Operatic in its shadowy cinematic approach and dark storytelling, the FOX show Gotham is currently in its fifth and final season. To highlight the comic book crime drama and put all the heroes and villains in the spotlight, FOX TV presented an interview panel for the Television Critics Association’s winter 2019 press tour.
Gotham has David Mazouz growing up as Bruce Wayne /Batman (photos courtesy of Fox)
At the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena on February 6, the stars and creative team gathered to talk about the show’s impact on them. On hand were David Mazouz who plays Bruce Wayne; Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon; Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock; Erin Richards as Barbara Kean; Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle; Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma; Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin; and Cameron Monaghan as Jeremiah Valeska starting the evolution of The Joker; plus executive producers /showrunners John Stephens and director Danny Cannon.
The final season of Gotham is subtitled “The Legend of the Dark Knight,” and viewers can tune in to see the culmination of Bruce Wayne’s five season arc to become Batman. Overwhelmed by the over-the-top evildoers, the tragic boy finally faces life as the crime-fighting caped crusader.
Giving the series its heart is David Mazouz in the role of young Bruce Wayne. Mazouz turns 18 on February 19th and his maturity as a performer belies his age. The powerhouse role is embodied by David who runs the spectrum of emotions.
Mazouz’s acting growth went from brilliantly underplaying Kiefer Sutherland’s autistic child in the FOX series Touch when he was 12, to starring in Gotham. He has personally grown up along with his young Bruce Wayne soon-to-be Batman character.
David was effuse with his praise about his experience and said, “It’s been a long journey. I think everybody can probably agree that their most formative years are their teenage years, and I’ve spent the entirety of mine on this show surrounded by amazing people. I’m so grateful for it. It’s funny, because I’m back in school now fulltime, which I haven’t really done since seventh grade, and I’m ridiculously bored.”
He explained, “I used to complain that I was so busy I wasn’t getting enough sleep. But I was doing what I love. School’s not boring. I like school, but I’m very grateful for the years that I think will shape me most. When I’m an adult and I look back on my life, I think I’m going to say that these years defined who I am as a person. At the risk of sounding cliche, I’m grateful that those years were spent around such amazing role models, honestly.”
What qualities does Mazouz share with Bruce Wayne, and what defines him as a person? David was eager to reveal, “The one thing I learned from Bruce Wayne— which I think is the best message that anybody could possibly take to their heart— is that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. The story that Gotham is trying to tell is that Bruce starts out as just a rich boy in an alley who has something bad happen to him, and he turns that into something really phenomenal.”
He added, “The whole show has this theme where the characters are dealt a bad hand and we see how they deal with it. Penguin is dealt a bad hand at the beginning, and he turns that fear and rage into what he says—‘I was tormented, so I want other people to know how I felt.’ But Bruce does the opposite. He says—‘I was tormented. Something really bad happened to me, and I want nobody else to know what that feels like. I want to protect other people.’ And his will power turns his completely human, nothing-special self into a superhero. That’s something that I have taken to heart. Anytime I have a challenge, I say to myself, ‘Bruce could do it.’ I swear, I do it all the time.”
Gotham’s farewell season airs Thursday nights on FOX, and wraps up on April 25th. Tune in.
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