What most people call the fantastic is Ciara Renée’s comfort zone.
A Broadway veteran of fanciful roles including the Witch in Big Fish, the Lead Character in Pippin, and Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ciara Renée now stars in the CW’s Legends of Tomorrow as Hawkgirl, a warrior queen who can fight as well as fly.
Her character’s journey started as a recurring role on CW’s The Flash as Kendra Saunders, a coffee barista who learns that she has been reincarnated over the millennia, and her fate is tied to an immortal who is trying to kill her.
That story was spun off into CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, and finding out who she really is takes advantage of television as a long-form story medium – it’s more of a journey than a reveal.
It’s also a journey for Renée, highlighting the differences between working on the stage and on television.
“When you’re doing a theater show, you really want to stay in it,” she said. “When I came off stage it was very rare that I wanted to talk to people or goof around or whatever. I wanted to be thinking about what was coming up next. And especially if you’re one of the leads, it’s not often that you get a lot of time off stage, so you spend that time wisely.”
“When you’re doing a tv show, it’s a very different kind of endurance. There’s no chance that anybody’s going to stay in character and completely focused for 14-18 hour days. You’re just not going to, you’re gonna expend yourself pretty quickly.
"And that’s kind of what I had to learn is that when I do have my breaks, I need to take my breaks and I need to not be thinking about what has happened or what’s about to happen. I need to step out of the house for a little bit. But when I’m back on, I’m back on.”
She’s used to working hard. After graduating from Baldwin Wallace University, she moved to New York City and hit the ground running, doing about 50 auditions before landing her role in a reading of Bull Durham. That was followed by being picked as one of the swings in After Midnight.
It was good, but her agents pushed her to do better, sending her on 4-5 auditions a week.
One day, after 15 hours of back-to-back auditions, she landed two choice roles on the same day – one in Les Miserables and the one she chose, that of the Witch in Big Fish.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” she said. “But for me I felt like I did a lot of work to get there. I got all of my ‘nos’ out of the way so that I could get a whole bunch of ‘yesses.’”
But even that success wasn’t easy. Right before the end of the run, Renée had to take two weeks off to get her gall bladder removed. After the surgery she came back for the final two weeks.
That led immediately to her role as The Lead Character in Pippin, a very physical role that called for stage combat and trapeze work.
“At the time I was mostly recovered but had to take the time to get my fitness back up after not really having worked out at all and working with the fitness people who were the most fit human beings you will ever meet. I had my work cut out for me.”
It was good preparation for the life of a superhero, but the pace of production makes it necessary to share the heroics with the stunt and digital crews.
“At the beginning I did a lot of flying, but we’re moving very quickly and we don’t have the time to get me up in the wires all the time. We actually split duties, because there’s a lot going on with Hawkgirl. So I end up doing the ground work, and Sharlene Royer, my stunt double, does a lot of the wire work for me. The CGI team handles the rest of the flying.”
“I love doing the wire work, it’s not comfortable but it is fun. Hopefully if there’s a second season, they’ll have me up in the wires a little bit more.”
Another difference is how she deals with acting in long-form.
“Coming from theater, you know exactly where everything’s going and it really helps you to paint the picture leading up to it in the appropriate way, in the most poignant way so that every action moving towards the end of the show makes sense.”
“This is a bit harder in television because we don’t have the full season completely sketched out. We don’t know exactly where things are gonna go, and now that we’re airing things will change. It’s a harder and less clear game to play.”
“The more info we have beforehand, the more we can pepper that in. If I’m going to become friends with a character or have a relationship with that character, it really helps to know so I can start changing the way my character feels about that person. That changes body language, the way that we look at each other, the way we interact, so it helps. But it’s not always there for us.
“I think the writers did the best that they could to instruct me where this is going so I have a general idea, but there have been twists and turns where I’d read the script and go ‘Oh, okay. I think we can make that play.’”
So far it’s working. Her popularity has exploded, with almost 48,000 Instagram followers and 22,000 followers on Twitter, but she doesn’t let it go to her head.
“I don’t think it’s increased so much that I’m bombarded. I don’t think that many people really know who I am. I have no delusions of grandeur. It’s surprising sometimes, but it’s actually kind of sweet. Most people are pretty nice about it.”
“The thing that weirds me out is them waiting for me at the airport. That’s always kind of weird. Especially since I’m in my casual clothes and my hair is up in a bun. Like I’m not trying to take pictures and sign things for you. I’m just trying to get on a plane or go home. But that part hasn’t been really crazy.”
“But when you’re at a big event like Comic Con, that’s when it gets nuts. Everyone wants a piece of your time and I wish I could give it, but the bottom line is you have to say no. It’s nice that you have security people and your publicist warding off most of the people. I don’t want to be mean and say no, but you gotta keep moving on.
Her fanbase is mostly supportive, but Renée has found herself dealing with people who try to put her in a stereotypical box that just isn’t her.
“It started to get to me, but now that it’s happened with this frequency, I’m starting to understand that it has nothing to do with me. It’s a human condition to categorize, and stereotype, and put people into boxes, and I have to be aware and understanding of that.
"But also a goal I have in life is to help people expand past the idea that we have to do that. I think it is a really radical notion for a female, and especially for a woman of color to say ‘this is me, I’m unashamed, deal with it.’”
The upside of her fanbase is that she can mobilize their help to do good things. Right now, she’s focusing on the Malala Fund, a non-profit dedicated to securing girls’ right to a minimum of 12 years of quality education.
Graphic designer and friend Jenny Wine sent her a logo for #Hawkward that gained instant popularity with her fans, who wanted to see it on a t-shirt. Ciara and Jenny started a Represent campaign to sell the shirts, and 100% of the profits will go directly to the Malala Fund.
“I’m just overwhelmed with all the wonderful things that they do for young women and their education. That’s something that’s really important.”
