nydailynews.com/entertainment/flash-running-grant-gustin-ragged-article-1.1961249
*The Flash* s Grant Gustin is on pace to be a star
Gustin, who stars in the upcoming CW superhero series, admits to being a bit winded by the on-set routine, but is living his life-long dream of being a superhero
Sometimes the Flash is moving too fast to fully appreciate the view.
Once in a while, however, there will be a moment for Grant Gustin — who plays the titular speedy superhero in the CW’s “The Flash,”debuting Tuesday — when a fan puts it all in perspective. Like the 5-year-old boy in the Flash T-shirt he spied on the show’s Vancouver set one day.
“They called ‘cut’ and I had a second off,” recounts Gustin. “So I walked over to him, and I wanted to say hello because I was in the suit. This kid didn’t say anything — he was completely stunned that the Flash was standing in front of him.”
“His dad was standing right next to him and told him to give me some candy, so the boy did, which I thought was just hilarious. But the kid was just stunned meeting the Flash, which made my week.”
Gustin stars in the “Arrow” spinoff as Barry Allen, a police forensic scientist imbued with super speed by a wayward lightning bolt from an experiment gone wrong.
Though the supporting cast includes Jesse L. Martin, Candice Patton, Tom Cavanagh and John Wesley Shipp — who played the Flash on a short-lived CBS series in the early ’90s — Gustin is in almost every frame and is often running for his life.
The former "Glee" star spends so much time in a harness and on a treadmill sprinting every day on the set that it’s become a running joke.
“I constantly feel like I’m about to pass out from being lightheaded,” he says of the perils of fake crime-fighting.
Gustin is, naturally, getting into great shape. But the actor, who looks younger than his 24 years, is the first to admit he doesn’t physically resemble a super hero like his “Arrow” counterpart, Stephen Amell, who appears as if he was chiseled out of a block of granite.
“For my first audition it was me and a bunch of big, tall blond guys that were five or 10 years older than me,” recalls Gustin.
“I knew that there was no way I was going to get this role by trying to be the tough superhero ... so I just decided the only way I had any chance was to just make him as real as possible and bring in as many human qualities as possible.”
But Gustin who is in the midst of filming a two-part crossover with “Arrow,” had one major thing going for him that the competition didn’t: he was preparing for this day since he was the age of the boy who gave him candy.
“I didn’t need Halloween to dress up,” he says laughing. “I think for maybe two years straight I was Superman, I had like Superman pajamas that I upgraded by putting red rainboots and red fruit of the loom underwear on the outside to make it more authentic.
“And now I’ve come to love the Flash even more than Superman.”