Danny DeVito and Robin Lord Taylor admire each other's Penguin portrayals

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Danny DeVito and Robin Lord Taylor -- actors who have both played the comic-book villain Penguin on screen -- say they are fans of each other's work.

DeVito played the part in the 1992 film Batman Returns, while Taylor can currently be seen in the role on TV's Gotham.

Taylor spoke about his influences in his portrayal of the character at a recent New York Comic Con roundtable interview with reporters.

"How could you not see previous incarnations? I grew up... The Adam West series played after I came home from elementary school. I had seen all of that. I had seen Batman Returns a billion times. I could recite that movie from memory, but I knew from the script that they were just going in a totally different direction," Taylor said of Gotham. "But, at the same time, you're influenced. I mean, to follow in the footsteps of Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito, how freaking amazing is that? And then the one thing they both brought to it was that sense of fun, which can be a hard thing because it is a dark world and you are playing a villain and you want to bring that with you. ... I'm trying to bring that into this. It's a process."

DeVito was asked for his reaction to Taylor's take on the Penguin, while talking about his own comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia with television critics in Pasadena this weekend.

"I've watched the show. I think he's a very good young Penguin. He's a terrific actor," Zap2it.com quoted DeVito as saying.