Iris West will be sporting a new look for at least one episode of The Flash season 6. Candice Patton recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at herself on Twitter, revealing that she’ll get to wear her natural hair during the upcoming run of The CW show.
“Means a lot to wear my curls on The Flash,” the actress said in her tweet. “And I know it will to so many of you who look like me. We asked and our EP [Eric Wallace and he] gave me the go ahead.” She also confirmed this will be her look for episode 5.
And it seems that, following Patton requesting the hair-change, Wallace wrote a reason for it into the storyline. The showrunner teased to TV Line that there’s a “fun” reason for Iris’ new look and it’ll be part of a plot that’ll show new sides to her.
“There’s a reason her hair is that way in the story, and it has to do with fun, and Iris just being herself, and letting the character show more sides of who she is. It’s also about letting Candice show more sides of who she is as a person and as an actress, which is something I support 100 percent.”
Wallace then went on to say that he’s fond of the look and hinted that it’s possible Iris’ natural curls could return in further episodes of season 6.
“I love her hair that way. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it more than once that way this season.”
An Iris-centric episode that allows Patton to flesh out her character some more sure sounds like a good thing, as Mrs. Barry Allen is often underused on the show.
Meanwhile, promo photos for the season 6 premiere, “Into the Void,” arrived last week and teased the return of the STAR Labs gang. We know that Godspeed will be the villain of the week for the big opener, with Bloodwork serving as the big bad of the first half of the season overall. Following “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” another – currently unknown – villain will take over.
Be sure to catch The Flash when it returns to The CW on Tuesday, October 8th.