Back in June, Fox announced that it was recasting the role of Ivy Pepper / Poison Ivy for the third season of Gotham, with Maggie Geha (Ted 2) taking over the role played by Clare Foley in the first two seasons.
In the show, Ivy will undergo her sudden aging thanks to one of Hugo Strange’s monstrous creations (which we’ll see in Monday’s upcoming second episode ‘Burn the Witch’ – check out a promo here). In an interview with THR, executive producer Ken Woodruff has revealed the behind-the-scenes reason for the change, as they wanted to bring in a more mature and seductive version of the character.
“We made the change for two reasons,” said Woodruff. “The character Ivy in the comics, one of her greatest powers is the power of seduction. Everyone was much more comfortable with that with an older actress as opposed to a teenager. We want to explore that classic, canonical power of Ivy. And we didn’t just make her older with that attack. When she’s changed and transformed, there’s a real character change as well. She’ll still have some of the same traits, but she’ll be much darker, more manipulative than the Ivy we’ve seen so far. There’s a more evil quality to her as well. It’s more than just physical.”
SEE ALSO: Gotham Season 3 Episode 1 Review – ‘Better To Reign In Hell…’
Considering Poison Ivy has always been portrayed as a seductress, it seems odd that the producers would have cast such a young actress in the first place. And, as pointed out by io9, although the character will now physically older, she’s still actually a child in terms of her age…
What do you make of the decision to transform young Ivy Pepper into Poison Ivy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Gotham airs on Monday nights on Fox.
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Originally published September 21, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
