Reminding us all what comes from making assumptions, FOX’s “Gotham” has cast vicious mobster Fish Mooney and perhaps the gender-ambiguous name should have been a tip-off.
Jada Pinkett Smith has landed the key adversarial role as hot-headed gangster and nightclub owner Fish Mooney in “Gotham,” the Batman origin story from Warner Bros. TV. And if you expected somebody different to be running the Gotham criminal underground, well that’s just because of your own preconceived issues, since Fish isn’t a character from within the DC Comics canon.
The character description teases that Fish Mooney has “the street smarts and almost extra-sensory abilities to read people like an open book.” Perhaps that helps make up for the fact that she is, apparently, roughly 5’0″. Mooney is still described as “imposing.”
“Gotham” was written by Bruno Heller and it has already received a series order from FOX. Danny Cannon is directing the pilot.
We’re still awaiting the casting of the Young Bruce Wayne, but the real “Gotham” focus will be on Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), as he rises through the ranks to eventually become Commissioner Gordon.
In addition to McKenzie, the “Gotham” cast includes Donal Logue as Gordon’s partner Harvey Bullock, Zabryna Guevara as his boss Captain Essen, Erin Richards as Gordon’s fiance Barbara Kean, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot.
When the Cobblepot character was cast, the description noted that he was a low-level sociopath in the employ of Mooney. Now we know the kind of person it takes to control the future Penguin. [I won’t make a joke about how Pinkett Smith has previous experience working with penguins from the “Madagascar” movies. Oops. Too late.]
Pinkett Smith’s action credentials are in good shape thanks to roles in “Set It Off” and the “Matrix” sequels. Her TV credits include “Hawthorne” on TNT, as well as “A Different World.” She’s currently an executive producer on “The Queen Latifah Show,” as well as a producer on the upcoming “Annie.”
[Even though FOX has really failed to All-“O.C.” with the “Gotham” cast, but we continue to say Mischa Barton as Barbara Kean, Melinda Clarke as Captain Essen, Alan Dale as Alfred, Peter Gallagher as Bullock and Taylor Handley as The Penguin. And for Fish Mooney? Well, if FOX and WBTV think Jada Pinkett Smith is imposing, wait’ll they get a load of 5’1″ Rachel Bilson! If you had trouble with a doctor doctoring in formal shorts, you’ll go ape over a mobster in culattes. ]
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