GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie on Directing (Again)

After more than 15 years working in television, Ben McKenzie made his directorial debut with a 2017 GOTHAM episode. (The May 1 hour, “These Delicate and Dark Obsessions.”)

Now, McKenzie—who also stars on the series as Captain Jim Gordon—steps behind the camera again with Thursday’s deliciously twisted installment, “One Of My Three Soups.” In the episode, notable inmates from Arkham Asylum—including Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) and Tetch/the Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel)—break free and cause deadly mayhem in Gotham.

The first time McKenzie directed, “I was worried about screwing it up,” he told reporters. “I was very conservative. My goal was to be able to do it again. And look, if you’re the lead of the show and you’re directing, they tend to give you a lot of rope there. They’re probably going to bring you back—but you didn’t want to mess it up.”

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie on the Threat of Barbara

GOTHAM season 2 will pit Jim Gordon up against, arguably, his most dangerous foe: his ex-fiancée, Barbara.

Earlier in the series, it seemed like Jim and Barbara were set to follow their comics counterparts: marriage, and perhaps a child. (And likely a divorce.) But with Barbara snapping after her encounter with the Ogre at the end of season 1 — and her subsequent murder of her parents, plus attack on Jim’s new girlfriend, Leslie — the show has firmly deviated from the comics.

“He will deal with her gingerly, with great care,” GOTHAM star Ben McKenzie (Jim) told reporters at Comic-Con. “She’s the closest person [to him] that has gone full-on bad guy…and that doesn’t go away; she doesn’t get less crazy as we go into season 2….[and] when she is that personally invested in destroying him, specifically, and knows him better than anyone, what is she willing to do to get what she wants? Having a psycho ex-girlfriend is scary.”

Check out what else McKenzie told reporters…

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GOTHAM Season 2: The Cast and Producers Share Their Hopes

The first season of GOTHAM introduced viewers to the origins of many of the vital characters of the Batman universe, but with so much to go before they end up in wholly familiar territory, there’s a lot of room for the show to explore.

“We also want to surprise people,” GOTHAM star Ben McKenzie (Jim) shared in the video below. “They think they know this mythology, they think they understand how everything came to be. We should surprise them every single episode.”

Check out what else McKenzie, Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin), David Mazouz (Bruce), and Camren Bicondova (Selina), as well as executive producers Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon had to say about their GOTHAM season 2 hopes…

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GOTHAM Finale Post-Mortem: Cast, Producers on Fish’s Fate, Barbara’s Break, Bruce’s Discovery, and More

[Warning: this post contains spoilers for GOTHAM’s season 1 finale.]

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GOTHAM Cast and Producers Tease the ‘Super Exciting’ Season 1 Finale

GOTHAM’s first season is coming to an end tonight, and with a war raging on, causalities are going to build up.

“Not everyone is going to survive the finale,” GOTHAM executive producer John Stephens teased in the video interview below. “Especially for people versed in the Batman canon: not everyone you think is going to survive — because of what things they do later — is actually going to survive. Which I think is super exciting.”

Elsewhere in the final hour, Fish makes a new friend, Jim has drama in his work and personal life, and Bruce makes a key discovery.

GOTHAM stars Ben McKenzie (Jim), Jada Pinkett Smith (Fish), Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin), David Mazouz (Bruce), Camren Bicondova (Selina), and Cory Michael Smith (Nygma), as well as executive producers Bruno Heller, Danny Cannon, and Stephens, previewed what’s in store in the show’s final season 1 hour… Read more

GOTHAM: Cast, EP Tease the Ogre and ‘Crazy’ Final Season 1 Episodes

GOTHAM has been off the air for over a month, but the Fox series returns tonight with the final four episodes of the show’s first season in a row.

In tonight’s hour, Jim and Harvey look into the case of the Ogre, a serial killer who targets young women…and those closest to the people who investigate the killings.

At WonderCon, GOTHAM executive producer John Stephens, and series stars Ben McKenzie (Jim), Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald/Penguin), and Cory Michael Smith (Nygma) spoke with reporters about what’s in store…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie Teases Scarecrow, Assesses the Impact of the Villains on Gordon

GOTHAM has already introduced a good number of characters from the BATMAN universe, and starting on Monday, February 2nd (and continuing on Monday, February 9th), the origins of Scarecrow will start to unravel.

Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon) teased a little bit of what to expect from “The Fearsome Dr. Crane” and “The Scarecrow,” and assessed the impact all of these villains are having on Jim…

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GOTHAM’s Ben McKenzie: ‘The New Jim is Not Above Using People Like Penguin to Get What He Wants’

GOTHAM’s Jim Gordon is approaching the world as a new man.

