Cristin Milioti: Mob boss Sofia sees right through 'The Penguin'

The Sopranos, Once and How I Met Your Mother alum Cristin Milioti says her mob boss character Sofia has a complex relationship with the titular villain in The Penguin because they actually have a lot in common.

Wrapping up its first season Sunday on Max, the critically acclaimed DC Comics adaptation takes place after the events in 2022's The Batman.

The eight-episode series follows Oswald "The Penguin" Cobb (Colin Farrell) as he battles other crime-lords, including Sofia, for control of Gotham City's underworld.

"Their dynamic is so complicated because they know each other so well," Milioti, 39, recently told UPI at a round-table interview with reporters at New York Comic Con.

"Not only because of their long history, but because of that intuitive knowing someone. They look dissimilar and they've had such different backgrounds," she said about Sofia and Oswald.

"But they are both two people who have been underestimated and overlooked for such a long time and I think that they're also both extremely smart and because she knew him before [she inherited power from her dead father and brother], she can see right through him and I think she also can smell bullshit a mile away. And he's really good at spinning."

Milioti said all of these elements make for a "cat and mouse thing" that is as fascinating to perform as it is for viewers to watch.

"They really genuinely understand each other and then, also, at one point, really cared about each other, too, which I think also complicates things," she added.

The actress described having a fierce character to play and a great story to tell as "endlessly rewarding."

"i'm such a big Batman fan and dreamed of being a villain since I was a kid, and so that was already rewarding in its way, but you never know how something that you're part of will turn out," she said.

"When we were shooting it, I certainly thought it was special, but I've shot a lot of things that I thought were special and that never found their audience," she added. "There's all different stages of reward. The first was being given the opportunity to do it when it's such a lifelong dream, and then there was making it with such extraordinary artists on every level."

Milioti admitted she was nervous about what the enormous and vocal DC Comics fan-based would think of the show.

"There's always been the terror of how the world will receive it," she said.

"I've really tried to keep my expectations in the basement because I love this show," she added. "To see the reception has been mind-blowing."