costume and did you get to keep it?
AP: I wish! I wish that I got to keep it, but no. I debated a few times, “What if I just went back to LA with this?” But, no I did not get to keep it.

I showed up a week early so that they could finish measuring and doing the fittings. My first fitting was just an idea of the outfit with mock-pants and a mock-jacket. You could see vaguely what it was going to look like. The final product just blew me away. The seamstresses are artists in themselves and they made a kickass suit and it really was the final piece for me to become Trajectory. You can prepare all you want as an actor but there’s something about putting on that suit that’s like, “Oh yeah, this is it. Let’s go.”

Scoop: I really liked the costume so I definitely wanted to ask about that.
AP: I like how they made it so similar to the Flash suit. That added to the element of not knowing who she was and the blame sort of falling on him. It was really cool.

Scoop: At the end of the episode Trajectory ran herself into non-existence. But, as we’ve learned with superhero shows, comics, and stuff it’s hard to keep a good villain down. Any chance we’ll see you again on The Flash?
AP: I sure hope so. That is not up to me [laughs]. So I’m not sure what the creators and the writers have in store for Trajectory. I would love to think that she would still be able to cause some trouble. I love her. I think she is super fun and spunky and a troublemaker. We’ll see, I guess.

Scoop: You can join the Legends of Tomorrow!
AP: Yeah, I can be somewhere else and make trouble, that’s great.

Scoop: That’s one fun part about all of these shows getting connected with each other. People can pop up on different ones.
AP: I love that they do that. It’s nice for fandom to be able to crossover and see their favorite characters somewhere else and how they interact in that world. It’s fun, it’s like uniting a fandom.

Scoop: What was your favorite part of being on The Flash?
AP: I learned so much being on The Flash. It was, by far, the most physically challenging role that I’ve ever done. Grant [Gustin] makes it look so easy and he’s so great at connecting all of the physicality and choreography of being the Flash along with still being an amazing actor. I learned so much from working with Glen [Winter], our director. He threw a lot at me and it was the best challenges of having to remember all of this choreography and really embody a superhero while still portraying what I’m trying to get across in the scene through conversation. The best part of being on The Flash was that I learned so much as an artist and also getting to play a superhero. I mean, that’s a bucket list item for most actors to get to say that I’ve played a superhero.

Scoop: What other superhero/villain roles are you interested in playing?
AP: People have always kind of associated me with Catwoman. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a crazy cat lady and I love animals [laughs]. I kind of like superheroes that have a bit of a dark side to them and a little bit of a naughtiness.

I also love that female superheroes and female villains are being more highlighted with Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Chicks are badass, and I love that they are being highlighted more.

Scoop: You were on Days of Our Lives for a few years. What was that experience like?
AP: Days of Our Lives was awesome. That whole crew and cast and everybody were so lovely and great to me. I got cast for a few episodes and it was only going to be seven or eight episodes, and they just kept writing for me, which was an amazing experience. I’m super blessed that I got to be part of that show for two and a half years.

Soaps are fast paced, they pump out a lot of content. It’s a one-take show. I learned so much about trusting my instincts because you don’t have a million takes to get a shot. The storylines are intense – they’re like romance novels and mystery novels all rolled into one. I learned a lot about being on the set and trusting my instincts.

Bev was also a troublemaker, which was super fun.

Scoop: Daytime shows air so many more episodes than primetime shows. How intense is that kind of shooting schedule?
AP: I was always considered a recurring character. I know some of the series regulars are doing forty-fifty pages a day, which is insane. It can seem a little overwhelming at first, but it helped me. I love being overloaded with work. I focus better and I love being busy, so I didn’t mind that kind of schedule.

Scoop: So you focus more with the pressure of fast shoots?
AP: It almost took off the pressure because you didn’t have time to plan your performance or think about, “Oh, how can I try it this way or that way?” You just show up and trust your instincts and have a real conversation with somebody. It almost took the pressure off of me feeling the need to be this perfect actor.

Scoop: Are you interested in getting back into soaps?
AP: I’m blessed and grateful for any work someone wants to trust me with. I loved working on Days of Our Lives. I wouldn’t mind tackling a soap character again, that would be fun.

