From the moment she first emerges a soft-focus haze over Oz Cobb’s shoulder in HBO’s The Penguin series premiere, Cristin Milioti‘s Sofia Falcone is a riveting, terrifying, live-wire presence; her opaque eyes never missing a trick and aggressively advertising her widely presumed instability — sure, I’m crazy, you wanna see how crazy?
For Milioti (How I Met Your Mother, Black Mirror), the character represents a longtime goal achieved: Landing a major part in a superhero project. And since crime boss Carmine Falcone’s daughter had so little prior comic book and filmic history, Milioti and showrunner Lauren LeFranc were able to create her character almost entirely from scratch, launching the rare DC universe so-called villain who feels entirely new.
While critics have been full of early praise (with some already predicting an Emmy nod), and the show’s ratings have suggested the limited series is a hit (its debut topped the most recent season premieres of Succession and The White Lotus), fans actually haven’t seen anything yet. Milioti’s performance takes some intense turns along the way. Below, the actress discusses landing the role and how she approached the character she calls “one of my favorite things I’ve ever gotten to do in my entire life.”
So when The Penguin reviews came out, I’m sure you already kind of knew you knocked it out of the park, but when everyone started saying that, it had to feel pretty good.
I didn’t feel that way. I don’t think I ever totally feel that way. I don’t read reviews. I’m too much of a scaredy cat. But I heard a general weather report that people like the show, and that was enough. Then, I stuck my head back in the sand. It’s always very nerve-wracking to share your work with the world.
So what was your first reaction to hearing about the character Sofia Falcone?
I freaked out a bit in the best way with excitement. I have dreamed of getting to play someone like this for a long time. I am also a huge Batman fan and have dreamt of playing a villain in the Batman universe since I was a little kid. I used to pretend to be Batman villains in my backyard when growing up. And so, when this first came my way, I wanted it in a way that felt very deep. Once I signed onto it, and once I read more and more scripts, I was blown away that I was going to be able to get to do this. It was very profound. I just love her. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve gotten to do in my entire life.
I heard you say in another interview that you’ve gone out for other superhero movie-related roles and got turned down. Did you start to wonder, “Do I just not fit in this world?” Was there a particular project that felt like the one that got away?
There were a couple of them. I love superhero films, and I’ve tested for a lot of it. If someone my age was in it, I was probably up for it at different levels. Some I made to the final round. And yeah, you do start to think, “Oh, OK, I guess I’m just not built for that.” And then with this, it felt like, “I really get this character,” and it felt sort of fate. Whereas the others, I do understand why I didn’t get those. For sure.
Like they weren’t built for you, but this is.
It just was never the right fit. But this, I felt like I completely understood her and was obsessed with her from the beginning. And that’s also one of the great things about getting older, is that you start to feel like whatever role you’re meant to find is meant to find you, and it’s all good. Everybody’s on their own path. I am grateful that I didn’t get those jobs because I wouldn’t have necessarily got to play Sofia.
Sofia has such an imposing vibe and is so very present. There’s also this hardness to her, this wall. I know this question will read a bit like, “How does acting work?” But how did you get into the mode?
I have my little preparations and processes that I do. So much of it was also in the writing and so much of it was that I felt like I understood this woman. I also worked with a movement coach, and that was very helpful to find little things here and there. And I have a playlist — all the things actors talk about. But I really wanted to build this person, and once I started building her, and once I started to get in there, I could find ways of locking in.
Did you study the other sorts of Falcone actors? When watching one of your scenes, I suddenly flashed back to a scene in Batman Begins when Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone mocks Bruce Wayne by saying, “Your old man begged for mercy. Begged. Like a dog.” Sofia reminded me of his demeanor and delivery.
Oh my God. First of all, enormous compliment. Massive. I watched John Turturro [who played Carmine in The Batman] because I wanted to sound like him. First finding that accent, but thinking of someone who has disappeared for 10 years and what that does to a person and how that shapes them. But I watched a lot of him and I, of course, know Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal. They both have that ice-coldness that turns on a dime. Then I was like, “OK, I got it, I’m now going to stay away [from watching anybody else].”
It is a fun dynamic in the show because we can tell Oz is trying to play Sofia, but she always knows he is playing her, at least to some degree. We just do not know to which degree that she knows.
Right, exactly. It’s a delightful cat-and-mouse game to play that is also very fun to modulate.
I would think that Farrell’s makeup and prosthetics helped in some ways because he becomes such a grotesquery of a figure to play against.
It was immensely helpful. Oz Cobb feels incredibly real to me. I felt like I was really with him. I know that it’s Colin, obviously. And we would be sitting there talking [between takes] talking about how it’s going, like you do at work. But it is so strange. I just watched the first four episodes a couple weeks ago, and it was like seeing an old friend because that’s who I spent eight months with. It’s a very surreal experience that I don’t know I’ll ever have again.
The Penguin releases new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO/Max.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
