Insider – “Arrow” star Katherine McNamara explained how she filmed an entire horror movie from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was actually really excited,” the 24-year-old actress, who’s promoting her partnership with Alcon and PRECISION1 for their “See What Happens” campaign, told Insider. “I needed to be creative and I needed to do something and it was probably one of the most fulfilling and terrifying experiences.”

In June, Vanity Fair revealed that six actors came together virtually to film a movie, currently titled “Untitled Horror Movie”: McNamara, Luke Baines (“Shadowhunters”), Emmy Raver-Lampman (“The Umbrella Academy”), Darren Barnett (“Never Have I Ever”), Claire Holt (“The Originals”), and Timothy Granaderos (“13 Reasons Why”).

The film centers on TV stars who team up to make a horror movie after their show’s cancellation and unintentionally summon a demonic spirit, per Vanity Fair. The movie was filmed in 10 days total, including some reshoots. Despite not working with her costars in-person, McNamara said it was surprisingly easy to build chemistry with the cast. “We kind of instantly clicked,” the actress said.

She added: “It’s really fun to get to actually work with people that you’ve never met and some that you have. We have this weird friend group now even though we’ve never actually spent time together.”

McNamara told us that she was on board for the project, which was cowritten by Nick Simon (who also directed) and Luke Baines, early on. The actress previously costarred on Freeform’s “Shadowhunters” with Baines and has been friends with him for years, so being part of the movie was an easy decision.

But most of the challenges arose due to the lack of a film crew and set.

The actors had to be responsible for the technicalities of filmmaking, like figuring out lighting, getting familiar with sound design, setting up camera shots, and doing their own special effects makeup. With the help of a “patient” director of photography, McNamara and her costars were hands-on throughout the process, even with transferring the files, which she called “the most stressful job.”

The actress said that she was always grateful for the crews she’s worked with, “but this was a whole new experience and “really gave me a new appreciation, because I didn’t really know how the magic happened until now.”

McNamara’s experience with filming stunts for shows like “Shadowhunters” and “Arrow” also came in use while making this movie. Coincidentally, the horror movie’s stunt coordinator and choreographer, who assisted the stars via video, worked on “Shadowhunters” as a stunt double for Emeraude Toubia.

For McNamara, one of the best things about being able to work from home was that she mainly only needed to be in wardrobe from the waist up. “I’ve been in sweatpants the majority of quarantine, including during filming, which was actually a lot of fun,” she said. “I think at that point, it was a couple of months into quarantine and I was sort of in a routine because we still weren’t able to go out. we had to be stuck literally in our houses and it gave me that change of pace that I needed to reinvigorate for the next few months of quarantine.”

Even though this film experience was drastically different from what actors are used to, the stars made the most of it and celebrated the completion of the movie by having a wrap party via Zoom.

“It was awesome because we were all at home and not having to worry about, ‘When do we have to go home? How do we get an Uber? There’s no Uber in quarantine,’ and all these other things,” McNamara told us. “We were able to just have fun and participate and really celebrate this weird little experiment that we’ve done.”

As part of her partnership with Alcon and PRECISION1, McNamara, who recently started using their contact lenses, is encouraging fans to head to www.TheLensLoveQuiz.com to take “The Lens Love Quiz,” which will help users determine their lens love style and figure out what works best for them.

Insider – “Arrow” star Katherine McNamara gave an update on the potential spin-off series, saying it’s “in limbo,” but she’s optimistic.

“We were in limbo going into this quarantine and now even more so,” the 24-year-old actress, who’s promoting her partnership with Alcon and PRECISION1 for their “See What Happens” campaign, told Insider.

She continued: “The longer it goes, I think the more things are just going to be up in the air for a while. And until we get official word, I’m always still hopeful.”

The actress made her Arrowverse debut as the Mia Smoak, the daughter of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), on season seven of the show during flash-forward scenes that took place in 2040. She continued to star on the show throughout season seven, plus the eighth and final season of “Arrow.”

Season eight, episode nine (which aired after the five-part “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event), served as a backdoor pilot for a possible spin-off centered on Mia/Green Arrow and the Canaries, played by Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance) and Juliana Harkavy (Dinah Drake).

The series finale of “Arrow” aired in late January, but there hasn’t been any official word on whether or not “Green Arrow and the Canaries” will get picked up.

In March 2020, The CW boss Mark Pedowitz said that it hadn’t been ordered to a series yet, but was still being discussed. A few months later, Marc Guggenheim, who served as an executive producer for “Arrow,” spoke to Digital Spy about the spin-off and said: “I know things, but it’s up to CW and Warner Bros. to publicize the things I know.”

For McNamara’s part, the actress hopes that even if the show isn’t greenlit, she could be included in future crossovers or appear on the other CW shows that are based on DC comics characters.

“I know I’m not done with Mia Smoak yet and, worst-case scenario, hopefully they would bring me back for another crossover or to jump into the [‘Legends of Tomorrow’] world because at least they can time travel,” “I had so much fun playing in that world and I would absolutely love to don the suit,” she added. McNamara told us.

Until there’s a definitive answer, the actress has been keeping busy with plenty of activities while in quarantine in her Los Angeles home. She’s been regularly exercising; baking treats and delivering some to friends from a safe distance; catching up on books and shows, and filmed an entire movie from her house.

McNamara is also trying to figure out a way to release original music that’s been on her computer for quite some time.

“I think now’s the time sort of going back into my archives and seeing what I had set aside for one reason or another,” she said. “I also have a few projects in development that are pretty exciting and a few projects that were about to go but quarantine put them on hold. So there are things that are literally waiting in the wings that I’m ready to jump on a plane as soon as it’s deemed safe. ”

As part of her partnership with Alcon and PRECISION1, McNamara, who recently started using the brand’s contact lenses, is encouraging fans to take “The Lens Love Quiz,” which will help users determine their lens love style and figure out what works best for them.