| Sydney Bucksbaum 17. November 2014 – 09:30
Gotham isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to introducing fan-favorite DC Comics characters.
The Fox prequel series has already seen the likes of young Bruce Wayne, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, the Penguin, and so many others in just eight episodes, but fans are really going to geek out when episode nine airs tonight. Get ready to meet Harvey Dent (Nicholas D’Agosto), aka the coin-tossing, hideously-scarred, future villain Two-Face!
“People seem to be very excited and that’s obviously very rewarding,” D’Agosto told E! News. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
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But the biggest question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Gotham viewers will get to see Harvey transform from a good guy to the villain we all know he’ll become in the Batman comics.
“In addition to me flipping the coin, there are going to be some personality traits that come out and you’ll see this part of Harvey Dent that simmers under the surface,” D’Agosto said. “That foreshadows the potential he has to become Two-Face. In my research I came across a lot of iterations of Harvey Dent, and a lot of them talked about Harvey being abused by his father psychologically and physically as a kid so that motivates him to eradicate that kind of abuse in Gotham. But it also created in him this edge, this psychotic, psychological imbalance that is the basis for him to become something like Two-Face.”
However, when viewers meet the character he is going to be an ally to Det. Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie).
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“He is going to be an ally but Jim Gordon is such a morally wholesome, morally correct character that I don’t think there’s anyone else like him,” D’Agosto said. “Harvey Dent, although he is a sympathetic guy who does want to change Gotham and is trying to do the right thing, he has a bit more of a politician’s mind. He’s willing to get his hands dirty to get the right outcome. I think Jim is going to raise his eyebrows at that, but in the end I think these two will come out as they’re supposed to be, which is allies in this fight on crime. And Gotham really needs another good guy fighting for the city. Of course, that’s before the accident that turns me into Two-Face.”
D’Agosto loved the way he gets to introduce Harvey on Gotham.
“My first scene has already been leaked, since it was shown during Sleepy Hollow‘s episode last Monday,” D’Agosto said. “Harvey is talking to a young kid who has done something wrong and I’m trying to get into his head and challenge him and maybe scare him a little bit. You’ll see me flipping the coin! Then Jim Gordon and Montoya [Victoria Cartagena] and Allen [Andrew Steward-Jones] walk in and that will transition into the scene that will begin the arc of my character’s two-episode run.”
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Two episodes?! Surely Harvey’s arc on the show is longer than that, right?
“Oh yeah,” D’Agosto agreed. “I think right now it’s just introducing Harvey. There is so much to introduce on the show. There are so many of us that they need to start coloring the world with that I’m just coming in with a strong entrance. I will be back before the end of the season. And then should we be lucky enough for the show to continue on for a season two, which I of course hope it does, then I would become a regular on the show for season two. There’s a lot out there for Harvey Dent but right now it’s just a strong first impression.”
D’Agosto credits the “strong first impression” to Harvey’s ambition, which is coming from a good place but may manifest into something negative.
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“He has the same goal as Jim but he might be a bit more ambitious,” he said. “This version of Harvey really wants influence so he can do what he wants to do. Gordon doesn’t think in those terms. He’ll be the commissioner one day but he’s not thinking, ‘I want to be the commissioner one day.’ He’s just trying to do the best he can as a good cop. But Harvey thinks in more of a riding-the-ranks kind of way. The more influence he has, the more good he can do, or at least that’s how he thinks.”
When it comes to comparing Gotham‘s version of Harvey Dent to the one in the comics or the recent Dark Knight movie trilogy, D’Agosto promises his portrayal will offer something new to the iconic character.
“The difference is in the writing,” he said. “What they’ve asked this Harvey to be is young. He’s the assistant district attorney. It’s hard to compare him to these other versions of older Harvey Dent who is a much bigger political influence in Gotham. Past versions have played that up more than others. Aaron Eckhart’s role was very sympathetic, pure-hearted Harvey who really only wanted the best and that didn’t foreshadow what he would become. My version will show the deep ambition of young Harvey Dent and that will bring forth these other character traits that will show who I’m going to become. There’s more danger to this Harvey than past ones have had.”
Gotham airs Mondays at 8 pm on Fox.
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