DC's Legends of Tomorrow type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero

CW worlds collide in this exclusive sneak peak at DC's Legends of Tomorrow's latest episode.

In this week's installment, titled "Zari, Not Zari," the team's Loom of Fate quest sends Sara (Caity Lotz) and Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) to Vancouver — specifically to the set of the wild superhero drama's network sibling, Supernatural. As if this wasn't delightfully meta already, the above clip reveals that Sara is a huge fan of the long-running CW show and that Jensen Ackles' Dean Winchester is her "hall pass."

"It's a little Easter egg for the audience," says Richardson-Sellers about the quasi-crossover. "We kind of end up battling in this world, which has got all of these set props from Supernatural, which was so fun. We actually shot the Supernatural stuff on Halloween as well, so we had a lot of fun with that. It adds a little bit of lightness to what is a very, very dark story."

The dark story Richardson-Sellers is referring to is Charlie's reunion with her murderous sister Atropos and ensuing identity crisis. Below, EW chats with the star about Charlie's twisted family, her fears, and more.

Image zoom Michael Courtney/The CW

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How has learning Charlie’s real backstory changed your performance?

MAISIE RICHARDSON-SELLERS: It’s interesting because whenever I break down a character I always want to find out why she is who she is. Because on the surface she had this bravado, she was this troublemaking punk [rocker] and didn’t care about anything, I just wanted to figure out why that was. In my head, the thing I kept coming back to was tragedy. So I already had this whole sort of tragic backstory of loss and of running away in the back of my head every time I played her. So, it actually wasn’t too much of a switch to find out the actual truth of what her story was from the writers this season. It just kind of made sense. So, it was just such a nice experience to be able to finally show that and show her backstory and explore that physically, as well, and to show the more vulnerable side, the more fearful side of her, the more terrified and angry side of her, which you start to see as she battles with who she really is. Is she a Fate or is she a Legend at her core? It’s a life-changing moment when she realizes she’s going to have to make this decision once and for all.

Did the backstory you came up with also include any kind of complicated family dynamic?

No, it wasn’t as much family. For me, it was more that she had been betrayed. I had this idea that she had been betrayed, which led to her being locked up in jail and that she had sort of broken free. Some of the writers had mentioned there was a possibility that maybe she had something to do with Pan, like Pandora’s box, as well. So we were exploring these different ideas of her potentially being connected to some kind of mythology. The sibling thing I had never thought of. I just thought of her as this lone soldier who was out there and had been forced to survive against all odds, had lost everything that she had loved, and was just trying to find happiness in whatever way she can. The only way she could was by constantly changing who she was. I think when she joined her band in London, that was the first time she had truly felt at home and safe and herself. Then to lose that again when she was ripped away from them with the Legends was, again, another heartbreak for her, [and] to have to redefine herself when she lost her powers as well and was no longer immortal. All of these different layers of loss kind of fed into the way she was. I had anger as being the root of her nonchalant, I’ll do whatever I want behavior.

How is Charlie feeling about reuniting with her sister Atropos in this episode?

Terrified. This is literally what she’s been running from for thousands of years, and this is the moment they finally caught up with her. Not only is she mortal, so she knows the consequences could be fatal, but she also knows her sisters are extremely manipulative. They know her better than anyone. She knows not only does she have the Legends’ lives at stake but she has literally the history and the future of the whole world at stake because the Loom could change everything forever. So there’s so much resting on this encounter that I think she goes into it from a place of fear. But I think what’s really beautiful throughout the episode is that we begin to see her and Sara bonding over loss, and over survival, and having formidable enemies. I think that really helps her prepare herself for this encounter because she realizes these people really do care about her. She has friends, she has allies, and they will fight to the death for her and with her. That’s the first time she’s really had that since her sisters, so I think she goes into it, eventually throughout the episode arc, with more determination than she would’ve had, say, the week before.

Do you think there’s any part of her that misses her sisters and that familial bond?

Definitely, and I think she’s scared of herself and she’s scared of how strong she will actually be in that moment. That adds to everything because she spent years being emotionally and psychologically manipulated by her sisters, so she knows the power they have over her. She was the younger sister, as well, and she was sort of the more vulnerable sister of the three. She’s scared that when it actually comes down to it, in that moment, will she actually be able to turn her back on them and walk away from them, and potentially worse. What will she have to do to them to end this? And how? And what will that feel like? There’s so many fears not only for the consequence of her actions but also of her own strength and who she is at her core.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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