If you’ve been watching Gotham on FOX (or Channel 5 in the U.K.) then you’ll already be familiar with Anthony Carrigan’s short but terrifying portrayal as the psycho henchmen of Don Carmine Falcone Victor Zsasz. Carrigan debuted his version of the murderous Zsasz in an episode called “Penguin’s Umbrella”. In an exclusive interview with Batman-News Carrigan talks about his preparation for the role and how much of a Batman fan he was growing up.

When asked if he read any specific comics in preparation for the role Carrigan said:

“Yeah, I did. I went to certain comic book stores. I had to rely on the internet for some of the things because a lot of those comic books are hard to find. Just trusting the illustrations of the comic books and seeing what I can gain from that. And also just the way in which he was portrayed…kind of seeing what made this guy tick. That definitely was really helpful.”

Carrigan went to explain how he researched and built the character:

“I did my research in terms of his backstory and to a certain extent I allowed it to inform my performance. Every incarnation of the Batman legacy is different, so it’s going to come with different storylines and different character development. There is a lot that’s up to the imagination. There were certain things that I could take from the comic books, that I could really hold on to. I mean the guy used to have his own crime syndicate. Clearly he’s slick, he knows how to get what he wants, and people are afraid of him. Even with just those three things, I could begin to build the character.”

Even though Victor Zsasz isn’t a major Batman villain Carrigan was eager not to disappoint the die-hard fans:

“I really want to do my best to honor the fans and how cool this character actually is. How much people really love him is a real inspiration actually to wanting to make him really believable, and fun to watch, and cool. So yes, I’ve definitely been working really hard to try and just find the most genuine, really gritty, but truthful character that I can possibly muster up.”

Carrigan also played villain Kyle Nimbus aka The Mist on CW’s The Flash prior to appearing in Gotham and he admits that although Nimbus and Zsasz are very different characters, it helped him to get into bad-guy mode:

“Kyle Nimbus is much more of a bruiser and a thug, and a lot angrier. So that was really fun to just cultivate in my body language and in the dialogue. That was really fun to play with. But in a sense Victor is just a much different character. He has different personality traits and different things that make him really, really creepy.”

Zsasz will return to Gotham on Monday 19th and admitted that “it’s really cool to be a part of that franchise now. It’s cool to be part of that storyline and that legacy. I’m thrilled about it…I loved superheroes growing up! I was a huge, huge DC fan. Huge Marvel fan as well. Honestly, Batman was the first thing that I was really drawn to.”

Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter