One Of Us: Josh Segarra On Bonding With Stephen Amell Over Wrestling, Working With The Miz, All In
You could say Josh Segarra turned heel or led a double-life on "Arrow" as noble Star City district attorney Adrian Chase and the vengeful Prometheus. Perhaps the lifelong pro wrestling fan was channeling elements of the baddies of the ring he grew up watching.
The actor, who among other projects is also for his role on the two-season USA Network series "Sirens," continues to make a name for himself within the entertainment industry. However, no matter how busy he gets, the star stays on the pulse of what's going on in pro wrestling. Taking time off set, here Segarra took time talk about his devoted fandom and why he is "one of us."
We know about Stephen Amell pro wrestling fandom. Did you bond on set knowing you're both big fans?
I got to set, and Steve was sitting in his chair. I'll remember this forever in between scenes. I'm walking through. I think I'm about to start work. And I'm thinking, "Many, that's the Green Arrow! I don't want to bother him." He was sitting there. What do you think I did? I walk up to him and said, "Yo, what's up Stephen. I'm Josh. It's good to meet you. Let me tell you?"
I was in Brooklyn for his match before we even knew each other. I happen to be in town. I get there Sunday morning and tell my wife, "Babe, it's 'SummerSlam.' I got to go." I buy myself a ticket, and I see Steve wrestle that night. He killed it. I have so much respect for him, so that's the first thing I said to him. I said, "Look man. Respect brother." He killed it. We got to rapping and have been buddies ever since. Getting to come out with him at All In was a huge night for me, for us. I was really proud of him, and he let me be a part of it. That was incredible.
The energy in that arena for "All In." You could feel it even watching at home, but I can't imagine walking down the aisle in a packed arena like that.
Man. Honestly, that whole night I might have said 25 words because I would just want to take as much of that night in as I could. To get to hang with Christopher Daniels. I was just taking it all in and get to see these guys prepare on their night. That was an honor. Cody was incredible that night. Just really welcoming with open arms. We were all fans that night. It was awesome.
Tell me where your fandom came from. What was your first wrestling memory?
One of the first memories I had was at my Uncle Junior, my Tio Junior in Puerto Rico. He was a big WCW fan. I was born in 1986. My first memory was a War Games I believe. I have a vivid memory of Sting in the ring with Great Muta spitting out mist. I just remember the green mist causing chaos. I think I was like two, and I think it was cemented because I had VHS tapes of "WrestleMania 4" and "WrestleMania 6." Those are my two "WrestleMania"'s. I would watch those on repeat.
The tournament and Warrior/Hogan. I would have those on repeat. I was hooked. I had Ninja Turtles and wrestlers. Every ring, every guy, every iteration. My mom was making fun of me the other night saying, "We've got to get these wrestlers out of the basement." Those are my boxes of toys, so I've got to take them home. Bring it back to the apartment. They're staying with forever until my little man gets them. It comes in and out of our lives.
Did you watch live wrestling? Or was it in the United States?
I was born in the States. This was my uncle and his family, so we've visit and spend holidays with them. We'd sit there and watch. I got to see one show in Puerto Rico at a gym. I couldn't even tell you who wrestled that night. I got to look back and see, but I bet I saw some cool cats. I was a young kid then. My dad used to take me as a kid every time they were in Orlando. Every time they hit the arena. They were there. I remember for our one-year anniversary my wife got me tickets. She got us tickets to go to Raw. She said, "Here, I know this will mean the most to you."
She went with you.
Absolutely, she supports.
Is she a fan or is it by proxy?
By proxy. She understands my love for it. She knows that on random Sundays, I'm just going to leave the house around five. I'm going to go watch wrestling with my wrestling buddies. She is like, "Okay, I'll see you later." We'll have it on randomly in the house. She knows who Daniel Bryan is. She loves Daniel. She always asks about his storyline. Every time she wrestles, she wants to watch. We watched him and AJ Styles. We'll watch his matches.
What was the first time you met a wrestler? What was that experience like?
As a kid I remember I was at a Sports Authority, and I saw Bad Ass Billy Gunn. He was in there with his kiddo. He was getting him some gym shorts running through. I went up to him awestruck. I was probably 10. I asked him to sign my shirt. I got a Sharpie from the cashier. He was like, "Sure brother, right here." It made my day. The first time I really got to hang with one it was The Miz. When he guest starred on Sirens. When they closed his deal to do it, our showrunner Bob, we were in the van going to lunch. He was like, "Look who we got for the next episode. We've been dying to tell you." They know I was a big wrestling fan. "We got The Miz. He is going to get here in nine days." I'm like, "What?!" On the day The Miz was there, I wasn't even working that day. I found out where they were shooting. I was thinking, "Yeah, I got to get there."
I was working the next day. I had to be there. We get to set. I get to meet him, and he couldn't have been cooler. I had my Ultimate Warrior shirt on. I fully fangirled. I'm working with this dude. He is coming to work, and I'm fangirling. But he couldn't have been anymore cool about it. We got to rap a bit. Every question I had, he answered fully. Then we got to shoot for a couple of days. He was just incredible. Even more so, he further cemented my fandom. I'm sure you feel the same. As we get older, we watch wrestling differently. We watch it from different lenses. That day I saw how hard this guy worked. Just talking about his schedule and where he was about to go right now. He kept going. I was like, "Do your thing. Mad respect." We've been buddies ever since. He is a cool cat.
What's the next show you're going to? Are you going to WrestleMania?
Anything that comes my way. Right now, I'm in Los Angeles for work. I'm here for the Spring, then we get to go to New York for a little bit. So whatever show gets to line up and I'm popping over. I'll be going to Barclays or the Garden. Anywhere. When I was in Chicago for work, I went to a couple of shows around the city. I love going. I love a good televised show, but there is nothing like a house show. The energy is crazy. You feel like a kid. The guys are out there having fun. It's awesome.
Where can people see you next?
I'm doing a show called "The Other Two" on Comedy Central. It has been so much fun to work on. I think it's really fun. You have really smart people writing it. It's really fun and will make you feel good. Then I'm working on a show called "AJ and the Queen" that comes out in the fall on Netflix. I hope people check that out when it gets here, I think that will be really cool. It has been an incredible experience. It stars RuPaul, who has been awesome. It's going to be a real fun ride for everybody.