‘Legends Of Tomorrow’: Matt Ryan On Reprising His Role As John Constantine

Matt Ryan said that reprising his role as John Constantine in this week’s episode of “Legends of Tomorrow” was a lot of fun, but he admitted that it took him some time before he finally got back into the character of the demonologist.

“It took a little bit of a while, you know,” Ryan told TV Insider when asked what it was like to portray Constantine in the flesh again in Season 3, episode 10 of “Legends of Tomorrow” after appearing in Season 4 of “Arrow.” “What was great about it is that it’s been a while since I played the character in a live-action show. So that first day that I was on set to shoot the last scene of [Season 3] episode 9, it was great to just be there, put the clothes on and kind of fill them out again, you know?”

“I actually started going back and reading the comics, and the new ‘Hellblazer’ books as well, so that I could kind of get back in touch with him,” the Welsh actor continued. “I had just finished doing a play in London where I was playing a guy who's having a thick Yorkshire accent and so I started playing this guy again, working on the text, I suddenly was like, ‘that’s not his voice!’ I was in the wrong voice, you know?”

But once he got Constantine’s trench coat on, Ryan instantly became more comfortable playing the character again. “I think after day two of filming, it was like a glove, man. It was so much fun,” the 36 year old said. “And you know, Caity [Lotz, who plays Sara] was great, as well. Obviously, I'd worked with her on ‘Arrow,’ but she really made me feel at home here. I just kind of slotted-in with everyone, and it was a great experience.”

In a separate interview with Variety, Ryan revealed that he thought he would never play Constantine again following his guest appearance on “Arrow” in 2015. And that made his stint on “Legends of Tomorrow” — as well as his involvement in the DC animated movie “Justice League Dark” and the upcoming “Constantine” cartoon on CW Seed — surprising.

“I thought that was it,” Ryan said of what he thought of Constantine’s fate after his appearance on “Arrow.” “I thought that it was nice, but it was probably the end of that character. Each step of this journey I’ve thought that, and it keeps on surprising me. They keep bringing me back in all these different mediums and ways. It’s great because I love the character so much.”

“He’s such a wonderful character to play, and for me, it’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Ryan said of Constantine which he first played on the short-lived NBC series of the same name. “To get a chance to reprise this character in these different mediums is a real blessing, and I feel so lucky to get to play him.”

Although Constantine doesn’t stick around at the end of this week’s episode of “Legends of Tomorrow,” Ryan thinks that the installment leaves the door open for his character’s potential return.

“When [Neal McDonough’s Damien Darhk] was first mentioned in ‘Arrow,’ there was obviously some connection between him and John,” Ryan told ComicBook.com. “And then with everything that happens in this episode, it does leave the door open a bit. There is obviously some other kind of relationship that they’ve had or backstory that goes on between him and John, which there is potential to explore.”

Would you like Constantine to return on “Legends of Tomorrow”? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!

“Legends of Tomorrow” Season 3 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.