Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the “Gotham” pilot, which first aired on September 22, 2014, on FOX. To celebrate, writer Alex Zalben published an oral history of the show, compiling interviews with creator Bruno Heller, executive producers Danny Cannon and John Stephens, and cast members David Mazouz (Bruce Wayne), Camren Bicondova (Selina Kyle), Sean Pertwee (Alfred Pennyworth), Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon), Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald Cobblepot), and Donal Logue (Harvey Bullock).

They reminisce about the casting process, shooting the pilot, the relationship between Bruce and Alfred, Selina and Bruce’s first kiss and David and Camren’s friendship on set, showing the pilot at San Diego Comic-Con for the first time, the show’s premiere in New York, having Batman in the finale, Camren not playing Catwoman in the finale, the impact the show had on their lives, and much more. It is an absolute must-read!

You will find below some excerpts from the interviews, but make sure to read the whole piece here!

[David Mazouz] We all knew this show was different. This show was special. The amount of executives that had their hands in this show, the amount of money that had so obviously gone into it, the amount of thought and care and the unique world that it was a part of, there was never really a question that it was going to go to series, especially after showing up for that table read and shooting that pilot.

[David Mazouz] Sean [Pertwe] is just like that, where he loves to delve into our relationship, which I loved. It taught me so much. I’m still so thankful that I was able to work with him for so many years, and he was able to mentor me in the way that he did.

[David Mazouz] I definitely had a special connection with Camren Bicondova right away, just because we were both under the age of 18. I was 13 and she was 15 at the time, and so just being around the same age definitely felt like she was in my group a little bit.

[David Mazouz] We were doing so many adult things. Not necessarily kissing, but just being on set, working around all other adults. We were the only two kids there doing a bunch of stunts. Especially [Camren], she was leaping off of buildings in the pilot, but we both had a lot of fairly adult work to do from the very beginning, and in that mature environment we were there for each other, to remind each other that we were kids and that it was okay to have fun and and we let our silliness out around each other, for sure. I’m very thankful for that experience, to have a partner in that.

[David Mazouz] We were all pretty tight. The cast was large, but everybody was very close. […] We were all really there for each other.

[David Mazouz] When John Stephens called me, I was at school, in my physical school in LA. I was at lunch, and I remember I was walking around the parking lot, and he told me, “All right, so we’re going to end the show with you wearing the bat suit,” and you’re gonna say, “I’m Batman.” I’m kidding. I never said that. But everybody had been asking me about that for so many years. So it wasn’t like it was a shock. It felt, “Wow, we’re really doing that. We’re really going there,” It was the very end. So it also felt bittersweet.

[David Mazouz] They were really protective with the suit. It was only in that one scene, but it cost… I know it cost a lot of money, and they locked it away. The first time I saw it in person was at the San Diego Museum. They had a Batman exhibit, with a bunch of suits, and my Batsuit was next to all the other Batsuits.

[David Mazouz] “Gotham” came at a pretty transformative time. I mean, “Gotham” was literally my formative years. I was on it my teenage years, almost all of them, 13 to 18. And it shaped who I am. It shaped a lot about my worldview. it put me in a position in the industry that I wasn’t at before. It exposed me to so much, to so many different kinds of people, to what it’s like to be in a very adult situation, working every day. It taught me a lot about my craft. It’s something most people, especially at that age, can only dream of who are actors. It opened a lot of doors for me, not only opportunity wise, which it did, but it also got me in a lot of situations where I learned a lot about the world.

[Bruno Heller] There’s lots of young, feline women who can dance and jump about who want to be in TV. I didn’t watch all of them, but the casting directors had to watch thousands. And [Camren] was so good and so funny and alive… She was fearless and kind of nervy, and a brilliant dancer and gymnast. And it needed that.

[Camren Bicondova] When we were on set, I definitely felt protected, and that’s one of the many reasons why I was so blessed with that job, especially as a teenage girl. I never once felt taken advantage of or disregarded by the cast members themselves or even the crew. They always took care of me, which I know isn’t a lot of people’s experience, especially when there’s a really big age gap.

[Camren Bicondova] I know that there was pressure for [David], but I don’t know if he let it affect him. What I do know is that we both had similar approaches in that we wanted both of them [Selina and Bruce] to stand alone and not use other renditions to impact what we did and what we portrayed… That not only helped protect us mentally, but that also allowed fans to learn like, okay, you can’t have expectations for the show, because it’s a first. This is the first of its kind, and what you know is not entirely or exactly what you’re gonna get…

[Camren Bicondova] I don’t regret it at all [not being in the series finale]. Early on in season five, I was told I wasn’t going to be in it, and then I had made plans to move across the country. And then after those plans were made, the minds were changed, I really had to think and pray on it. I had given all of me to her at that point, and this chapter was closing, and I still don’t regret it.

[Camren Bicondova] I’m constantly reminded of what a blessing “Gotham” is and was to me, and I get to see it every day… In 20 years, I’m still going to be talking about it. I’m going to be that annoying person that’s like, “yeah, when I was 13, I was on the show”, and normally people are like, “shut up. No one cares.” But no, that show changed my life. I will continue talking about it forever.

Read the entire article here.