Star Daniel Zovatto on what to expect from Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

Coronavirus lockdown or not, there are some terrific-looking shows set to premiere this month. We’ve got The Last Kingdom returning for season 4 on Netflix in just a couple of weeks. And over on Showtime, we’re about to be treated to Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, John Logan’s follow-up to his cult favorite show Penny Dreadful.

While that series was set in Victorian London, the new one is set in the L.A. of the 1930s, and deals with a whole different set of subjects. Lead characters Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane), a pair of LAPD officers, investigate a grisly murder that has connections to the city’s hispanic community. Meanwhile, the United States is in the edge of World War II, with Nazi sympathizers stirring up hatred at home.

So on the surface, things look very different, and Daniel Zovatto assured Meaww that there will be no direct crossovers with the first Penny Dreadful show. “[T]here are no characters that come from the first iteration to this one or anything of that sort,” he said. “It’s just a completely different take.”

What is similar is the theme of the magical mixing with the everyday. In the case of City of Angels, the magical comes in the form of of the deities Madga (Natalie Dormer) and Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), sisters who have very differing views on humanity. Magda, in particular, seems to have dedicated herself to pushing it over the edge. “There’s Natalie’s character, which is kind of critical to the whole story in many different ways, and she plays different characters that manipulate things and make things happen, so it’s a show that is full of turns and twists,” Zovatto said.

But Tiago Vega is at the heart of the show, as he struggles with his identity, the moral questions that arise in his line of work, and his relationship with the supernatural. Although the story “kind of starts” with Tiago getting his detective badge and celebrating with his family — he’s the first chicano officer to ever join the LAPD — the show actually opens with a flashback to his childhood. “In the first five minutes of the story you get to see how close he gets from that supernatural element. He literally gets touched by Santa Muerte, and is scarred with a handprint, and he still has it and will have it for the rest of his life,” Zovatto revealed. Apparently, this leads to conflict with his mother Maria (Adriana Barraza), who has a different take on the supernatural:

"His mom is this believer that Santa Muerte is the angel that protects you, that guides you. And Tiago is a little bit different because he got to see it first hand when he lost his father, amongst Santa Muerte holding him. So he knows it’s real. He saw it first hand so in many ways, I think, throughout his life, he’s kind of battling this reality that he knows is imprinted in his chest…So there’s a little bit of a different way of perceiving her, but definitely she’s very vital to the family."

Tiago carries these childhood experiences with him into adulthood, where he becomes “a very determined person. “There’s a lot of self-discipline, and him always pushing the envelope and the boundaries, and that’s kind of who he is as a person.”

Zovatto did a lot of research for the role: reading books, talking to historians, and discussing the character with creator John Logan — apparently Tiago Vega is supposed to be “kind of like a Hamlet,” whatever that means; hopefully he doesn’t die in the end? “There’s definitely a lot of ups and downs and you get to see Tiago in a lot of different places,” Zovatto said. “Sad, anxious and full of nerves and a lot of different emotions that are required on that show.”

But as important as he is, Tiago is one part of a much larger puzzle. It sounds like Logan and Showtime are going all out to make Penny Dreadful: City of Angels a full-on production. “It’s one of those shows (where) obviously you are gonna see the magnitude of the sets and the clothing, and the cars, and everything,” Zovatto said. “Like, the world that was created for this world…It’s the flavor of how LA was filmed. That’s the flavor you’re gonna get. You get the 1930s. The whole Victorian thing, you put that in LA, it’s a comedy, I think, so if you’re looking for a flavor, it’s definitely that. It’s Latino, chicano, LA. You know, film noir.”

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels debuts on Showtime on April 26!

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