Gotham Knights: Anna Lore Talks Stephanie Brown’s Journey (Exclusive)

On The CW’s Gotham Knights, while Turner, Harper, Cullen, and Duela are trying to clear their names after being framed for the murder of Bruce Wayne and are also trying to take down the Court of Owls who they believe are behind it all, they aren’t doing it alone. They have help from not only Batman’s Robin Carrie Kelly, but Turner’s best friend Stephanie Brown as well. Played by Anna Lore, Stephanie is a genius in her own right with some impressive skills that have been very helpful for the Knights, but as fans have started to see, Stephanie has her own secrets and issues as well. Despite her dad being the most popular game show host in Gotham, there are some dark secrets at home and Stephanie’s perfect life is far from perfect.

This week’s episode of Gotham Knights, “A Chill in Gotham”, digs in a bit more into Stephanie’s home life as we meet her father Arthur Brown (Ethan Embry) for the first time as well as marks a bit of a turning point for Stephanie with the Knights. ComicBook.com sat down with Lore to talk about Stephanie’s journey — as well as ask about what relationships we should be rooting for as the season continues.

Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of Gotham Knights, “A Chill in Gotham”, beyond this point.

Nicole Drum, ComicBook.com: Stephanie Brown is a beloved character for DC fans. What has it been like for you getting to bring that character to life?

Anna Lore: Well, I know we’ve seen Stephanie Brown in a Batgirl episode, but to be the longest, the most volume of the Stephanie Brown character media, the size, and the scope of it, it’s kind of intimidating, I guess, because I don’t have anyone before me really that I am trying to copy or trying to get out from under the shadow of. But also, it does feel like I’m just creating the road in front of me as I drive.

I mean, I have the comic books to draw on, which is super helpful because I think they kept Stephanie very true to the comic books, which I appreciate. And that’s the other thing is that it’s a joint effort between me and the writers to create the beloved character and to have our own story and our own take on it, but to honor it. And I think that’s kind of the challenge of any media that is adapting something. And how do you make it worth watching for people who have no idea who Stephanie Brown is, and how do you keep it super true to all the fans who are just so anxious to see exactly their beloved character?

In this episode particularly, I love that Stephanie seems so normal but she’s also dealing with a lot, which I think a lot of people who present very normally or successfully… you never know everyone’s story. Last episode, we really got to see that there’s a lot at home that Stephanie’s been carrying with her. How is Stephanie as we go into this week’s episode?

I think Stephanie is definitely keeping these two worlds separate. And I think anyone who does have a tumultuous home life, you’re not walking around talking about it, telling everyone heart-on-your-sleeve about it. I think people who have a home life like that, they’re keeping the cards close to the chest, they’re putting a smile on when they go out, they don’t want to think about it. She has other things to do. And so, I think she’s both distracting herself with this pursuit of vigilantism as well as … I think over the course of the next three episodes, the things that she doesn’t want her new friends to know about her home life, they just kind of come to find out, and she has to let people care about her. And I think that’s her journey is that she has to accept that other people are going to help her carry this burden. Because the burden gets greater and greater as the season goes on.

I think that’s what’s interesting in this episode is we get to see her have this moment with her dad, which is exciting because that character is important in comics as well. 

Well, I think up until the scene that you guys released, Stephanie’s dad is kind of her best friend. She totally idolizes him. And yeah, they’re completely into the same things. She’s coming to him for help with this puzzle because that’s what they bond over. They’re both brilliant. And they’re probably having hours long chess games on weekends. They’re so close. And I think, yeah, it is heartbreaking.

He does give her some unexpected help, though. He gives her the clue to the cipher and she doesn’t realize it but what leads her down the road of figuring out that cipher connects back to her mom, in a sense. She’s drinking. Substances are involved. That just seems to speak to the complicated nature of Stephanie’s whole life right now. 

Yeah. I think it does too. I don’t know. I mean, it’s kind of interesting that you bring that up. Yeah. Because I know that substances, they’re a unique challenge for children of alcoholics or children of addicts. But I think the nice thing about the scene is that she needs to unwind.

Everyone needs to chill out and just enjoy each other. And that is what ultimately ends up happening. That episode, I think it brings everyone a little bit closer.

You see the bonding of the team really starting to form in those moments. How is Stephanie doing with these vigilantes? How is she doing fitting into this very different group of people who becoming almost like their own core group of friends now?

Well, I think what’s interesting about it is that there’s almost like, for lack of a better word, classism, where Stephanie really doesn’t know her privilege. Harper has to point it out to her and be like, “Hey, you’ve had everything. You know what I mean? You have everything.” And so, I think it’s probably … This is, I guess, more subtext. But I think Stephanie getting to know these vagabond kids that live in the attic, I think is like … and finding out how much they have in common actually, and how alike they are, it’s a nice personal journey for her. And I think it’s also a found family story. It’s very much about finding the people who love you for who you are and who accept you.

I also think it ties in really beautifully, particularly between her and Harper, because as we get to the end of the episode, we really start to see some of Stephanie’s struggles come into place when they take down that drug operation.  It was such a pivotal moment because we Stephanie’s facade kind of break.

Yeah. It massively is, I mean, in a couple of ways. Because on the one hand, Stephanie is not a vigilante. She doesn’t know how to fight. She, she’s, she’s just getting into this. So that scene is kind of Stephanie realizing, “Oh, I’ve kind of gotten in over my head here.”

And also, I think vigilantism for Stephanie, by the way, she needs it. I mean, she needs to not have to go home. She wants to be here in the belfry. She wants to do this. She wants to be as good at every part of this as the rest of the Knights are. And so, I think it’s a moment of just total loss of control. I have no control over my home life. I have no control over this life. I have no control over anything, which I think is a universal, it’s a human experience, but I also think it’s a teen experience.

To be 17, to be in high school, to be going through a tumultuous home life, I mean, that is just so relatable to me. It’s just like I am completely powerless right now, and all I want is to get some kind of grasp on something. And so, yeah, that’s what that moment of release is just like F everything.

There’s another really important moment in this episode… there’s a moment where it looks like Turner and Stephanie are going to have a moment, but then there’s the issue with Brody. And we love Brody. But at the same time, should we maybe ship Turner and Stephanie a little bit? Is there a possible triangle coming?

I have to tell you; I have seen every ship in the book. There is not a single ship that does not exist out of the main cast of this show. Honestly, the ship I’m waiting for is I want people to be shipping Brody. I’m like, “Where’s the Brody ship?” Where’s the bad boy douche bag ship? That’s what I want to see. But yeah, keep shipping. I mean, just go nuts. Why not?

Gotham Knights airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW. “A “Chill in Gotham airs April 25th.