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

The Penguin: Cristin Milioti Reflects on Sofia's Revenge Journey

Cristin Milioti reflects on her journey as Sofia Falcone and embracing her violent opportunity for revenge in the HBO drama The Penguin.

Cristin Milioti is as cool and collected as it gets in Hollywood, who, like Sofia Falcone in the HBO series The Penguin, has become an acting powerhouse. While the rogue's gallery of Batman villains has largely become dominated by men, with the most famous exceptions being Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, the actress has certainly elevated Sofia to a level of biggest names like the Joker, Penguin, Two-Face and her female contemporaries despite never having to face the Caped Crusader himself played by Robert Pattinson in the 2022 Matt Reeves film and its upcoming sequel. It's largely thanks to showrunner Lauren LeFranc, who was tasked to allow the Palm Springs (2020) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) star to sprout her full range in the Colin Farrell-starred series as the wronged mob heiress having to claw her way from the ashes of her father's empire after he framed her for a series of murders he committed. Milioti spoke with Variety on her career retrospective, which visited her most iconic roles, including the Warner Bros/DC superhero crime drama.

Cristin Milioti on Pursing Sofia's Revenge Against Her Enemies in 'The Penguin'

When we meet Sofia, it is after the events of The Batman and her release from Arkham, Gotham City's asylum, which houses the area's most dangerous convicted criminals. As she acclimates to life on the outside, she still finds herself a pariah among her Falcone family despite her innocence. The series reveals the insurmountable corruption that doomed Sofia to take the fall for her father, Carmine's (Mark Strong) actions, when she becomes part of a conspiracy after a series of women are found dead, with the crime boss suspected of murder. What ends up happening is that Sofia gets her revenge on her family, who colluded with Carmine to put her away, reclaiming her father's power and rebranding it under her maiden name, Gigante, and going to war with Oz Cobb (Farrell).

"I begin with a lot of anxiety over the possibility that I would be unable to meet the role or the project or the writing. I can get in a little bit of a tailspin. It's an impostor syndrome thing, I think," Milioti said. "I love this so much that I think I can get a little mired in my own expectations of what I hope I'm able to do. Certainly, the pressure was huge because it's Batman and this massive production, but that started to melt away after a while. By the end, I had a deep understanding of this person. That's the blessing of long form. We shot 'Palm Springs' in 21 days. So, if I spent the first eight days of that worried, that's a lot of it. Whereas 'Penguin' was eight months. So, you're able to deepen just because you get to know each other.

Milioti recognized the golden opportunity: "I was so in love with her from the moment we started. Obviously, I don't condone her actions, but the fantasy of getting to seek revenge on everyone who's hurt you; it's so human. It felt incredible to play, and it has been really meaningful to interact with people who also felt like that. Also, I have really been wanting to play a role like that for a really long time. So, I knew how lucky I was." The Penguin is available on HBO Max. For more on Milioti's career, you can check out the entire interview.

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