Camren Bicondova and Michelle Veintimilla talked to IGN about a new character, Bridgit Pike (a.k.a Firefly), coming to “Gotham” in tonight’s episode. To know more about this new addition to the story, and her link to Selina Kyle, read the interview below!

Monday’s “Gotham” will introduce the first-ever female Firefly, played by Michelle Veintimilla. The Firefly “origin” arc will be a special two-night event beginning with the episode “Scarification” and continuing next Monday, October 26th, with the episode “By Fire.”

In the first installment, Bridgit Pike (Veintimilla) is enslaved by her brothers, a notorious gang of arsonists, and forced into the family business. But when she catches the eye of old friend Selina Kyle, the young Catwoman and the soon-to-be-Firefly team up to put Bridgit’s fire-starting skills to good use.

IGN recently visited the set of “Gotham” and spoke to star Camren Bicondova and guest Michelle Veintimilla during the time they were filming their first scenes together. Here’s what the two actresses had to say about Selina and Bridgit’s history and what might cause the young Pike sister to transform into a flame-throwing pyromaniac.

First off, Selina and Bridgit are actually pretty close. “The characters grew up together,” Bicondova told IGN. “But then we kind of parted ways for a while. So when we come back together it’s nice because I personally never thought Selina would have an old friend because she is so guarded. But to get to work with Michelle and be with another character who knows Selina’s past is very interesting.”

“And it’s great for Selina too because she doesn’t have anyone she connects with. She can connect with Bruce, but he’s a boy,” Bicondova laughed. “And to be honest he also lives in a totally different world. So to have someone who comes from Selina’s world and is a girl is really cool.”

So what causes Selina and Bridgit to reunite after so many years? Veintimilla shared the answer. “Selina and Butch need some arsonists to get a job done for them and those arsonists are my character’s brothers,” she said. “So that’s how I’m introduced, sort of as their tortured sibling. I’m the Cinderella of the story. Bridgit knows about their work, but she’s also afraid of the fire, for sure. But then they force her to do some jobs and she’s scared at first, but Selina helps her gather her confidence and tells her to be strong.”

“She really does make a big turn,” Veintimilla continued. “She starts out very meek and mousey, and jumpy about everything, and then she really changes completely. She just jumps into the deep end.”

We know Bridgit interacts with Selina and Butch, but does she cross paths with any other Gotham-ites? “I do have an encounter with the GCPD,” Veintimilla revealed, “but I can’t spoil any of that right now. Most of my scenes are with Selina and she sort of takes me under her wing and tries to toughen me up. They have a history together. They knew each when they were really young and so she knows my backstory and I know hers. And I think she’s very surprised to find me in the place where I’m at when the story begins. I think that makes her want to help me because she knows I’m better than this. And my character’s also surprised where Selena’s wound up.”

While Veintimilla acknowledges that perhaps not everyone is happy with the Firefly gender-swap, she’s proud and thrilled to be playing the role. “I’m happy that they’ve gone with a female Firefly for the show, bringing some female energy into the mix. Females are fierce and so I’m excited to represent that.”

Said show creator and executive producer Bruno Heller in a released statement, “We decided to make Firefly a woman because we wanted to describe how even a warm, loving and compassionate person can turn to the dark side when life pushes him or her that way. She’s not driven by testosterone-fueled aggression, but by a burning sense of injustice. Michelle Veintimilla brings warmth and vulnerability to the role that conceals a steely core of strength and courage.”

Source: IGN