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It was all about Gotham during the first day of New York Comic Con as the cast and crew of The Penguin kicked things off at their panel. Among the panelists were showrunner Lauren LeFranc, makeup designer Mike Marino, and some of the cast led by actor and executive producer Colin Farrell. With the show just halfway through the season, the panelists discussed their time working on the series as well as sharing some details on what’s coming in the rest of the episodes.
The panel started with the cast and crew talking about their inspirations for The Penguin, bringing up the comics and past iterations of Oswald Cobblepot as he is also known in the source material. Lauren spoke on her upbringing where she read comics growing up, ranging from Marvel’s X-Men to the DC heroes like Batman and Superman. She also brought up Danny DeVito’s version of the Penguin being an influence on her when working on the show. Colin Farrell took his inspiration for the character from an entirely different source, Burgess Meredith’s take on Oswald in the Adam West Batman series. The Irish actor addressed his admiration for him, hoping that the late star would be proud of his take on Oz, even paying some homage to him in his portrayal.
When it came to the transformation into The Penguin, Mike Marino offered some insight into his process of working with Colin. With so much makeup and prosthetics to create the look of Colin, the actor would be in the dressing room for a couple of hours a day applying them with Mike’s team. Once the transformation was complete, Colin described being more like a puppet than wearing an actual costume and almost didn’t recognize himself when he looked in the mirror. Mike also touched on his mentor and legendary artist Rick Baker who he looked up to for advice on creating the look for Oz.
Oz’s background was brought up in the panel as the episodes that aired so far add a layer to his upbringing. With the environment that Oz was raised in, Colin brought up the point of how the appearance of the crime lord would always be a disadvantage, but it never put him down and made him stronger. It is where Oz would constantly push himself over the edge at times to get to the very top of the criminal underworld. Actress Deidre O’Connell, who plays Oz’s mother, also pitched in on this where she added that her role as a mother to him is what drives Oz to be her pride and joy as well as a weapon. Colin did reveal a bit about Francis’ background, who may have some hatred towards the Falcones, which could be the driving force for Oz to be after them.
The rest of the cast talked about their character’s connections to the criminal underworld of Gotham. Rhenzy Feliz got to discuss his role as Vic and how his character looks up to Oz as a mentor. The tragedy that befell him led to Oz as he begins to take on more tasks to become something more. He admires Oz’s conviction to be the best. Even Colin brought up how he often cares enough to bring up Vic even though he doesn’t always show it.
The thorn in Oz’s side is Sofia Falcone, played by Cristi Milotti who is getting praise for her role as a psychotic daughter of a deceased kingpin. Milotti talked about how this was a “dream” role for her and showcased how Sofia became this way through a horrific incident. The actress brought up how Sofia feels she needs the power to substitute the awful things that happened to her. Lauren added how she looked into the story of Rosemary Kennedy as a big influence on Sofia as a character. Both had similar circumstances where they were both committed to a mental institution by their own family because they were considered weak. This was a way to fully explore a character who descends into villainy and accepts that part of herself.
In regards to what’s to come, none of the cast were willing to spoil anything. Even Clancy Brown didn’t give up anything on his character Salvatore Maroni other than saying he is taking his sweet time and hasn’t played all his cards quite yet.
Before the panel ended, fans were treated to a mid-season trailer for The Penguin, teasing what’s coming in the final four episodes of the limited series.
Look out for more coverage of New York Comic Con coming up. Don’t forget to catch The Penguin every Sunday night on HBO and Max. Want more event news? Check out our event page!
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