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Fox continues with Wrath of the Villains in Season 2 of Gotham. In an exclusive interview with MStars News, actor Sean Pertwee talks about playing Bruce Wayne's iconic butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in the Batman prequel and adapting DC Comics sidekick from the popular comic books and animated series.
In our previous recap, Jim's plan of using Nora as bait backfired on him when Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin) became involved. Elsewhere, Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) continued his search for Matches Malone. After his cure failed to save Nora, Victor committed suicide and froze himself to death. While Leslie and Jim's relationship is on the rocks, Mr. Freeze rose from the dead as Strange's latest experiment. Though Alfred is working with his young master, Bruce asked for Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova)'s help to get him a loaded gun.
Before an all-new episode, Mad Grey Dawn, on Monday, March 21 at 8pm, the Gotham actor discusses his Earth-One take on Alfred, the injuries he received due to the action sequences, and an unexpected rematch.
MStars News: Tell me about Alfred's mindset as he joined Bruce Wayne to solve the Wayne murders.
Sean Pertwee: Well, it sort of continues with his ten-year relationship with master Bruce. They continue to sort of knock heads, like I suppose any father/parental relationship with a teenage son. They made these pacts. He (Bruce) made these oaths to Alfred that he would listen to him and accept his judgment, which of course he doesn't.
So you'll see the continuation of young master Bruce trying to discover the course. They definitely come back together again.
MS: Tell me about these action sequences we see Alfred getting into.
SP: I guess the reason I've got red eyes is I got stabbed in the eye. Literally the other day, I was defending master Bruce. Because of his refusal to listen to his guardian, he gets half of the most awful sh*ts. [Laughs] I get in quite a few altercations.
You see a lot more of badass Alfred actually. You see a lot more of what he's capable of physically, which is been a lot of fun. Because we've never actually seen an Alfred in that light before; doing things so physical. So its been fun!
In our recent recap, Alfred's fight with The Mutants led him straight to the hospital, Bruce went solo on his quest for vengeance. After a run-in with Jerry (Lori Petty), Bruce stood face-to-face with Matches Malone (Michael Bowen), the hit-man who killed his parents. Knowing he isn't the monster that he imagined, Bruce refused to pull the trigger and shoot him. After Malone's suicide, Bruce went into hiding with Selina as he searches for some kind of meaning in Gotham City.
MS: Because Alfred is such an iconic character in the comic books, was there research behind the role?
SP: Well, I tried to do because this isn't a real imagining of the character, it's a redefining. So to be honest, when I first got the job, when I first got to see Bruno [Heller], it was a redefining. It was giving them a history that has never really been seen in its 76 years actually of mythology, which I try to stay away from. So we had to give it all out for its own heartbeats.
MS: Alfred tends to be a strong and tougher presence in Bruce's life.
SP: At first, those are the gates of disapproval for the fan boys and fan girls because they are sort of horrified. They never heard of Alfred be sort of brisk, with young master Bruce. The first line is, "Get your bloody ass out of that thing!" And people were horrified! But Bruno is absolutely right.
MS: The relationship between Bruce and Alfred has changed between first and second season.
SP: I think this is how the city and how their relationship molds him to become what he later becomes, from his sensibilities to his sense of justice; all of those things. And people start to accept him and got behind my interpretation, which I'm very proud of. And its because when you see Alfred's past come to visit, he could have gone either way. He could have gone into the dark side. And its very evident that people suddenly then realize the importance of Alfred as a character, as a physical character, the Earth-One version of this person.
MS: What I love about your performance is how Alfred has to be the surrogate father figure, his mentor, and trainer.
SP: After we started shooting, I went back to find nuggets of information like my middle name, Pennyworth. Because he was in the military, you have to be able to do certainly different aspects. So it's a great honor to be allowed to have these things you have never seen in him, to be physical, to be floored. Not to be just the dusty idiot that serves the gentlemen and actually be a man that actually influenced him, and the man who loved him.
MS: How is Alfred dealing with the beating he took from Theo Galavan's sister, Tabitha aka Tigress (Jessica Lucas)?
SP: Excuse me! [Laughs] I think the jury is out on that one! She cheated! Yeah, it was a good fight! You'll see a lot more of that. We did a huge one the other day, and a big altercation, and you'll see a lot more of that.
Don't forget to check out our Gotham interviews with BD Wong (Dr. Hugo Strange), David Mazouz (Bruce Wayne), and Camren Bicondova (Selina Kyle).
Season 2 of Gotham continues on Fox Mondays at 8pm. Gotham has been renewed for Season 3.
