Showrunner Lauren LeFranc Reveals the Inspiration Behind Sofia Falcone’s Arkham Story in ‘The Penguin’

The Penguin is one of the best comic book shows in recent years. If the series maintains its current quality, it will undoubtedly be regarded as one of the greatest superhero shows of all time. Currently airing on HBO, four out of eight episodes have been released as of this writing.

While Colin Farrell’s charismatic portrayal of The Penguin is the show’s centerpiece, we’ve noted multiple times that Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone has emerged as a breakout character and a true scene-stealer.

Her backstory was further developed in Episode 4, “Cent’anni,” which garnered widespread acclaim from both critics and fans, earning the title of the best episode so far. In a recent interview, showrunner Lauren LeFranc revealed the real-life inspiration behind Sofia’s story, and that’s what we’ll be discussing in this article.

While The Penguin draws inspiration from various comic books, showrunner Lauren LeFranc shared that Matt Reeves, who oversees the show within his Batman universe, encouraged her to read the comics but develop her own story.

She stated, “Matt never wanted to do a straightforward adaptation of a comic book. Those stories are fantastic, but I want to create new narratives and new canon.”

In her IndieWire interview, LeFranc discusses what inspired her for Sofia Falcone’s story. Initially, it may seem like a typical comic storyline, but Episode 4 reveals a significant twist: Sofia is not really the Hangman.

This means her imprisonment in Arkham was unjust, and she became a victim of a larger plot—something that is intricately explained in the series. LeFranc revealed that Sofia’s Arkham storyline was actually inspired by a real-life incident that occurred in the United States.

Rosemary was put in a mental institution and given a lobotomy, and then her story ended, her narrative never was told beyond that, which I always found fascinating and tragic and terrible. With the history of mental institutions, usually someone would say a woman’s ‘hysterical,’ and we don’t really know what that equates to, and then they would put her away.

So I asked Matt early on, ‘I would like to have Sofia come from Arkham State Hospital,’ and he was on board, which I’m so grateful for because Matt has the ability to say absolutely not, and instead he leaned into it.

Source: IndieWire

The Rosemary in question is Rosemary Kennedy, sister to John F., Robert, and Ted Kennedy. She was reportedly mentally ill and was subjected to a lobotomy by her father at just 23 years old.

Although she survived and lived until 86, she never regained the ability to speak coherently and faced numerous physical challenges, including a limp and a palsy-like arm.

For many years, her lobotomy was kept secret from the public. While her surviving family members gradually reintegrated her into their lives after their father’s death, her story remains a tragic chapter in the Kennedy family’s history, illustrating the inspiration behind Sofia’s narrative.

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