Robin Lloyd Taylor as the Penguin

[johnnygobbs]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/309059-the-cast-and-crew-of-gotham-talk-about-the-upcoming-series#/slide/1

Executive producer Bruno Heller discussed one of the overall arcs for the first season of the series, saying: "The first year is very much about the rise of the Penguin and his involvement with Fish Mooney."

While Robin Lord Taylor, who plays Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin in the series, was asked about how he researched the role for the series, replying: "I watched Batman Returns like 500 times."

The Burton haters must have gone into conniptions on reading this. 

Anyway, this is great news, even if Lord Taylor is being tongue-in-cheek, which I somehow suspect.  The fact that he cites 'Batman Returns' suggests that he, and presumably the showrunners, is treating the Burton films with the respect they deserve, and that will hopefully be partly reflected in the show (although as with any new live-action Batman iteration, I hope this will be its own unique take).

[Slash Man]

That actually is a good question as to whether he was kidding or not. Danny DeVito gave an iconic performance, albeit one that wasn't preceded in the comics.

Though looking at character and how things turned out, I do see Returns as a definite influence. While having the outward appearance of a gentlemen, he is anything but. What really struck me was the random killings early on. Not something you'd see carried out by the comics Penguin, but Danny's? No doubt. Taylor's Penguin seems to start out as the misfit, while slowly finding his place in Gotham's criminal underworld.

It's also funny that Returns marked the first time Penguins' parents were shown, and Penguin's mother is featured in Gotham. Though here, she's named Gertrude, not Esther as previously established.

[Silver Nemesis]

Were you a big Batman fan before that?

I was. I didn't read a lot of the comics. I had some, but not a lot. But really it was the movies and the Adam West series, that I grew up watching, that were hugely influential to me. Um, yeah, I watched the Adam West series every day after school, after Scooby-Doo. It was Scooby-Doo and then Batman. So I would watch that every day and also I saw... I went to opening night of the Tim Burton Batman film when I was young, and those were just, you know, incredible. Incredible experiences for me, really opened up my eyes to this whole universe.

And, I know you've been asked about this a lot, but it must have been amazing to get the Danny DeVito seal of approval.

Oh my gosh, I couldn't... that... you know... Immediately, tears welling up when I heard him say that. Because this is an actor that I've been such a fan of my entire life, and then also Batman Returns... I watched it a thousand times when I was younger. And just to have that validation from him just meant everything to me. And also to hear it through – I know that he spoke about it in the press somewhere – but I first heard it through Carol Kane. Because she and Danny are very close, having worked together on Taxi, they've been best friends for like 39, 40 years, or something like that.

And she was the one that told me initially, and it just was... I felt like I was walking on air. It was incredible. Incredible moment.

It's funny, because I'd guess that his Penguin wasn't necessarily an inspiration for yours. Like, physically, he's got flippers for hands –

Yes, right, that that incarnation of the Penguin is very much... it's a beautifully realised, Tim Burton-esque treatment of the character. Which, you know, again, was just beautiful and fantastic. Obviously, we're going in a different direction with our show, but yeah. I would say I was influenced by him but just in a sense of, like, the humour that he brought to the role. Any chance I get – our show is very dark – to bring some of that humour in, it's almost like a homage to what Danny did. Obviously I could never do it as well as he does, but you know, that's where the influence is.

http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/gotham/42661/gotham-season-3-robin-lord-taylor-interview