Posted in: HBO, Max, TV | Tagged: The Penguin

The Penguin: Batman Feels Like an "Opera About Hurt People": Milioti

HBO's The Penguin star Cristin Milioti explains why Batman resonates with her, complimenting its grounded nature and operatic tone.

When Cristin Milioti was cast as Sofia Falcone in HBO's The Penguin, it was a dream come true because of how the Bob Kane and Bill Finger Batman comic resonated with her. During season one of the Colin Farrell-starred series, Sofia represented the unlikely underdog story from within Farrell's Oz Cobb's rise to power in the Gotham underworld. While she initially lived a straight and narrow life, her unfortunate ties with her crime boss father, Carmine (Mark Strong) cost her any shred of innocence left as he framed her for a series of murders pinning his female victims on her, which includes a female journalist, who turned to her for help while investigating him. After Carmine and family betrayed his daughter, Sofia was placed into Arkham and resurfaced following his death at the hands of The Riddler (Paul Dano) during the events of The Batman (2022) where she began her own rise atop her family, renouncing the Falcone name in favor of her mother's maiden name Gigante, took over his empire, and escalated her eventual war with Oz. Milioti appeared on WTF with Marc Maron to discuss her Batman fandom, why it resonated with her and Farrell, and her favorite live-action incarnation.

The Penguin Star Cristin Milioti on Why Batman Franchise Resonates With Her and Favorite Incarnations of the Live-Action Franchise and Characters

"I've been such a massive Batman fan my whole life, in particular, because it's so theatrical," Milioti told Maron. "Because no one has a superpower. It's gothic. Colin and I would talk about it all the time. It felt like an opera because everything is so heightened, and it's like an opera about hurt people." When the Palm Springs star revealed her favorite Batman was the Tim Burton films starring Michael Keaton, Maron complimented Danny DeVito's performance as the Oswald Cobblepot version of the Penguin.

"It's a great performance," Milioti agreed, "but I'm partial to my guy, [Farrell]," who appeared with the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star in Variety's Actors on Actors series. Burton's Batman Returns (1992) didn't have DeVito's character fight his way to the top of his crime syndicate; rather, it had him adopted by a circus that had fallen on hard times and turned to crime. He did have political ambitions to run for mayor before Keaton's Caped Crusader foiled him with recorded audio. In the Matt Reeves film in which Milioti didn't appear, Farrell's incarnation started as a henchman for Carmine (John Turturro), and became one of the big bads Robert Pattinson's Batman fought along the way. The Lauren LeFranc follow-up series has Oz make his power play, trying to manipulate his way through any Falcone family member who dared oppose him to control his former boss's empire, including his initial partnership with Sofia under false pretenses before his true colors were revealed. The Penguin is available on HBO Max and will return for season two. For more, you can check out the complete episode below:

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