‘The Penguin’ Star Michael Kelly Explains Sofia’s Decision About Johnny: ‘It’s the Most Baller Move She Could Have Made’
Johnny Viti woke up to quite a different world at the end of last week’s episode of “The Penguin.”
Sofia (Cristin Milioti) ended the midseason episode exacting her revenge on the Falcone family that helped ensure she spent a decade in Arkham Asylum. The only survivors were a young girl and Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) himself.
Sofia and Johnny have been butting heads since she got out of Arkham at the beginning of the season but their have always been glimmers of a familiar connection between them. Kelly told TheWrap that just came natural between him and Milioti
“We just did it,” he said. “The two of us got on really well. I like and respect her so much and we just jumped into it and started sparring.”
He continued, “it very much reminded me of – and I think it had some to do with the age the female co star – but it reminded me a lot of the stuff that I had with Rachel Brosnahan on ‘House of Cards.’ You’re doing it with that person, you’re just like, Oh, wow this kid. This kid’s really good”
Episode 5 of “The Penguin” saw Sofia and Johnny sparring once again – this time with Johnny tied up in the Falcone mausoleum. She makes it very clear to him that he can either see it her way or he’ll end up like the rest of the family. Johnny manages to talk himself out of the crypt but doesn’t get much further than that as he’s shot dead in front of the rest of the family bosses as a means to help Sofia solidify her new power.
Below, Kelly breaks down what makes Viti the “perfect soldier,” those uncomfortable days being tortured in a mausoleum, and why Sofia’s choice was a “baller move.”
Johnny has some history in the comic books but this show is very much doing it’s own thing in terms of adaptation. Did you read up on the character or choose to come into the show blind?
No, none. It’s interesting because you don’t want to be influenced. It would be like if someone had played Johnny Viti before. I wouldn’t necessarily want to go watch that person, because then no matter what it creeps into what you’re going to do. I wanted to make him what I read, how I interpreted, and of course, in talking with Lauren and creating that character.
Yesterday [at NYCC], a guy showed me a comic of Viti’s death, original death. And I was like ‘oh yeah man, I don’t even know about that.
What was Johnny’s read on Sofia at the beginning of the season vs. how he’s seeing her after what she did in Episode 4? Is she fully crazy to him or is he looking at her as more of a threat to be taken seriously?
I think he always takes takes her seriously. I think he’s aware of an element of danger that comes with her and unpredictability that comes with her. And with unpredictability comes danger, comes chaos.
Viti is – unlike many other people in the story, in this family – sort of like the perfect mafia soldier, right? He’s not seeking higher power. He’s like ‘I want to do what’s best to efficiently run this family business,’ right? So with Sophia, it’s like she’s a problem right now. She’s getting in the way of this machine running the way it should be running. And that’s the way he views her. I think he’s one of the few characters who can take personal out of it right.
I can only imagine what the days shooting being lightly tortured, tied up, having water thrown at you in a mausoleum were like. What conversations did you have with Cristin and Helen Shaver about how you wanted those scenes to go?
We wanted it to go full on. It was tough because it was cold down there. It was underground, and we had planned to shoot it right before the strike in May. Would have been nice time of year to shoot it. Yeah, it ended up hanging over me like a dark cloud the entire strike. That was the one scene that I owed on the entire show. That’s all I owed. We went to shoot it three times in May, and the strike happened. And people picketed, more people picketed the second time, and then we shut down on the third time. So that was that. And then it hung over me like a dark cloud until the fall, when it got chillier, and so I was down there in that basement.
I was just like, alright I’ll just use it but I was f–king freezing. They use warm water. They had heaters that they would roll in between takes. But it was f–king cold and it was a cement floor, and it sucked in boxers and tank tops. It was hard but you use it, and I think it worked.
When Johnny brings up Sofia’s mom Isabella, is he doing that to f–k with her back or is he saying anything to stay alive?
I had to make that real for me. Her mother – in my head, in my backstory, we were really close. I had her out. She was this close to getting out, to maybe Sofia, never going to Arkham, to maybe him never dying. Like we were this close.
You know, sure, he says some things there to try and get out.I have all the connections. I know the money. But it’s all true. I mean, she does need them for a minute.
Do you see him more as the soldier made man or as this smart businessman?
He’s not seeking a higher position powerwise. He’s not. He is the soldier. He’s the perfect soldier. He does what he has to do for the family to run the business as efficiently as possible.
It does seem like Johnny hates Carmine for what happened to Isabella. What was your read on why he’d stay with the family despite all of that a clear disdain for the boss?
Sofia says it right when she says ‘but you stayed, didn’t you? You stayed, even though you knew you stayed. You were his underboss for years.’
And I’m like, ‘yeah.’ That’s the good soldier. That’s the mafia. That’s what you signed up for. There is no out. You don’t get to just go ‘I don’t like what you did to your wife. I’m out.’ You’re dead. Yeah, yeah. I stayed. I did.
He survives the mausoleum but was he all in on Sofia after she let him live?
No. I think he thinks at that moment, what I played in my head was, ‘okay I’m gonna get her here but I’ll still be able to control her some.’ And then when he does that at the table – he’s like ‘okay, okay, that’s not really what you mean.’
I think he believed that he would be able to control her like Okay Sofia, here’s the connections. ‘You can be the boss. You can run things.’ But I’m gonna run s–t and patronizing her the way he does. You got what you deserve, bro.
Was Johnny’s death always scripted as this abrupt thing that happens?
That was always the way it was in the script. Everyone who read it was like ‘this is f–king cool.’ I think the audience is going to be f–king shocked when that happens.
Was killing Johnny when she did – not until he started to speak out against her – an incredibly smart power move in front of the rest of the family? Or, and bias aside, do you think Johnny could have been an asset to her?
I mean me personally, Johnny would have been an asset for sure. But at the same time, it’s the most baller move she could have made. She’s got all the men in front of her. I gathered them all together with my power, right? And then she comes in, and she’s like ‘No, here’s the power, here’s the money, here’s everything. You know, I’m gonna treat you fair. I’m gonna treat you right.’ They’re like ‘Oh yeah, that’s our new leader.’ And pretty simple it was a baller move on her part.
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