At this weekend's Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con, Robin Lord Taylor sat down with fans and spoke about his experiences on Fox's Gotham, where he plays Oswald Cobblepot, otherwise known as the man who becomes the Penguin in the Batman universe.
Taylor answered fans' questions with a smile, and even demonstrated Cobblepot's signature walk, which received loud applause and cheers.
Taylor also spoke about how, as an actor, he actually identified with his character, although that character is quite an oddball. But Taylor insists that the journeys of himself and Oswald are actually parallel, especially in Gotham's season finale.
"It's weird to identify with Oswald, but it really is true," said Taylor. "It didn't take a lot for me to get into character when I'm standing on the wall there and screaming 'I'm the King of Gotham.' That happiness and that feeling that I've really accomplished something after scraping it for years in New York City: it was just a really emotional moment. I nearly burst into tears the second we cut."
Taylor also spoke about how emotional it was for him to say goodbye to Jada Pinkett Smith, who plays Fish Mooney on the series. Mooney saw herself (sort of) killed off by Cobblepot, making that moment bittersweet for both Taylor and his character. "I spent all night scrapping with Jada Pinkett-Smith, which isn't easy, let me tell you," said Taylor.
"Also, saying goodbye to her, but maybe not forever. In that moment, that was a huge thing for me, because she is one of the kindest, most supportive actor that I've ever worked with. And also, that's another parallel between me and Oswald. Oswald learned everything about Gotham City from Fish Mooney. And I learned so much about this life and having people recognize you from Jada, like becoming a public person: she was just nothing but helpful in telling me how to navigate that."
Of course, the most important details Taylor touched upon were about Gotham's second season and what we can expect from Cobblepot when it airs. Although Taylor kept mum about some details, he did discuss Cobblepot's new character arc, especially now that he's taken on the "King of Gotham" role.
"That's going to be his huge challenge," says Taylor. "His whole focus has been on getting to this point. I don't know how prepared he is maintaining that. When you're at the top in Gotham City, you have a giant target on your back. Whether you're on the good side of things or if you're on the bad side of things. That's the thing about Gotham City: when you make your way to the top, there's always someone there to bring you down."
Fortunately, when asked about the villains we can expect to see on the next season of Gotham, Taylor confirmed two. "I know two villains specifically for next season: Mr. Freeze and Mad Hatter are both coming to Gotham. I'm excited about that."
Sounds like we're in for another explosive season of Gotham: we wanted Mad Hatter to put in an appearance in season two, so that's something to look forward to.
Taylor concluded his panel by thanking his fans for watching.
Season two of Gotham premieres this fall on Fox.
[Photo Credit: Fox]
