Gotham’s Jada Pinkett Smith: “It’s a Little Rough on Fish From Here On Out”

Gotham

That isn’t going to let up, she told reporters on a conference call this afternoon, as they move into the first season’s home stretch. Things are not going to be easy for Fish, who will have to become more human and humane, and less ruthless, to get along and survive now that she’s been stripped of her station and her men.

ComicBook.com was part of the conference call, and sat in to see what else the woman behind Fish Mooney had to say about the part.

[Pauses] Well, it’s not quite over yet but we’ll see if Fish survives the season. It’s a little tense from here on out, that’s for sure. It’s a little rough on Fish from here on out.

What’s been your favorite scene so far to do?

I think one of my favorite scenes would have to be that Maroni scene when I go to Maroni and I hear that Penguin’s alive but I have yet to see him, and then he comes from the back in the kitchen and I see him for the first time. I think that’s probably one of my favorite scenes that we’ve done so far.

What was it like preparing for this role, since you had comparably little source material to draw on?

That’s one of the reasons that the role was so interesting to me; it was something that [showrunner] Bruno [Heller] really wanted a partner in creating Fish Mooney and I love female gangsters. I think they’re really interesting characters and interesting people. There’s one — Griselda Blanco who I had studied and I really love the character from Sunset Boulevard and it was kind of a mishmash of those two. When Bruno had some suggestions and it was really coming together and I said, “Well, I would really like to do a mixture of these two women.”

One thing I love about the supervillains in Gotham is that they’re always so colorful. I really wanted her to be grounded but also have quite a flair.

Are you enjoying being part of a comic book universe?

Yeah, I am enjoying it. I love comic books and so it’s been a real pleasure to be able to participate in this way, for sure.

I would say some of her Fish-isms. Her “tk, tk, tk.” Kind of a lot of her mannerisms and those added attitude phrases that Fish has. That’s pretty much what I would add. Thank goodness I have a lot of room on set because Bruno and the writers know that we’re still trying to find the voices as characters. So we have a lot of room to improv at times when it comes to Fish so that’s fun as well. Just adding those little flavors that make Fish Mooney, Fish.

You’re new to Twitter. Are you enjoying the immediate feedback you get during the episodes?

I have so much fun. This is such an enthusiastic genre. The fans that participate in this genre are so much fun, so I have a good time when I’m on Twitter talking about the show. I have a blast.

Acting challenges of creating a character people love to hate and root for?

That’s a really good question. As I was saying before I love how colorful Fish can be but at the same time you still want her to be relatable, you know what I mean? You still want people to be able to look at this woman and maybe not necessarily know her story but be able to relate to her.

I think this world of Gotham sometimes in finding where you need to be emotionally or how grounded you need to be in a scene or how far you can go with the colors of Fish Mooney sometimes tend to be a bit challenging. That’s always a seesaw, you’re always trying to find that balance. That’s the hardest part is finding that balance of having her flair but keeping her grounded and real.

How would you describe her relationship with Penguin?

I would say that she saw Penguin as one of her adopted orphans — someone she took off the street and helped him become something, so I think that she felt deeply betrayed by Penguin. It will be interesting to see where their relationship goes from here. Right now they’re not getting along too well [laughs] and she’s still pretty upset with him but it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

A lot of comments were that people were noticing a change in delivery style.  Is that a conscious decision for you to be playing Fish Mooney the thug but pretending to be Fish Mooney the sophisticated gangster?

Yeah. You know, the thing about Fish Mooney is that you’ll see, especially in the upcoming shows, the many faces of Fish Mooney.

I think Fish Mooney is a woman who because of her background and because of who she really is has taken it upon herself to do a lot of cover-up. She has all of these different kinds of personalities that she picks and chooses to use during certain times. You have this kind of sophisticated Fish, what she considers to be sophisticated….

But then there are times when she loses her cool and you kind of see her original essence, which can get a little gutter. And sometimes when she has to be influential with men, you’ll see her put on her little sexy kitten voice, which is coming up.

