The Penguin’s showrunner on unexplained significance of Oswald’s limp

by

As a longtime fan of Gotham City’s dark underbelly, I can’t help but be thrilled by the depth and authenticity that Lauren LeFranc has brought to ‘The Penguin’. The way she humanizes characters like Oswald Cobblepot and Victor Aguilar, giving them unique characteristics that reflect real-life experiences, is truly commendable.

In the HBO series, it’s been clarified by the showrunner Lauren LeFranc that there’s a hidden meaning behind Oswald Cobblepot’s limp.

In the reappearance of the gangster character, portrayed by Colin Farrell, from last year’s “The Batman” film, we follow his past events and introduce a new accomplice named Victor Aguilar, played by Rhenzy Feliz.

In an exclusive conversation with Digital Spy, she shared: “In the initial episode, it’s revealed that he has a clubfoot. What intrigued me was this – nowadays, many people undergo surgery to correct a clubfoot. However, in our storyline, we explore his condition without immediate medical intervention.

In essence, she felt that his unique circumstances, being economically disadvantaged, would serve to strengthen him rather than requiring any alteration or improvement in those aspects of himself.

Simultaneously in the series, The Penguin brings on board a trusted associate to help execute his devious schemes. Interestingly, this ally struggles with a stutter, a condition not often portrayed accurately in television and cinema.

In conversation with Digital Spy, LeFranc explained: “I felt it was significant to give Victor a stutter since it clarified why Oz would let such a child live. To some extent, Oz identifies with him, yet they both have disabilities and never discuss it.

“Victor has more traits than just this one, but there’s a shared aspect between them. I aimed to portray a character who stutters, yet the stutter is not his defining quality.

As a supporter, I can’t help but notice how underrepresented individuals with stutters are in media. They often miss out on engaging in conversations and seeing themselves portrayed on screen. To bridge this gap, we collaborated closely with a dialect coach who also happens to have a stutter. This dedicated professional worked tirelessly with Rhenzy Feliz, our remarkable actor embodying Victor, resulting in an incredibly authentic portrayal of a stutter.

Currently, Colin Farrell and director Matt Reeves are hinting at Barry Keoghan’s future portrayal of The Joker, while The Penguin has garnered positive feedback from the initial round of Rotten Tomatoes critiques for their upcoming film, “The Batman: Part 2”.

The animated series “The Penguin” is set to premiere on American channel Max on September 19th, while it will air on Now and Sky Atlantic in the UK two days later, on September 20th.

Read More

2024-09-20 09:19