The Expanse icon Shohreh Aghdashloo talks through Nadia's choices on The Penguin

The Penguin had another big episode with "Homecoming," which featured Oswald Cobb up to his old tricks: burning mothers and sons alive together as they embrace. In this case, the mother was Nadia Maroni, the matriarch of the Maroni crime family and its acting head while her husband Sal was in prison, and their son and heir Taj, whom Oz had kidnapped to use as a bargaining piece. Nadia came to collect her son personally. She hoped to double-cross Oz, but he got there first.

Nadia was played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, whom you may recognize as ruthless politician with a heart of gold Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse. "I knew that my participation was a short participation, a few episodes," she told Vulture. "But what intrigued me was that my character has an arc. Every actor would love to take an arc, not just stay monotonous throughout the piece. And this character needs to take the arc overnight, because she’s a housewife, and all of a sudden she has to turn into a mob boss and play the role of the boss. So it’s playing a role within a role within a role."

The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc wrote this role specifically for Aghdashloo, who has one of the most distinctively growly voices in show business, possibly in the world. That meant that Aghdashloo got to bring parts of herself to the role, including her Iranian heritage. "Iranian housewives, no matter who their husbands are, they are not in key positions outside," she explained. "They’re very loyal to their family, to their husband, to their sons and daughters, whatever. Most probably she has no idea of half of what her husband is even doing out there. And now all of a sudden she needs to change her shoes, come out, and play the mob boss. That was challenging for me. Then I thought, Wait a second. If this woman has left the Revolution behind, then she is a courageous lady who’s got stamina. She would be able to do this."

Aghdashloo also used her Iranian culture to explain why Nadia came to collect Taj herself, rather than send someone else, which might have been the safer play. "What made me love this particular scene is the fact that although Iranian women worship their husbands and they do whatever they can for their husbands, with their sons, it’s a different story. It’s beyond worship," she said. "Every time an Iranian mother talks to their son, their name is always followed by 'joon,' or 'dear.' And at the end of the conversation, it usually ends like this: 'ghorbunet beram.' 'I sacrifice myself for you.' Nadia literally sacrifices herself for her son. That is the best part, for me, of this scene. If she were a real mob boss, she wouldn’t get herself involved with this. But she is a housewife. She makes mistakes. That scene means so much to me. I’ve been asked, 'Why does Nadia go there? She can send people to bring her son back.' But she doesn’t, because she calls her son 'joon,' 'dear,' and she is ready to sacrifice herself for him. Ghorbunet beram."

However it happened, Nadia is now taken off the board, although Aghdashloo made certain we wouldn't forget her exit. "Whether my character deserved it or not, it was all Oz," she said. "He needs to get rid of his enemies, and my character is one of them."

"When Nadia was burning, she was supposed to stay quiet. But I couldn’t help myself. I thought, These are her last moments. She would have to say something here. I asked my doctor, and the questions I ask my doctor, they make him laugh. I said, “How long would people be able to say something when they start burning?” And he said, “You have 30 seconds. If you’re a strong person, maybe 60 seconds.” That’s why when I was going down in the fire, I thought, No, no, no. And all I could manage to say was “Oz!” [Stretches out the word in a scream, her hand extended outward.] Which is a combination of all the curses, and asking for karma for him. “Oz!”"

Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni) thinks Colin Farrell is "one of the top 10 best actors in the world"

Elsewhere, Aghdashloo talked to Starry Constellation Magazine about working with Colin Farrell, who is getting plaudits for playing the title role in The Penguin. I think he's going to win an Emmy based on the huge amount of makeup he has to wear alone. "In my belief, Colin Farrell is one of the top 10 best actors in the world," Aghdashloo said. "He is such an amazing actor to work with...He does not act the character out, he lives the character...He is so humble. He is so modest."

Overall, Aghdashloo sounds like she thoroughly enjoyed her time on the Penguin. "The whole experience with this TV series, with The Penguin, has been truly delicious," she said. And even at 72 years old, she's not slowing down. She has a movie called The Alchemist coming up, and we've heard that she'll play a key part in the upcoming third season of The Wheel of Time.

"I am not thinking of retiring, no way," Aghdashloo said. "My wish is that I could die after a performance is done, or after the movie is shot. Because otherwise I'm going to put a lot of people in trouble; they'll have to reshoot all the scenes!"

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.