Originally, Jim thought he could clean up the streets of Gotham while keeping his nose clean. But after multiple professional blows (and his personal life falling apart after his fiancee, Barbara, left him), Jim is at the point where he’s aware he may have to cross some lines in order to properly do his job. And that shift will become apparent in the wake of the Fish/Falcone war.

“Jim knows enough not to get too involved in the turf war…that being said, he has a relationship with Penguin from the beginning of the show that’s complicated and contentious, but useful,” Ben McKenzie (Jim) explains in the video interview below. “So he will use Penguin for the things Penguin can be good at: influence people, getting information, coercing information out of people. And for Penguin, on his side, he flatters himself that Jim is his friend. So it’s a really fun, bizarre, dynamic between the two of them.”

And, McKenzie warns, “the new Jim is not above using people like Penguin to get what he wants.”

Check out more from McKenzie, including his take on the fractured Barbara/Jim relationship, the “powerful” connection with Dr. Thompkins, and more…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, and Robin Lord Taylor on the Early Renewal, Tease ‘What The Little Bird Told Him’

GOTHAM scored an early renewal over the weekend at Fox’s winter TCA session, and while the freshman hit was never really in danger, the show’s stars were delighted to get the official word they’d be returning for a second season.

I sat down with GOTHAM stars Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon), Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock), and Robin Lord Taylor (Penguin) to talk about getting the season 2 pick-up early, as well as what’s in store for tonight’s, “What The Little Bird Told Him”…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, and Robin Lord Taylor on the Penguin’s Return to Gotham

At the end of the GOTHAM pilot, Jim Gordon seemingly killed Oswald…but Gordon, Oswald, and the viewers know that Gordon couldn’t go through with it and only warned the man never to return before he pushed Oswald into the river.

But of course, Oswald couldn’t stay away from Gotham.

So what will happen when Harvey Bullock finds out Gordon disobeyed him? And how long can Oswald stay away from the people he knows in Gotham? Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon), Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock), and Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald) weighed in…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie on the Waynes’ Murder Investigation, Jim’s Relationship with Selina Kyle, and More

GOTHAM viewers got their first taste of Jim Gordon in the pilot, and the man has bitten off quite possibly more than he can chew: Gordon promised Bruce Wayne that he’d find out who killed the young man’s parents.

But there is one person who saw what went down with the Waynes’ murder: Selina Kyle.

I spoke with GOTHAM star Ben McKenzie about Jim’s relationship with Selina, the weight of his promise to Bruce, doing those action scenes, and more…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue on Their On-Screen Partnership, Cases, and More

We’re just a few days away from GOTHAM’s premiere, and one of the dynamics I’m so excited for you guys to see (and for the show to explore further) is the partnership between Ben McKenzie’s Jim Gordon and Donal Logue’s Harvey Bullock. (The two characters have quite an interesting — and reluctant — working relationship. It’s delicious.)

I sat down with McKenzie and Logue to talk about their characters’ relationship, playing cops on-screen (again), how cases will be balanced in GOTHAM, and more…

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Fox Mondays: Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Ben McKenzie, and Donal Logue on the GOTHAM-SLEEPY HOLLOW Pairing

Mondays on Fox are shaping up to be quite the one-two punch: between GOTHAM (which had an excellent pilot) and SLEEPY HOLLOW (one of the best shows of last season), there are very few blocks of television that have me this excited.

And the actors leading up the shows are digging the pairing, too. Check out what SLEEPY HOLLOW stars Tom Mison (Ichabod) and Nicole Beharie (Abbie) and GOTHAM stars Ben McKenzie (Jim) and Donal Logue (Harvey) had to say about the new Fox Mondays…

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GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie and Cory Michael Smith on the Premiere Anticipation

Fox has been good about teasing GOTHAM — which follows a young James Gordon and the characters from the Batman universe in the aftermath of the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents — for almost six months, but now we’re very, very close (less than two weeks!) to the series’ official debut.

And if fans are a little bit antsy waiting for the show to premiere, they aren’t alone: the actors are as excited (and a little bit nervous!) for it to finally air as you are.

Need proof? See what GOTHAM stars Ben McKenzie (James Gordon) and Cory Michael Smith (Edward Nygma, AKA the future Riddler) had to say about being so close to premiere…

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GOTHAM: Watch THE LEGEND REBORN Preview Special Now!

Fox is going all out to promote their new fall drama, GOTHAM, and one of the latest projects they’ve cooked up is a preview special about the world the series will exist in.

Check out the 20-plus minute preview, which includes footage from the series, and interviews with GOTHAM creator Bruno Heller, director Danny Cannon, and series star Ben McKenzie (James Gordon)…

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