In preparation from Gotham’s spring premiere, we watched one of the episodes of the upcoming season followed by a Q&A with the series’ main cast.
Put together some forward-thinking writers and an impeccable cast, add some good old super-hero stories and hints of the always mysterious and forever exciting Big Apple: you have Gotham, the DC series that has been hitting a home run in every season.
To promote the spring premiere, Ben McKenzie (“Det. James Gordon”), Cory Michael Smith (“Edward Nygma/The Riddler”), Robin Lord Taylor (“Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin”), Camren Bicondova (“Selina Kyle/future Catwoman”), Erin Richards (“Barbara Kean”), Jessica Lucas (“Tabitha Galavan”), Drew Powell (“Butch Gilzean”), Chris Chalk (“Lucius Fox”) and Maggie Geha (“Ivy Pepper/future Poison Ivy”) all joined the press in New York City to watch for the first time one of the episodes of the third season.
In a very relax environment and without moderators, they alternated to answer questions, but also enjoyed the time to play a little catch up as, Ben McKenzie told us, they only get to see each other at events like this. See what we found out below.
Q: Edward Nygma finally names himself The Riddler and appears with the green suit. What will this represent for the character?
Cory Michael Smith: This doesn’t necessarily answer any questions. He called himself something, but now it begins the journey of finding what that actually means to him, who is this new person. Nygma is someone who constantly struggles with identity. We saw that manifested literally through season 2 when he would see two of himself, so now that he has the outfit it begins the whole new journey of new identity to him. I feel like now it’s a new beginning. I feel like in these two and a half years I’ve been playing this character, I’m playing a very different person now, someone that has gone through a severe evolution. And I like that it took this long, I feel like he has earned this identity.
Q: We have a lot of new characters showing different sides, but what can we expect of characters that have been already quite developed, like the Catwoman? Are we gonna have some surprises?
Camren Bicondova: Selena always has some surprise. I got used to her always going a certain way and then doing something completely opposite, so I’ve already learned to just let it be and go with the flow. The way she lives her life is doing everything she needs to survive, and throughout the season we are going to see how she is struggling to survive for the first time in a really long time, because she will have to deal with teenager issues, which she has never dealt with before.
Ben McKenzie: Is she in love?
Camren Bicondova: I think she is, but she is denial because she doesn’t want to be.
Q: Erin, there has been constant comparisons between your character, Barbara, and Harley Quinn. Is this frustrating in any way?
Erin Richards: It’s not frustrating, because I understand it. The difference is that Harlem Quinn’s madness is much more joyous, which Barbara has too, but overall Barbara is a lot more focused. Especially in this season when we are really going to see her getting her teeth in becoming the Queen of Gotham and using the characters around her to get there. She maybe has left behind that part of her that was the Harley Quinn type, the madness for madness’ sake, and now she has her eyes set on this goal.
Q: Cory, all the characters hold a grunge against Nygma, he is sort of an archenemy. Can you hint the way these adversaries will bring forces together with the rise of the Riddler?
Cory Michael Smith: First of all, Nygma is not interested in running the underworld. He is interested in finding his own identity. There will certainly be alliances made. I can say that The Riddler and Barbara we will be running into each other, and this will cause problems and torture to Butch and Tabitha.
Robin Lord Taylor: It’s interested because Nygma is not interested in running the underworld, but weirdly that is what makes him more terrifying. It makes him unpredictable. He doesn’t even know who he is, we don’t know what type of depravity he is capable of, when someone like The Penguin is all structured: he wants to be the King of Gotham and that’s it.
Q: Gotham is very interesting because we see the development of the villains, but at the same time it foreshadows the future since we all know and love Batman’s story.
Ben McKenzie: I think as Bruce evolves, the people around him will evolve with him. I believe that with time the series will start to focus more on that.
Cory Michael Smith: There is still a lot to develop before Batman, but all these relationships we have to each other are changing us, and make us into the villains that Batman will have to battle one day.
Erin Richards: It;s interesting because whenever a character goes through a change it affects all of the other characters around it. And its; funny because you never know how your character is going to react until you see them.
Camren Bicondova: And I love the journey of it. Yes, everybody knows Edward becomes The Riddler, everybody knows Cobblepot becomes The Penguin, everybody knows Selina becomes Catwoman, but what makes Gotham so interesting is that no one has seen the journey.
Q: Chris, will Lucius’ presence be more integral this season? Will he be more present chasing the villains?
Chris Chalk: Lucius is always there. He always makes a point to be present. I think his ultimate goal is to protect Bruce Wayne, but he is also there in the DCPD, and who knows where he is going to be by the end of this season.
Q: To talk about alliances, can we hope for an alliance between The Penguin, who is redefining himself, and Ivy Pepper, who needs to redefine herself as well?
Robin Lord Taylor: Yes, I think so. One of the hardest things for my character is that throughout the show he has been loosing all the alliances that he had. Everyone The Penguin had worked with at some point turned on him, he is all by himself. But then it’s a perfect time for him to come together with a character who is also trying to find herself. There is something weird about that couple, though, that someone as cynical as The Penguin who has been through it all will come together with a person who has just come along and still has this desire to learn, to blossom.
Ben McKenzie: It’s a really fun pairing. There is a certain inspirational aspect. Poison Ivy looks at Cobblepot like “teach me how to be bad”.
Robin Lord Taylor: It’s funny how the status are always changing on this show. To have someone that was the mayor of Gotham in the same level with this person (Ivy) who has just came along, and they being in equal positions. This is to me what is fascinating about the show.
Q: Maggie, can you talk a little bit about to find this role who is an adult and a child at the same time?
Maggie Geha: It was confusing for me at first. Entering the show third season and taking over from Claire Foley who did a brilliant job, and having to rap my head around this idea that my character been transformed by this monstrous thing. Your body aging, your mind growing up but lacking all these years of experience. She is naive, because she missed all those years of adolescence. But I don’t think of her as a child in an adult’s body. As Ivy said, she is changed from the inside out. At the same time, I think there is a lightness to her, she brings a lot of fun into the show. I’m looking forward to playing her a little darker on season 4.
Q: Ben, Gordon is always a character who needs to be looking for something to believe in. Can you tease what he will be looking forward on this season?
Ben McKenzie: Yes, Gordon is yearning for some connection. Everything in his life right now is falling apart, so he doesn’t have much going on. Gordon is constantly searching for some answers and that will lead him to meet a character that will involve the fate of the season and bring all of us together, not to help each other but to try to sort out how to save the city.
Q: What is the favorite storyline of this season?
Robin Lord Taylor: My favorite storyline is the relationship between The Riddler and The Penguin. I don’t want to get to political, but I’ll say that the fact that we introduced a queer element to a traditional hero story, something that has been around for a long time, it was very brave. What we brought to it, Cory and I was from a place of emotional honesty, and the the fact that it was embraced by Warner Bros. and FOX is something that should be applauded. I’m really happy about it.
GOTHAM returns Mon., 4/24 at 8/7c on FOX.