Scoop: Starting with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries you were on a few shows in a multiplatform format. Can you give our readers a synopsis of the show and how it broke away from the traditional TV format?
AP: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries was this amazing universe that stems around Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice in this new, interactive, 21st century version. It incorporated fans and Jane Austen-lovers. I was blessed to get a spinoff series about Gigi Darcy based off of another Jane Austen novel, called Sanditon. That was even more interactive and literally made a universe where people could make their own characters and sort of become characters along with us and get to play along and have their own stories and interactions with each other. The internet is an amazing place and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Sanditon really opened up my eyes to how powerful creating your own content and the internet can be.

Scoop: Did you upload videos to the show? Was that part of the fan interaction?
AP: Yes, for Sanditon we would have episodes where we would just play fan videos. Whether they were a flower shop owner or the baker or a clown, whatever they wanted to be, they got to be a person in the town of Sanditon and create their own character and their own story and be part of that world with us. So we did have certain episodes where we would just incorporate them. They got to be part of the cast, which was really cool.

Scoop: What was it like bringing Jane Austen into the modern, internet-focused world?
AP: I love Gigi Darcy and in the book she was a little bit more timid and reserved. Our version of Gigi Darcy was a little bit more ballsy, has more guts, and she really loves her brother. I loved every minute of bringing Gigi Darcy to life and Jane Austen is an amazing storyteller. To be able to bring such iconic work to life and make it current for young people, and people of all ages really, to relate to was so fun.

Scoop: Are you interested in doing more projects like that?
AP: Yeah, the internet is a powerful place that reaches people instantly. I definitely would love to do something again that is web-based because it really brings people together. It allows young creative people to make their own content and put it out there and see what they can make and the response that they can get without having to wait for someone to give them a job or opportunity. They can be their own creators.

Scoop: What was it like being on Heroes?
AP: Heroes was one of my first, big television shows that I booked. I was just a cheerleader, just hanging out. It was so cool to be on a set that size that was so successful. I had recently just moved to LA from a small town in Pennsylvania, so just to be a professional actress and work on a set of that capacity was cool. My eyes had stars in them.

Scoop: Have you been to any comic conventions yet?
AP: I have not. My manager was just talking to me about getting involved with conventions. It sounds awesome. I’ve been to Comic-Con so I’m familiar with the convention scene. I call the fans my friends because without them I have no career. So being able to see faces and get up close – I love that stuff.

Scoop: Are you planning on attending some?
AP: Yeah, that’s what it sounds like.

Scoop: What projects are you working on now?
AP: I just finished two films that are about to come out. There’s one called The Dog Lover, which was previously titled The Wrong Side of Right. We have theater-wide, DVD, and On Demand release date in July for that movie. I play an animal activist. It’s a really great, passionate film about animals and dog breeding and being trapped in the middle.

I did a wonderful film called The Wedding Party which is a ninety-minute film that we did entirely in one shot. No cuts, no breaks, nothing. It was almost like a three-sixty play. That should be hitting the festival market, so we’ll cross our fingers and hope it does well.

Scoop: You’re in The Dog Lover with Lea Thompson.
AP: She’s like the most incredible woman who I want to be friends with and hang out with all the time. She’s so lovely, just the nicest, biggest heart. I learned a lot from working with her.

Scoop: Since The Wedding Party was a ninety-minute shot did you rehearse like you would for a play?
AP: We did. We had three weeks of rehearsals and only four days of filming. One of which was a dress rehearsal full run through. Our fearless director, Thane Economou, was just so uplifting and inspirational and instilled so much confidence in us that it turned out awesome. It’s a great romantic comedy and the cast I got to work with are some of the funniest people that I’ve ever worked with. It was a really awesome thing to be a part of. Shooting a one-shot movie is ballsy and we did it.

Scoop: What did filming that way add to the movie itself?
AP: You have to adjust the way you watch it because it’s not shot like a typical movie. It’s almost like you’re a fly on the wall following these people and these experiences. The whole time you are watching it you have to remind yourself that it’s real time and these people are experiencing this and everything that’s going on is happening in real time. It’s shot in order so their characters are fully lived out, in that hour and a half. You aren’t breaking this down on another day. It’s a different way to watch a movie and it’s really cool because you are going on the ride with us. There’s no editing to make it different. It is what it is.

Scoop: Any final thoughts you want to share with our readers?
AP: Just thanks for taking an interest in little old me!