Cristin Milioti is one of the nicest participants in the category “Can do Anything”. She can make a Andy Samberg comedy (“Palm Springs”) as practically as a Martin Scorsese drama (“The Wolf of Wall Street”), or a Legacy Limited series (“Fargo”) with the same skill as a Broadway musical (“once” for which she got a tony nomination). This season returned miliotic to Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror” As heroic captain Nanette Cole in “USS Callister: Into Infinity”, a sequel to Netflix Emmy winning 2017-original “USS Callister”, about a “Star Trek” space crew in crisis.
She also played the deliciously twisted Sofia Falcone, a tormented Arkham Asylum Survivor, a criminal justice and the most important opponent of Colin Farrells Oz Cobb in HBO’s “The Penguin” for whom she she Won a Critics Choice Award. Thewrap spoke with the chameleonic actor about both projects, which is why Farrell is “scary good at acting” and what forms she would like to see Sofia return in.
Both of these roles fall into a sci-fi/fantasy-kingdom, which you have worked in before (like HBO MAX’S “MADE FOR LOVE”). What was different this time?
I think of them as so differently, but I totally know what you mean. They both take place in really increased worlds, perhaps without even realizing it, which I lose. I mean, I’m also very interested in making a kitchen counter or something. (Laughs)
These two roles fall into another specific category – I suppose the best way to express it would be “vulnerable badasses.” What was it like to play a role again in the follow -up “Black Mirror”, because it is something you have not done much?
I felt such a whiplash because of the differences between the two. I went straight from “Penguin” to “Black Mirror.” I love Charlie’s brain so much and I love Toby (Haynes, the section director). The rollist (including Jesse Plemons, Jimmi Simpson and Billy Magnussen) is absolutely amazing. The best way I can describe it is that it sometimes felt like being inside Déjà vu, because you would turn a corner in the spaceship or would you have a certain clothes on, and your brain would be like “wait, what?” I feel that I am a completely different person than I was when I first did that show and tried to remember what I had done with her and how I found myself in that character also felt like having to travel back in time in myself, if it makes sense.
As for Sofia in “The Penguin”, did you build her from the ground up because you knew you didn’t see many previous portraits?
Yes, which was fantastic. And I knew what an incredible opportunity was, being able to build a Gotham villain in this universe without any preconceived perceptions. It was so liberating, and I had such an incredible partner in it with (Showrunner) Lauren Refanc. There was a real feminine energy piding on this show, certainly. Didi (O’Connell, who plays Farrell’s mother) is incredible. Helen Shaver (one of the directors) – what an incredible natural power. Colin isn’t just like that
Scary good at acting, but he is a perfect professional and so kind and so play. We only had a real immediate chemistry. I am such a big Batman fan, and it has always been like a top on my bucket list to play a villain in that world. I think what makes these villains so special and so scary is their vulnerability.
What is the most interesting thing you’ve heard of any of the projects from fans or just random people?
I have been stopped on the street a lot of women specifically, and it has been incredible. Many very respectful, very silent women who come to me and gently touches my arm and say: “I love Sofia … or …” Black Mirror, “and I feel honored by it. Sofia is very brutal, but she is a character who has reasoned with people beyond only women. I have known that character reached a broader group of people maybe (they may be) as they may.
Your work is so varied and you act with so many different people, but is there another bucket list?
I mean, I would love to do a musical.
You’ve done it!
No, one Film musical.
Maybe Sofia can be the star in the film musical.
Yes, maybe. (Laughs) Maybe about Trent Reznor or someone made the music.
This story first ran in the limited series & TV filmer edition of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine
Read more from the question of limited series and TV films here.
