Hey O&G Fans, Willa Holland (Speedy ) exits CW's Arrow. Holland has appeared on all six of Arrows seasons and was a fan favorite. Co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim told TVLine that Holland's exit was at the actor's choice.
"By the end of Season 4, Willa had expressed a desire to reduce her episodic commitment to the show and that was sort of done in sort of conjunction with an indication that it was likely that she wouldn’t want to renew her contract past Season 6," Guggenheim said. "So, we’ve kind of known for a while that this was in the offing. We revisited it with Willa at the beginning of Season 6, and she indicated that she hadn’t changed her mind, that she was still interested in moving on. Guggenheim went on to say that he and the Arrow production team worked with Holland on her exit from the show.
On Thursday's episode of Arrow, Thea left Star City in search of any remaining Lazarus Pits - with Roy (played by Colton Haaynes) accompanying her on her quest. This brings an end ( not a permanent end ) to Thea character for now, but leaves it open for her return (if she chooses to). It also creates an interesting side story that could be visited in the future.
Guggenheim went on to say that he and the Arrow production team worked with Holland on her exit from the show.
"We talked about some requests she had for us in terms of how her episodes would be utilized and grouped, and at what point in the season she would be written out, and we accommodated her on all those fronts because, look, at the end of the day we love Willa and we love working with her. She’s done right by us and so we wanted to do right by her."