“Oh, I was like, ‘There’s no way Laurie Metcalf is gonna do this show,’” Jordan told Den of Geek of his first reaction to hearing of Metcalf’s casting as Winn’s estranged mom. “‘No way she’s gonna be my mom. Come on.’ But, no, it was great. It turns out she’s a big fan of the show and she watches it with her daughter. They love it, and so she was super into it.” (According to a Vanity Fair profile, Metcalf accepted the Supergirl role so her daughter could meet her superhero idol.) Metcalf’s introduction to the show as Mary McGowan, Winn’s estranged mom, happens to not-so-surprisingly coincide with a Winn-centric episode that gives us greater insight into the complicated character’s dark past. As revealed in the trailer for the episode, Mary abandoned Winn when he was just a child because Winn’s father, the psychopathic Toyman, threatened to kill Winn if Mary didn’t stay away from him. The episode’s emotional thrust comes in Winn trying to come to terms with the reasons behind his mother’s absence from his life. “It is a weird beginning for Winn,” said Jordan of the backstory reveals that come in “Schott Through the Heart.” “I guess I always just expected Winn’s mom to have gone into a weird depression or maybe become an addict or just not taking care of herself after his dad went to prison, but the idea that she’s a fairly normal human being who just got put in a horrible situation was really strange to me.” Jordan said he is a fan of the writing because “it gives Winn an excuse to not feel completely the product of two heartless insane people.” There are some beautiful Jordan-Metcalf scenes that explore this very idea, as Winn learns what kind of person Mary is and Mary learns what kind of person her son has grown into. “Schott Through the Heart” airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Stay tuned for more insights from our interview with Jeremy Jordan.
