Meet Juliana Harkavy, the fittest, most badass superhero on TV

For two seasons, the 33-year-old actress has been ass-kicking her way through the CW’s Arrow series as Dinah Drake, better known to DC fans under her leather-clad vigilante name, Black Canary.

After Arrow’s mid-season 6 return last night, Men’s Health chatted with Harkavy about superhero fitness, working out with the cast, and how guys can grow in 2018.

You come from a family of athletes, and you’re obviously in great shape yourself. What’s the biggest overlap between fitness and acting?

This role has really helped me understand that in ways I never really did before. I think the physicality of being an athlete or working out, it grounds you. It centers you. I’ve been able to really use that in this role. And I’ll continue to use it in the future because I think it brings you into your body. When you’re acting, that is so important.

From the beginning Arrow has always had one of the fittest casts on TV. Has that ever come close to becoming a competition?

That’s funny, but It’s not a competition! It is fun. We work out together. It’s less of a competition, it’s more of a way for us to bond. Everyone can stay healthy together.

As you get deeper into this role, have you been able to get more hands on when it comes to the fight coordination and the stunts?

That’s been one my favorite parts of the show. This year in particular I’ve really tried to work more closely with my stunt double, whose name is Ivett [Gonda]. She’s amazing. She’s an Olympian in Taekwondo. This year I had an open dialogue with her about Dinah’s journey, not only emotionally but physically as well. I’ve been training how to kick properly. Just really basic things. A lot of boxing. The Bō staff, obviously. It’s just been great to learn how to tell her story physically, as a fighter. And grow as a fighter and an athlete, not just a character.

Is there a different mindset to getting into superhero shape, comic book shape, as opposed to your regular person going to the gym?

I think there is. I find myself working out now more deliberately. It feels more like a job. It’s not like, “Ah, good, I got to go to the gym this week.” I truly feel like it helps her story. She’s a superhero and she’s out here fighting guys twice her size. First of all, it needs to be believable that she can fight them. But I also want to feel like I can fight them—that I can roll with these big dudes. So it’s become a lot more of a serious endeavor, my physical fitness.

Is there any time those fight scenes feel cathartic?

Oh, yeah! I joke that my husband and I have never been happier. I get to get out all my anger on set. It’s true. You get everything out. You can punch a bag or, with my character. I can literally just scream if I need to. It’s therapeutic. I think it’s calmed me down in real life.

We’vebeen asking people a lot, in the light of the #MeToo movement, how men can be better in 2018. I’d love to get your thoughts, as someone who kicks ass on-screen and off.

One thing that I draw from all these different experiences, and my own experiences, is that men just need to listen. If men listened to women when they say no, when they say how they feel, that that’s not something that can be pushed around or pushed over. I think that if we just start something as basic as men truly listening to women, which is one thing that I feel, that our voices are just not heard in the same way as men’s voices are. If they could just show us that respect, I think that would be a really great starting point.