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The Penguin’s Cristin Milioti Opens up About Fears of Being Fired on Set

Published

20 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Christoph Rediske

Summary

Table of Contents

Cristin Milioti’s role as Sofia Falcone wowed viewers, giving a fresh take on the comic book character.
The Penguin defied doubts about its success in the realm of comic book adaptations, garnering high praise.
Milioti confessed to initial fears of being fired, revealing her passion for playing a Batman villain.

Without a doubt, The Penguin was one of the best shows of 2024. Its amazing success not only comes down to Lauren LeFranc’s incredible writing but also its stellar cast lineup. Even though all eyes were initially on Colin Farell as the seedy and criminal lord of the underworld, it was Cristin Milioti’s role as Sofia Falcone that blew viewers’ minds as she gave Oz’s biggest rival a completely new and spellbinding lease of life to her comic book counterpart.

HBO’s The Penguin is a spin-off of Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman, which revolves around the world of Oswald Cobb and how he became the gritty and savage crime lord from the DC Comics. Comic book adaptations haven’t always been a success over the years, with the likes of Ghost Rider, Blue Beetle, and Morbius failing to keep their heads above water. Thankfully, The Penguin didn’t succumb to the curse, even though many had doubts about whether it could stand on its own feet. Since its release in September 2024, the series has received countless award nominations as well as accumulated high praise from fans and critics alike, but one point of any Penguin conversation always seems to rotate back to Milioti’s performance and how incredible she was. However, it seems as though the talented actor wasn’t as confident in herself when she was on the show’s set.

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Oswald Cobb and Walter White share traits and arcs, but what makes The Penguin detestable while Heisenberg becomes a dangerously celebrated icon?

Cristin Milioti Thought She’d Be Fired From The Penguin

In an interview with IndieWire, Cristin Milioti, who starred as the spectacular Sofia in HBO’s The Penguin, revealed that she had fears of being let go from the show. Milioti was asked what she was most nervous about going into the series, with the seasoned actor stating that “all of it” made her anxious and that she was afraid of coming across as “bad.” However, what would surprise most The Penguin fans is that Milioti also had fears about being fired and would only relax when the show recorded a few episodes since “it would be hard for them to fire me because they shot so much of it.”

“I experience this with a lot of what I work on, and I know other actors do too. I definitely calm down once I know there’s a certain amount of footage that they have. And I know that, like, at this point, it would be hard for them to fire me because they shot so much of it. I usually am like, “I think they would tell me by now if I were fired,” but so always in the beginning, it’s nerve-wracking. So by the time we got to 4, I was like, “I think they would have let me go by now.”

Milioti also revealed how much of a huge Batman fan she has been since a child and that it was a lifelong dream to play a villain in the franchise. Even though Milioti recognizes that Sofia did a lot of pretty terrible things in The Penguin, she reveals that she does get stopped now and again by women who tell her that they have empathy for Sofia’s journey. “I’ve been stopped by a lot of women being like, “This part was so cool,” or cathartic to see her go through this, and I felt that way as well. It’s incredible.”

Like many fans, after The Penguin finished, thoughts turned to whether a possible season two would be in the works. On the red carpet during this year’s Golden Globes, showrunner Lauren LeFranc said that she wouldn’t rule The Penguin out of future possibilities, revealing that “more stories to tell there, for sure, if we can find the right idea or the right characters.”

The Penguin is currently streaming on Max.

The Penguin Was More Tasking Than The Batman In One Major Way

The Penguin might have managed to retain some of the endearing visual style of The Batman, but that boon didn’t come cheap in a whole host of ways.

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Created by Lauren LeFranc and starring Colin Farrell, The Penguin builds on 2022’s The Batman. The Max series chronicles the eponymous villain’s attempt to reach Gotham’s criminal peak, rising through the underworld in the middle of a power struggle.

Release Date: September 19, 2024
Finale Year: November 30, 2023
Cast: Advertisement

Colin Farrell
, Cristin Milioti
, Rhenzy Feliz
, Michael Kelly
, Shohreh Aghdashloo
, Deirdre O’Connell
, Clancy Brown
, James Madio
, Scott Cohen
, Michael Zegen
, Carmen Ejogo
, Theo Rossi
Seasons: 1
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Character(s): Oz Cobb
, Sofia Falcone
, Victor Aguilar
, Johnny Viti
, Nadia Maroni
, Francis Cobb
, Salvatore Maroni
, Milos Grapa
, Luca Falcone
, Alberto Falcone
, Eve Karlo
, Julian Rush
Prequel: The Batman (2022)
Story By: Bill Finger, Bob Kane
Writers: Advertisement

Lauren LeFranc
Avg Episode Length: Advertisement

60 Mins
Franchise(s): Batman
, DC Elseworlds
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Directors: Craig Zobel
Showrunner: Lauren LeFranc