The Penguin star talks bringing comic book villain The Hangman to life in The Batman spin-off show

Cristin Milioti in The Penguin
(Image credit: HBO / Macall Polay)

Upcoming The Batman spin-off TV show The Penguin may be helmed by Colin Farrell's returning gangster Oz Cobb, but he isn't the only major player in town.

The series will also introduce actor Cristin Milioti's villainous Sofia Falcone, a member of the Falcone crime family which were featured in the 2022 movie. The cunning daughter of mob boss Carmine Falcone has a long history with Farrell's Oz — and as readers of the Batman comic books will also know, she also has the nickname 'The Hangman', with Gotham's residents believing that she is the mysterious serial killer.

Although The Hangman has appeared on-screen before in TV series Gotham, where she was played by Crystal Reed, The Penguin puts a new spin on the character. And as Milioti, who is best known for starring in rom-com Palm Springs, tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday September 12, which features The Penguin on the cover, the role therefore came with physical challenges.

As Milioti explains, she worked with a movement coach to help bring her intriguing antagonist to life: "I worked with this incredible acting coach and movement coach Julia Crockett, and experimented with a lot of physical stuff. Sofia has a cauldron bubbling inside her at all times, and she’s in the most unsafe place she could possibly be. Hong low can she swallow this for, sit on this volcano, until it finally erupts?'" 

And we would certainly put money on it being Sofia's encounter with the crafty Oz in the series will bring us closer to this eruption.

Check out an exclusive image of Milioti as Falcone, a.k.a. The Hangman, in The Penguin below:

Images from The Penguin

(Image credit: HBO/Macall Polay)

The Penguin releases on September 20 on Sky and NOW in the UK and on September 19 on HBO in the US. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, September 12.

Check out the covers below:

The Penguin covers of Total Film magazine

(Image credit: Sky/HBO/Total Film)

Subscribers have the exclusive text-free cover on the way to them right now, with the issue then hitting shops and digital newsstands on Thursday 12 September.

Total Film subscriber offer

(Image credit: Sky/HBO/Warner Bros/Disney/20th Century Studios/Prime Video)

For more, see our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows.

Emily Murray
Entertainment Editor

As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I've worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.

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