Jada Pinkett Smith on Fish Mooney's Many Faces: "You've Seen the Ruthless — Now You're Going to See Some Heart"

Jada Pinkett Smith said it plainly: "You've seen the ruthless — now you're going to see some heart. Fish decided to be a criminal instead of a doctor, but I …" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On January 28, 2015, Jada Pinkett Smith joined a FOX press call ahead of the February 2nd episode of Gotham on FOX. Fish Mooney — a crime boss original to the series, not drawn from the comics — had become one of the show's most talked-about characters. Jada discussed the character's shifting accents, the creative session where she brought a man on a leash, the wardrobe she loved, and what viewers could expect in the back half of Season 1.

You've seen the ruthless — now you're going to see some heart. Fish decided to be a criminal instead of a doctor, but I really love her and I love what she's becoming.

Fish Mooney has an awesome wardrobe. Do you have any input on that creative process?

I actually do. Our fantastic costume designer usually just comes to me and says, "What do you think about these fabrics? What do you think about this idea?" I pretty much told Lisa to just do whatever she feels because she's such a fantastic artist, so we usually just talk about shape and color.

What's your favorite outfit been so far this season?

I think it would probably have to be the one I wore when I went to see Maroni about returning Penguin to me — the first time I realized that Penguin was alive. It was this beautiful kind of antique teal fabric, but yet it had this kind of punk rock edge to it with the trim, which was this kind of spiked teal leather. I just thought it was a beautiful mixture of the old and the new. Even with the shape of it — it was high waisted, but yet it had this kind of warrior-esque, but quite feminine top. It was really quite beautiful. Not that comfortable to wear, but beautiful.

What was it like preparing for this role? Your character was created for this show — there wasn't much reference material to draw from.

That was one of the reasons why the role was so interesting to me — Bruno really wanted a partner in creating this Fish Mooney character. I love female gangsters. I think they're really interesting characters and interesting people. There's one, Griselda Blanco, who I had studied, and I also love the character from Sunset Boulevard. I did kind of a mish-mosh of those two. I really wanted her to be grounded, but also have quite a flair.

What was it that you added to Fish that may not have been originally scripted?

Some of her little added attitude phrases, and just a lot of her mannerisms. I have a lot of room on set just because Bruno and the writers know that we're still trying to find the voice of this character, so I have a lot of room to improv at times. That's been fun — just adding those little flavors that I think make Fish Mooney Fish.

A lot of people noticed a change in your accent — sometimes sounding like Eartha Kitt, sometimes the accent was dropped. Is this a conscious decision, playing Fish Mooney the thug pretending to be Fish Mooney the sophisticated gangster?

You will see, especially in the upcoming shows, the many faces of Fish Mooney. This is a woman who, because of her background and because of who she really is, has really taken it upon herself to do a lot of cover-up. You have this kind of sophisticated Fish — what she considers to be sophisticated, what a sophisticated woman sounds like. But then there are times when she loses her cool and you kind of see her original essence, which can get a little gutter. Then sometimes, when she has to be influential with men, you'll see her put on her little sexy kitten voice. This is a woman who has created all of these different masks to fit different times, just depending on what she's trying to do at that particular point. She just does it in a more extreme way.

What sort of acting challenges have you found in making a character that people love to hate, but at the same time root for?

I love how colorful Fish can be, but at the same time you still want her to be relatable. You still want people to be able to look at this woman and be able to relate to her. In this world of Gotham, finding where you need to be emotionally — how grounded you need to be in a scene, or how far you can actually go with the color of Fish Mooney — that's always a see-saw. It's always trying to find that balance. Keeping that flair, but at the same time keeping her grounded and real. That can be really challenging.

How would you describe Fish's relationship with Penguin, and what have you enjoyed most seeing that relationship develop?

I think she saw Penguin as one of her adopted orphans. Somebody that she kind of took off the street and helped them become something. So I think she felt deeply betrayed by Penguin. It will be interesting to see where their relationship goes from here. Right now, they're not getting along too well. But it will be interesting to see where it goes.

I've read that when you decided to take the role, you came into a work session with a man on a leash and "liar" written across his forehead. What gave you the instinct to show them what Fish Mooney embodied that way?

It wasn't for an audition — it had already been decided that I would play Fish. We were doing a work session about the character and trying to find her, and I felt like instead of talking about it, just show it. From the psychology I had put together about who I thought Fish was, that was something better to show than to explain verbally. So I came in with the guy on the leash — I was in a gown, done up, and I had this guy with no shirt on, with "liar" written across his forehead in red lipstick. They were like, "We are clear." It was a very short session to say the least.

You're known for playing strong characters. Which would you say is your favorite, and is there a character you'd love to play in the future?

I love playing Fish Mooney. I think you're going to see a lot more color from Fish in the next episodes — a lot more vulnerability, a lot more of a human side. I see Fish Mooney as kind of an extreme version of a woman. A woman who wears many faces. A woman who is strong, but yet afraid. You've seen the ruthless — now you're going to see some heart. As for the future, there's a character coming up in Magic Mike that I'm really happy about, that is totally different from anything I've done thus far. From the response we've been getting, I'm really happy in how that turned out.

Was there a particular scene or episode where you felt like you really clicked with Fish and just became her?

Funny enough, it really felt like as soon as I put on that wig, Fish is there. Because I put on that wig and her gear, because it's so specifically her, it is an immediate transformation. The first day, as soon as I put on that wig and that dress, I just felt like, "Oh, there she is," and every time I do it she just arrives. It's a really beautiful thing to have as an actress. You just don't have to work hard for it, and for that I'm grateful. That wig, and those heels, and the nails really conjure her.

Gotham Season 1 continued Monday, February 2nd at 8/7c on FOX.

For more upcoming events across South Florida, visit the Premier Guide Miami Events Calendar .