In Season 2, after Theo Galavan had his sister, Tabitha, kill Penguin’s mother, Gertrud Kapelput (played by Carol Kane), right as her son was embracing her, it seemed like Penguin would never be genuinely happy again. However, once Hugo Strange was done experimenting on Peguin and released him from Arkham, Peguin went to his mother’s grave to pay his respects and that is when he met his biological father, Elijah Van Dahl (played by Paul Reubens), for the first time. His newfound (and very rich) father took him to his lavish home and introduced Peguin to his (conniving) wife and step-children. The dark cloud that had been hanging over Penguin’s head began to dissipate … for a little while.
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Today, during the Gotham panel at New York Comic Con, a fan asked Robin Lord Taylor, “How was your Paul Reubens experience?”
“Paul is a delight a real genius,” Taylor replied. “He is best friends with Carol, that played my mom, and so before he was cast I knew him. And it started as a goof that he should play my dad and we took a picture at a lunch with Carol and the producers said that they had been trying to get ahold of him for weeks. He is not Pee-Wee that is another whole thing. He is brilliant.”
After praising Reubens, Taylor recalled why the emotional scene in which Elijah Van Dahl was accidentally murdered by his wife — who had intended the poisoned-beverage for Penguin because Van Dahl was planning on changing his will, leaving most of his fortune to his biological son — was especially difficult for him to film.
“So that scene where Paul died, my actual dad died and we kept shooting that day anyways,” he explained. “So I was acting my actual reality. So production asked what I wanted to do and it was Paul’s last day. My mom was with my sister and I couldnt make it to Iowa, and it was a strange confluence of events where your reality is what your character is going through. There were some scenes that was actually happening in my real life. It was my favorite and will always be my favorite episode. Although I will never watch it.”
For more details from the Gotham panel, click here.
Penguin gains power as he narrows in on the nomination for Mayor of Gotham. Meanwhile, Gordon turns Alice (guest star Naian Gonzalez Norvind) into the GCPD for the bounty. Also, Bruce and Alfred race to find Bruce’s doppleganger after learning he’s assumed Bruce’s identity.
The show stars Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Morena Baccarin as Leslie Thompkins, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/the future Riddler, Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan, Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox, Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean, Maggie Geha as the future Poison Ivy, and Michael Chiklis as Detective Nathaniel Barnes.
The guest cast includes Naian Gonzalez Norvind as Alice Tetch and Leslie Hendrix as Kathryn.
The all-new “Mad City: New Day Rising” episode of Gotham will air Monday, October 10 at 8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