This is a woman who has created all these different masks to fit different times just depending on what she’s trying to do at times. If you watch people in real life, you see that all the time. She just does it in a more extreme way.

I’ve heard that your family members are actually fans. What do they tell you about Fish Mooney?

No notes — that’s the wonderful thing, no notes. You just go “good job,” that’s it. We stay away from notes.

I read that when you came in to audition for Fish Mooney, you came in with a man on a leash and “liar” across his forehead. What gave you the instinct to show the people that’s what Fish embodied?

It wasn’t for an audition. I know that’s a better story. We were actually doing a work session about Fish Mooney and trying to find the character. That’s one of the reasons I decided to do something as extreme as that. I felt like instead of talking about it just show it. I felt like from the psychology I had put together in regard to who I thought Fish was, that’s something better to show than to explain verbally. That was one of the reasons why I decided for that creative session that I had with Bruno and Danny [Cannon] at the time after it had been decided that I would play Fish, I decided to come in with the guy on the leash to just go “this is who this woman is, this is what I see.” It was a very short session to say the least. 

And they were like, “Okay, got it.” [Laughs] It was a very short session to say the least. It was like, “Okay, we’re clear.” I was done up and I had this guy on a leash with no shirt on with “liar” written across his head with red lipstick and they were like “We are clear.” It was awesome; it gave Bruno a nice foundation to work from, for sure.

You like to play these strong women. Which one would you say is your favorite to play, and is there another character you’d like to play some day?

I would say I love playing Fish Mooney. You’re going to see a lot more color from Fish in the next episodes, you’re going to see a  lot more vulnerability, you’re going to see a more human side of Fish Mooney.

I see Fish Mooney as a more extreme version of a woman. A woman who wears many faces, a woman who is strong but yet afraid. I would say that the Fish Mooney character has, especially in these coming episodes, has been really fun and I love how smart and perceptive she is.

She just decided to use her skill and not…well, she’s a criminal. She decided to be a criminal instead of, you know, a doctor. I really love her and what she’s becoming too. I think in the next few episodes and definitely toward the end you’re going to see a whole different Fish and a woman that definitely has some heart. You’ve seen the ruthless now you’ll see some heart.

Is there a character you’d like to play in the future?

Character coming up in Magic Mike that I’m really happy about that is totally different from anything I’ve done thus far, once again. And this woman is strong in a much different way also, and I think from the response we’ve been getting in regards to the character I portray in Magic Mike I’m really happy with how that turned out and she’ll probably end up being one of my favorites as well.

Can you talk more about the sexuality of the character and what that’s been like?

It’s been great. I think as far as the Fish Mooney character is concerned, anything pretty much goes. “By any means necessary” is kind of her motto. I think that Fish doesn’t discriminate when it comes to her sexuality.

What did you initially find compelling about Gotham?

Becuase Gotham is so mysterious. There’s this undertone to Gotham and the idea that the city itself has kind of this underbelly. What is going on in these alleys? What’s going on in these so-called high rises? What is happening? Why is it that this place has some of the most incredible villains and you have one of the most beloved superheroes which is Batman, and he comes from this dark, gritty atmosphere? I just felt like Gotham itself is such a mystery and I’ve always been drawn to it. What is Gotham? What is the city about? Who’s there, and why is it this place? What is it about this place?

And so that has always fascinated me about the Batman story, is just his backdrop which has been Gotham.

Was there a particular scene or episode where you felt like you really clicked with Fish and became her?

I think, funny enough, it really felt like as soon as I put on that wig, Fish is there.

As soon as I put on that wig and her gear, because it’s so specifically her, there’s a unique and immediate transformation. So the first day, as soon as I put on that wig and that dress, I just felt like “oh, there she is.” And every time I do it, she is alive. It’s a really good feeling to have. You just don’t have to work hard for it. That I’m grateful for. That wig and those heels and those nails really conjure her.