“I’m the king of Gotham,” Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin shouted after shoving his one-time mentor, Fish Mooney, off of a roof in the Season 1 finale.
“Gotham” returns to Fox with the Season 2 premiere on Monday night, and when things begin, Oswald Cobblepot remains very much on top. In addition to his improved status, he’s got fancy digs, a new look, and Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) probably still owes him a favor or two (by actor Robin’s calculations).
It was over the summer that the cast got the first script for Season 2, and it included some minor adjustments in how the show will play out, as it continues its run on Fox.
Drew Powell and Robin Lord Taylor in the ‘Gotham’ Season 2 premiere (Fox)
“You could already tell the tone of the show had changed a little bit — the fact that we were focusing on just the characters’ arcs as opposed to any… sort of the crime of the week stuff that we were doing last year. That was all gone,” Robin told Access Hollywood of his initial thoughts at reading the Season 2 premiere script. “It was just really tight and really thrilling. I was just so excited to get back to it.”
Monday night, “Gotham” is back at 8/7c on Fox, and ahead of the show’s premiere, Robin dished to Access about Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot’s improved status, new look, his “nexus” of power, and a request some fans have made when they’ve seen him in public.
WATCH: Robin Lord Taylor: Is Fish Mooney Really Dead On ‘Gotham’?
AccessHollywood.com: You’ve got to tell me what the first table read – what the emotions were like when everybody was back together. You guys knew you had a Season 2; you were all there together [again], everyone had the script in front of them. What did that feel like?
Robin Lord Taylor: It was like coming back from summer break, you know what I mean? It’s like, ‘We’re back, we’re ready to work,’ and also… we just all felt that momentum pushing behind us. We were just ready to throw ourselves right back into it, and we all like each other (laughs). Sometimes it’s not totally the case on every show, but we all genuinely have affection for each other, so it was just a love fest.
Access: Your [Oswald/Penguin] look looks a little different this season. His hair is a little spikier. Is it the confidence that comes with being on top that’s sort of giving him a little bit of a different feel this season in terms of how he looks?
Robin: Oh, definitely. In terms of the hair, that was definitely a conversation where… it started with [Executive Producer] Danny Cannon. … You just wanted to do something a little bit different, just take a step in a different direction, so that’s where that came from, and then also, in terms of the costumes, we have new costume designers this year – John Glaser and Patrick Wiley — and they, in terms of like stepping up Oswald’s look — the ties are more elaborate, the patterns are more… it’s just all just stepped up another notch. He has fabulous shoes (laughs). I think that’s a lot of it, yeah.
Access: How have the new costumes impacted your performance, because costumes are so important to actors?
Robin: Definitely, and it changes my posture. … When I put this stuff on, because they’re very buttoned up and the colors are hard and the suits just fit within an inch of my life, my spine gets straighter. I just feel like, yeah, it reflects Oswald’s standing in Gotham City. … Yeah, it helps me adapt to his physicality, which is just amazing. It’s amazing to have that tool.
Access: And they have an amazing chair for you to sit in as well — your own little, not quite Iron Throne, but it seems like you’ve got some nice new digs as well this season. Tell us a little bit about that. What are we going to kind of get to see as the season unfolds? It looks like it’s a bit more regal?
Robin: Yeah, definitely. … It’s sort of the nexus of his power, is that chair, actually, and you’ll see like, basically everything that happens to him sort of revolves around this new lair of his. Gone are the days of the club. The idea is basically that there are things to deal with so he’s dispatched someone to take care of the club, so he’s just sitting in his lair commanding everything and calling the shots, bringing the crime families that are left in Gotham City back together. I mean, there’s just a lot of organizing that needs to be done and that’s where it all takes place.
WATCH: Getting To Know ‘Gotham’s’ Robin Lord Taylor
Access: Will we get to see a bit of his paternal side come out with Selina Kyle, who sort of comes into his orbit more this season?
Robin: Yes, definitely. I think he’s just fascinated by her and I think he really admires her ability to – she has no allies or she doesn’t align herself with anybody. She kind of drifts into different scenes with different people and I think he sees that as a major asset and something that he wants to foster in her and obviously use for his own advantage.
Access: He just can’t see beyond using people for his own purposes, except for his mother. He loves her above all. Have you been working a lot with Carol [Kane] this season? Obviously, she’s got ‘[Unbreakable] Kimmy Schmidt’ to do as well. I’m kind of curious how much of her we’re going to get this time around.
Robin: She’s featured prominently this year which is – it’s amazing. To be able to work with Carol again is just like a freaking dream come true and also, as he becomes more powerful, their relationship gets tested in a way. … He’s become more powerful, he’s growing up, therefore, because of that, there’s distance that arises between a parent and their child as the child becomes an adult and becomes their own person, so you’ll sort of see that’s how their relationship changes. … There are some pretty amazing moments between the two of us.
Access: Does Jim [Gordon] still owe Oswald any favors going into Season 2?
Robin: You know, I was trying to do the math and I think that, yeah, he definitely owes me some kind of favor there. I think he asked for like two or three last year and maybe one or two was repaid, and then, of course, as we come in, Jim just keeps coming knocking. I mean, Jim has some gall coming to Penguin now for anything after basically leaving Penguin at the season finale last year. And the fact that Jim still looks to Penguin as a connection to the crime underbelly of Gotham City — their relationship is definitely strained at this point. He’s not a friend to Oswald at all any more.
Access: Aww.
Robin: I know, it’s sad.
Access: Tell me about James Frain coming in. He’s been in so many television shows and he just brings this air with him and you know he means business. Whatever character he’s going to play, he’s going to be a threat.
Robin: Oh yeah, totally. No one does it better than him. I mean, he freaks me out — in a good way. He’s just an amazing, amazing addition and also, an amazing adversary to Oswald. It really gives Oswald something to push against.
Access: [Finally], let me just ask you very quickly about the walk and whether or not you’ve actually ended up doing it in real life by accident?
Robin: (Laughs) No, I actually still haven’t. I’ve been asked to do it many times and I always oblige people and it’s always a weird moment because, I don’t know, it’s not that big of a deal when it’s just like regular me in my jeans doing it, you know what I mean? There’s something about seeing it with the whole package [that] makes it a lot more affecting I think.
“Gotham” Season 2 premieres Monday at 8/7c on Fox, followed by the series premiere of “Minority Report” at 9 PM.
— Jolie Lash
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