A good guy easily seduced by power

THE beauty of Gotham (Vuzu Amp, Thursday at 8.30pm) is the many backstories it tells of the eventual villains of the Batman movies.

We have seen glimpses of The Joker, Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, The Riddler and Hugo Strange and they are all interesting backstories that explain why they eventually became villains. It was mostly not of their own doing, but rather circumstance. And that’s one of the reasons why Gotham is a reasonably popular show. But one character that makes things interesting, is Oswald Cobblepot, otherwise known as The Penguin.

He’s a depressingly misunderstood villain, who, even though he tries to do good, is ultimately drawn to the bad side. His Achilles heel? Power. He is so addicted to power that it’s the reason he has fallen flat on his face so many times. He does, however, return to power, as we have seen in the third season of Gotham, where he has replaced his arch-nemesis, Theo Galavan, as mayor of Gotham City. I had a chat with Robin Lord Taylor shortly before they started shooting the third season of the show.

Penguin had a very interesting storyline in season two, from being King of Gotham, only to have Theo Galavan ruin it all for him, and then killing his mother, to being in Arkham, finding his father… It gets a bit much.

Oh yeah, it did. So many things happened for him, things that a normal person would not have been able to deal with. But the one thing that kind of saved him, was being a guinea pig to Hugo Strange’s experiments, which made him a non-violent, kind person. He suddenly had hope that he could be good, only for his stepmother and her children to take advantage of that and bring out his evil side again. Penguin is the way he is because of Gotham. He knows what to be loved feels like. He’s still after love and acceptance.

Gotham and the backstories of all these characters – do you think it’s what gives the show an edge over other procedurals?

I think so, yes. Gotham is a procedural. Everything else is like a backstory. As we go along with the show, we are introduced to new characters and the psychological impact they leave on the citizens of Gotham City. It’s always interesting to see which characters the writers are going to include every season and just how much they will affect other characters on the show. The city itself is a major character.

Villains and anti-heroes are very much part of TV at present – is Penguin a villain we can actually root for?

(Laughs) Oh, Penguin. I think you can root for him. There’s always a reason to sympathise with Penguin. It’s always a grey area with him because he is not inherently evil. He’s a flawed person and that’s what makes him sympathetic to viewers. He actually does care about Gotham City, the people in his circle and like everyone, hates being lied to or conned.

Jim Gordon and Penguin have this weird relationship – it’s very symbiotic too. What’s your favourite part about it?

They are two sides of the same coin. While Jim shows the good side, the light in the darkness and Penguin the opposite, they can’t exist without each other. Jim needs Penguin as much as Penguin needs Jim. They have both had to compromise their true selves.

Jim Gordon flirts more with the dark side than the good. Is he inherently bad or is he so good, that he has to be bad so to show how good he actually is?

Well yeah, you got it. We all struggle with good and bad. Jim is the literal representation of that. He is a good person, but has to compromise and be on the dark side in order to continue to do good.

How many hair dye boxes have you gone through? Because – you’re blonde…

(Laughs) I don’t think I can count any more. I have to dye my hair every two weeks for the show. I’ve had dark hair since February 2014. I probably will not be used to my blonde hair when the show is over.

I believe we have something in common – we have both spoken extensively to Wendy Williams! Do you still watch the show?

OMG! I love Wendy. I used to watch her show all the time. I listened to her radio show. I’ve been there from day one. Before Gotham was picked up as a series, I was in New York after shooting the first episode and I was in the audience of the show. So when I was doing promotional duties for Gotham, I had to go on Wendy to speak about the show.