Actress Cristin Milioti‘s portrayal of Sofia Falcone is being branded the stand-out of DC’s The Penguin thanks to her bold and positively terrifying take on the character.
Although this is Milioti’s first venture into the superhero world, the actress told The Hollywood Reporter it was not for lack of trying. Even still, getting any other role would have kept her from Sofia and the world of The Batman with which she has fallen in love. “I love this project so much and I wouldn’t have gotten to do this if I had gotten the other ones,” she reflected.
Who is Sofia Falcone?
The Penguin stayed faithful to the most relevant iterations of Sofia Falcone in DC Comics. The character was first introduced in the ’90s with Batman: The Long Halloween when her father, Carmine Falcone, gets her out of jail to hunt down a serial killer known as the Holiday Killer, who had been targeting members of the mob. After Carmine gets killed, Sofia herself becomes a masked killer known as The Hangman as she strives to avenge his death.
Things aren’t too different in The Penguin — Sofia’s second live-action appearance after Gotham, in which she was played by Teen Wolf‘s Crystal Reed. In the Max show, The menacing criminal returns from a stint in Arkham Asylum following her father’s death at the hands of The Riddler at the end of 2022’s The Batman.
By the first episode, she has already built a reputation as The Hangman, thanks to a blood-stained past that landed her in the mental hospital in the first place. “I definitely researched what solitary confinement does to people,” Milioti revealed. Sofia is eager to step into her father’s shoes and take control of the Gotham criminal underbelly, but Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobb aka The Penguin has the same plan.
Where you’ve seen Cristin Milioti before
39-year-old Cristin Milioti is best known for playing the mother in How I Met Your Mother, but the Cherry Hill, New Jersey native has been acting her boots off for years now.
Like many other American actors, Milioti got her start in school and the theater but dabbled in TV every now and then. One of her first roles, albeit small, was in a legendary series that is said to be one of The Penguin’s biggest inspirations, The Sopranos.
Her career couldn’t have gotten a better start. She was nominated for a Tony and won a Grammy while playing Girl as part of the original Broadway cast of Once from 2011 to 2013. After that, however, she jumped from guest role to guest role in film and television, with a few more prominent performances in short-lasting series like NBC’s A to Z.
Milioti is now experiencing another career boom ever since starring in the small-scaled but much-beloved 2020 rom-com Palm Springs with Andy Samberg. She followed it up with lead roles in back-to-back comedy series, HBO Max’s Made for Love, and Peacock’s The Resort.
The Penguin, which is sure to take over How I Met Your Mother as her most famous outing, marks a change of pace for the typically comedy-leaning actress. Sofia Falcone’s twisted nature and macabre past will provide an excellent playground for an actress who has long been deserving of her flowers.
Published: Sep 19, 2024 06:25 am