TVLine’s Performer of the Year 2024: The Penguin’s Cristin Milioti
To say there was some formidable competition amongst TVLine’s 2024 crop of contenders for Performer of the Year is an understatement. Not only did everyone on that list deliver stellar work this year, but we also had some classic Hollywood royalty amongst the nominees via names like Harrison Ford and Jodie Foster. And yet still, even against all of those other talented actors, Cristin Milioti stood out for her phenomenal performance as Sofia Falcone on The Penguin.
From the moment we met recently released Arkham inmate Sofia, and Milioti delivered the line “I’ve been rehabilitated” — accompanied by a smile and a healthy amount of menace — it was clear she was doing something special with the character. Sofia went on quite the journey throughout The Penguin, and Milioti did an amazing job keeping us connected to the character through her rather extreme highs and lows. The initial implication that she might be a genuine madwoman gave way to revelations about the horrible events she’d gone through in Arkham, framed by her own father for murders she did not commit. Milioti allowed viewers to connect to both the vibrant young woman Sofia once was and the damaged yet cunning woman she became, having gone through hell and coming out of it driven like never before.
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She made the perfect foil for Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobb, a man determined to get what he wanted at all costs, discarding all of his humanity in the process. In a world as dark and violent as The Penguin, Sofia’s quest became the more relatable one, thanks to Milioti helping us understand that while Sofia had been warped by what she’d gone through, becoming an actual killer in the process, there was still a more vulnerable side she was able to tap into.
To be sure, Sofia wasn’t a good person: Even if they’re awful people, gassing and killing nearly your entire family isn’t a sign of someone with a strong sense of morality. But Milioti’s nuanced performance completely sold why Sofia would feel compelled to do such a thing, as she attempted to take control of the crime organization her family had long profited from, even while they callously discarded her.
Milioti’s empathetic work was so effective that it was difficult not to feel crushed when Oswald outwitted Sofia in the finale, dashing her dreams of leaving Gotham City and her past behind forever. The sad yet accepting look on her face, as she prepared for Oswald to kill her, cemented Milioti’s talent, ensuring that even if she wasn’t the title character, Sofia’s story was integral to The Penguin’s success…
…except, as it turned out, Oswald didn’t kill her, after all. And while it’s horrible that Sofia was locked back up in Arkham, taking the fall for everything, it’s also exciting: Hopefully, we’ll get to eventually see more of Milioti’s outstanding work as this character.
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