VARIETY Cover: Cristin Milioti Looks Back on THE PENGUIN, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE SOPRANOS and More

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In a new Extra Edition cover story for VARIETY, actor Cristin Milioti speaks with Senior Entertainment Writer Adam B. Vary about her iconic roles in “The Penguin,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “30 Rock,” and more. 

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On “The Penguin”: Viewers first meet Milioti’s Sofia Falcone after she’s done time in Arkham Asylum, framed by her own father for murders she didn’t commit, and bent on vengeance against the family that abandoned her.

“I begin with a lot of anxiety over the possibility that I would be unable to meet the role or the project or the writing. I can get in a little bit of a tailspin. It’s an imposter syndrome thing, I think. I love this so much that I think I can get a little mired in my own expectations of what I hope I’m able to do. Certainly, the pressure was huge because it’s Batman and this massive production, but that started to melt away after a while. By the end, I had a deep understanding of this person. That’s the blessing of long form. We shot ‘Palm Springs’ in 21 days. So, if I spent the first eight days of that worried, that’s a lot of it. Whereas ‘Penguin’ was eight months. So, you’re able to deepen just because you get to know each other. I was so in love with her from the moment we started. Obviously, I don’t condone her actions, but the fantasy of getting to seek revenge on everyone who’s hurt you, it’s so human. It felt incredible to play, and it has been really meaningful to interact with people who also felt like that. Also, I have really been wanting to play a role like that for a really long time. So, I knew how lucky I was.”

On fans’ disappointment at the decision to kill off her character at the end of “How I Met Your Mother”: “Yeah, they didn’t like that. I think it’s indicative of people caring. It was nice, because I’m not in it that much. Certainly, people’s love for that character was a huge compliment, but that’s also a testament to what they set up. I also think finales are hard. I definitely understand why people were upset, but I also admire them for sticking to their original plan.”

On dropping out of college once she was cast on “The Sopranos”: Director Steve Buscemi cast Milioti in her first on-screen role, as a mob boss’ daughter on Season 6.

“I hadn’t seen it because we couldn’t afford HBO. I was already really nervous just because that was such a big set, and I didn’t know how sets worked. If I’d known how significant that show is, I would’ve been a mess. Steve Buscemi was so kind. It can be really easy to get lost in the shuffle, and he treated me like I was just as important as someone who’d been on the show for years. I was on the verge of dropping out of college. I was accruing debt and frustrated and excitable and eager. I got that job and then was like, ‘OK, I can drop out.’”

On the surprising intimacy of “The Wolf of Wall Street” set: “If I thought ‘The Sopranos’ set was big…You’re shutting down New York City streets and my first day on the set, the paparazzi were at the camera, next to A cam. It was really intense for the first 10 or 15 minutes, and then it just became more noise. It was happening all the time. But it’s weird. There was a lot of improv on that film. You could go in one of 10,000 directions, and I think it took me a minute to get comfortable with that. I wish I’d been able to get out of my own way sooner, because once I relaxed, it was such an intimate experience. [Scorsese] loves actors. He’s such a generous and supportive presence and laughs a lot and is so joyful, even though his films can be so intense.”

On “30 Rock”: “That remains one of my favorite roles that I’ve ever gotten to play. I went in on that audition with that voice and was like, ‘Oh, I know what to do here.’ I was obsessed with that show. That experience was a fever dream of joy because I knew all of those sets inside and out. Tina was such a huge hero of mine. She also could not have been more welcoming. The blonde wig that I’m wearing is the same wig that Will Forte wears as Jenna’s boyfriend—I remember being really jazzed about that.”

[Photo Credit: Dan Doperalski for Variety Magazine]

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