Cristin Milioti portrays serial killer Sofia Falcone / The Hangman in the HBO series The Penguin, a spin-off of Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022). Milioti recently spoke about her interest in the superhero genre and how she faced multiple rejections before landing the role in The Penguin.
Cristin Milioti details how she became Sofia Falcone in The Penguin
Before the events of the series, Cristin Milioti’s Sofia was institutionalized at Arkham Asylum after killing at least seven women. In Episode 1, she has returned home. After learning about the murder of her brother Alberto, she decides to seek revenge and teams up with the titular character.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Milioti explained what she did to prepare for this role. “I have my little preparations and processes that I do,” she said.
“So much of it was also in the writing and so much of it was that I felt like I understood this woman. I also worked with a movement coach, and that was very helpful to find little things here and there. And I have a playlist — all the things actors talk about. But I really wanted to build this person, and once I started building her, and once I started to get in there, I could find ways of locking in,” the Palm Spring actress elaborated.
Earlier this month, Milioti told The Washington Post about her failed attempts to work on superhero projects. “I’ve tested for them all, baby. They were not interested,” she recalled.
Upon being reminded of her comment, Milioti told The Hollywood Reporter that while she does not understand why she didn’t land one of those projects, she was “grateful” that she didn’t. Milioti believes she “wouldn’t have necessarily got to play Sofia,” a character she “completely understood” and “was obsessed with…from the beginning,” if she had got those roles.
The first episode of The Penguin premiered on Saturday, September 19.