The seed for this week’s Cecile-centric episode of The Flash was simple: “Cecile is going to spend some time in the Thinker’s chair,” says her portrayer, Danielle Nicolet, recalling how showrunner Eric Wallace first pitched the episode to her during hiatus last year.
In the hour, an anxious and frightened Cecile was trapped inside her own mind, which took the shape of a psychiatric facility, after Psycho-Pirate’s mask possessed her.
” truly just focused on the material and get to play the emotions with another actor who is just as committed to the craft as you are.
In order to escape their prison, Cecile had to share her deepest secret: Her mind ressembled like a psychiatric institution because she spent time in one many years ago, after she had a breakdown following her mother’s death.
“For me, it was such a joy to explore this really defining period in Cecile’s history and in her psychology, and ultimately in her relationship with her power.
I grew up with a mother who struggled with mental health issues, so it hit home for me in a big way, and I really wanted to honor the importance of acknowledging that anxiety and depression are very real.
“We dropped lots of little Easter eggs just to see if anyone would notice – the necklace that possessed Cecile is wearing is a tribal necklace that is very similar to one of the ones we see while Chester is explaining the history of the Psycho-Pirate mask.
After defeating Psycho-Pirate’s mask, Cecile decided to tell Joe the truth.
“When she has that moment with herself where she recognizes her power and that she’s not afraid of it anymore, that’s what will continue forward – Cecile really leveling up in her power and not living in fear of it, and not living in fear of being a metahuman,” Nicolet says.