Despite the recent controversies surrounding Jada Pinkett Smith, no one can deny she owned every movie and TV role she has ever played. One of her most memorable appearances would be Fish Mooney from Gotham, a very cunning mob leader with an intriguing story.
There were many reports that claimed the actress showed up with a man on a leash with his face stained with lipstick to impress the showrunners and witness how Fish Mooney should act.
Jada Pinkett Smith Sheds Light On Why She Brought A Man On Leash On The Set Of Gotham
During her interview with Today, actress Jada Pinkett Smith admitted Hollywood was no longer interesting for her until Gotham came along:
“I’d gotten kind of bored. I mean, you know, in Hollywood, it’s a lot of ladies. And it’s difficult for the dope, fulfilling roles to get spread out.”
In another conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Pinkett Smith said Fish Mooney saved her from that boredom, and it motivated her to go back to starring on screen:
“Fish Mooney really inspired me to want to act again. For a minute there, I really didn’t know. I wasn’t inspired by the roles that were available for women in general, and then Fish Mooney came along.”
She told ComicBook the real deal about the rumor that she brought a man on a leash on the set of Gotham. A lot of people believed she did it for an audition, but she refuted this and explained:
“We were actually doing a work session about Fish Mooney and trying to find the character. That’s one of the reasons I decided to do something as extreme as that. I was done up, and I had this guy on a leash with no shirt on with ‘liar’ written across his head with red lipstick, and they were like, ‘We are clear.’ It was awesome.”
Pinkett Smith believed it was easier to show who Fish Mooney was than say it verbally, and that is why she arranged that creative session with showrunners Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon.
Jada Pinkett Smith On Playing Gotham’s Fish Mooney
In the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pinkett Smith described what it was like playing a strong villainous woman like Fish Mooney. She stated:
“There was a real woman in there that had experiences that resulted in her creating this character. She has this very hard-core gangster side of her personality that she really took on and learned in order to survive the upbringing she had and the events that happened in her life.”
The actress also explained how the character used her entire body to demonstrate her personality, from the way she speaks down to the clothes she wears:
“She just made herself a weapon, through her sexuality and her ability to commit physical violence. This Fish Mooney persona that she has with her theatrics and clothes, the way she speaks, to keep people on her toes.”
Another thing that drew Pinkett Smith to the role of Fish Mooney and the Gotham series was the mystery that surrounds them. She said the moment she put on her character’s wig, she felt Fish Mooney was there, and she was immediately transformed.
