Colin Farrell says he has had his fill of the Penguin costume and mask for the time being, but he's not closing the door.
Since his debut in the role in The Batman, fans have been commenting on how you can't tell it's Farrell in the costume. There's a lot of work that goes into accomplishing that, and apparently, the new The Penguin TV series tested Farrell's limits.
Speaking with Variety in the lead-up to the series' debut, Farrell said, "I don’t know, man. Don’t get me wrong – I loved it – but it got in on me a little bit. By the end of it, I was bitching and moaning to anyone who would listen to me that I f***ing wanted it to be finished. I tried to remind them that I had ‘grumpy gratitude.’ I was still grateful, and still honored – I grew up watching Burgess Meredith, and then Danny DeVito was my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged. But by the end of it…"
Farrell went on to add, "It’s not like I didn’t know who I was and I was going out and burning cars and s***, but… if you take what Matt Reeves created and then what Lauren [LeFranc, showrunner] did and what Mike [Marino, prosthetics and make-up designer] did and put them all together, it was a really powerful experience,” he continued. Lauren said, ‘Look, if I could find a way that makes sense, would you talk about it?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And maybe in a year, I would. But when I finished I was like, ‘I never want to put that f***ing suit and that f***ing head on again.'"
Seeing as he has already signed on to appear in The Batman: Part II, it's safe to say he's not done with the costume quite yet.
Oscar-nominee Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oz Cobb, the titular Penguin and a scene-stealing favorite from Matt Reeves’ The Batman. He will be joined by Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone and Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni.
The cast includes Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush)
Craig Zobel (The Mare of Easttown) signed on to direct the first two episodes of The Penguin. He will also be serving as an executive producer on the project.
The Penguin project has been discussed for some time and was ordered straight to series shortly after the premiere of The Batman in March 2021.
The Penguin is currently set to debut on Sept. 19.
