The Penguin, of course, has characters we’ve already met in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The eight-episode limited series, however, is also introducing new characters to Reeves’ “Batman Epic Crime Saga” universe.
One of them is Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia “the Hangman” Falcone, a former Arkham Asylum inmate and daughter of the recently slain Carmine Falcone.
“There’s so much that happens to her. She goes on such a journey,” Milioti said in a press conference that Reactor attended. “And I’m also a very lifelong Batman fan, so I’ve been dreaming of this since I was very little. And so, on a personal level, it was extremely surreal. And then as an actor, I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ I would read each script, and I would pinch myself when I would realize what I was going to get to do.”
Without getting into spoilers, let’s just say that Sofia gets put through the wringer, which gave Milioti some meaty scenes. The actor said that she would “start salivating, because I couldn’t believe that I was going to get a chance to do this.”
Milioti’s excitement is understandable, especially when she said later on in the press conference that she was drawn to certain villains in her childhood:
I watched Batman Forever a lot as a kid. I know that’s not one of the more beloved ones, but I really loved it. And when I would play in my backyard, I would pretend to be the Riddler, because the woman in that is a psychologist who walks around in lingerie and is like, “Wow, nice nipples, Batman.” I remember watching that as a kid, and I was like, ‘Alright…’ But then like, “What about the guy who gets to explode everything? And Two-Face hanging from the helicopter and flipping a coin?”
Milioti is far from the only kid who pretended to be the villains when they were young. She’s excited for everyone to meet her villainous character as well.
“I really care about this character in a really vulnerable way,” she said. “I really love her… I know it’s a very actory thing to say, but it’s been an enormous honor to play someone like this, and I’m very protective of her, and I want people to love her as much as I do.”
We’ll get to see Sofia Falcone in action when The Penguin premieres on HBO and Max on September 19, 2024.
