Colin Farrell and his “The Penguin” team talk about his transformation

Yes, we were all very lucky to get a good glimpse of Colin Farrell's impressive acting skills and physical transformation when he became Oswald “Oz” Cobb in 2022. The Batman film – but now we can take an even deeper and darker look at the layers (and I'm not just talking about the incredible makeup prosthetics) of this rather enigmatic character in the new HBO original miniseries, The Penguin.

With the death of Gotham City gangster Carmine Falcone in The Batman by filmmaker Matt Reeves, The Penguin The series begins a week after the chaos and destruction caused by the Riddler. With the position of Gotham's next boss now open, Oz navigates the underbelly of the underworld, sometimes skillfully and sometimes recklessly, on his quest for power.

With Farrell continuing to play the lead role, I sat down with the actor and executive producer of this new project (alongside The Batman And The Penguin (Prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino) and initially wondered what it was about Oz that made Farrell want to play the character again and again and expand his story on screen.

Farrell said: “I mean, the biggest thing was the amount of time and effort and true genius that I saw go into the physical design of Penguin, and I'm referring to this guy to my right. What Mike did in designing the face, which was obviously inspired by how Matt created the world and talked to Mike and I, and how the character was designed for the first film, I just got greedy early on. I remember being on set – it was maybe the fifth or sixth week of shooting The Batman film and I said to (producer) Dylan Clark, 'We should do more with this. Can we do more? Can we do a show or something?'”

Farrell added: “About a year later, I got a call from Dylan saying, 'Look, Matt and I are talking to HBO. We're thinking about doing a Penguin show. They're kind of on board, so we're going to hire a writer. They hired Lauren LeFranc and I have The Banshees (by Inisherin) on the west coast of Ireland and I had a Zoom meeting with Lauren, Dylan and Matt and she took me through this eight-hour TV series for half an hour and I actually couldn't believe what she had come up with. It was just so delicious and so wicked and so crazy at the end, but it all felt honest and it felt like it came from a place of love and excitement.”

When it came to bringing Farrell back into Oz's appearance, The Batman and expand even further in The PenguinMarino said: “Technically, we really developed a new type of silicone that varies in density and thickness. It was like many different skin variants, as if it had been created by God. As a designer, I have to remember How do I get close to that? It's not just one material – one thing. How can I make Colin's face move as realistically as possible? It's one thing to create a cool character, but if it's distracting and weird, it doesn't work – it's out of character. It's a really constant effort to bring that character to life.”

LeFranc is showrunner, writer and executive producer of The Penguinalso spoke to me about her experiences working with Farrell and Marino on this series.

She said: “Mike Marino and his whole team are incredibly talented. I've never seen anything like it – it's really impeccable work. It's really exquisite. Colin is a great, great person. Not only is he a great actor, but he's a really wonderful collaborator, so it was a joy. We were constantly talking about Oz's character development and different scenes before he shot them – we talked a lot in the editing. He was involved in everything, so that was really fun, honestly.”

Clark, who served as an executive producer on the series with Farrell, said: “He's a special artist. He's one of the most generous people I know. He really goes on creative quests with his writers and directors. He and Matt are definitely very close in their explorations. Mike Marino, who designed the prosthetics – Colin was able to sculpt his face in a way that really allowed him to transform into this character.”

Even The Penguin Director Craig Zobel noted on set the extra layer (literally and figuratively) that made this production truly unique. He said, “One of the challenges that made me definitely embrace this and raise my hand was that the lead actor (Farrell) has to wear four hours of makeup every day. It was challenging and it was interesting to learn how to keep the rhythm of the shoot – to deal with that. I was directing Oz – a different (person). I would call (Colin) Oz – he was Oz.”

Farrell's co-stars also expressed their fascination and admiration for his pretty complete transformation into Oz. Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia Falcone, the daughter of the recently murdered mob boss, said of her regular scene partner: “Colin is obviously extraordinary as an actor. He's also an extraordinary human being, so present and playful and egoless and everything you could want. That's why I felt like I could do anything. I felt like I had such a good partner, and these characters (Oz and Sofia) are actually so related. That's one of the sad elements of it – they're both the smartest people in the room. They're both disrespected – they're both underestimated. They're both marginalized and the idea that something like that wouldn't unite them is kind of sad, but on the other hand, it's so great to see them become enemies.”

Rhenzy Feliz, who plays Victor Aguilar, Oz's new right-hand man, said of working with Farrell on The Penguin series in all his prosthetics: “It's the coolest thing in the world. You can see it – you have this front row view. I mean, I was excited enough to get the gig. And then to see what was actually happening in front of me – I thought it was going to be a great performance and then it became this legendary performance. I think he's so incredible in the show and it's an honor for me to be standing next to him.”

Deirdre O'Connell, who plays Oz's mother Francis Cobb, said of her experience on set with Farrell: “The guy I knew, who by the way wasn't Colin Farrell at all. I never had to think about the whole thing being Colin Farrell because I only ever saw him with his prosthetics. I met Colin Farrell one day for about 10 minutes, long before we started shooting – had a very nice chat with the guy. He's Irish, he's very good looking – but from the minute we showed up for the camera test, it was always just Oswald.”

Knowing that Reeves directed and co-wrote The Batman Film and now helps with the leadership The Penguin Series as executive producer, as these eight episodes lead to Batman – Part II (scheduled for release in 2026), I wondered how Reeves would describe his close collaboration with Farrell on these two projects in the Gotham universe.

Reeves said, “He's just such an extraordinary person. It's interesting because the character is so incredibly dark and Colin is such a beautiful, soulful, amazing person. I'm not really interested in villainy that gives you a safe distance. I'm interested in villainy that you can see yourself in, and I think one of the things that's so remarkable about Colin is that he has so much empathy. I think as dark as this guy (Oz) is, he really dug deep to find the compassion – to understand how this guy could be so broken that he went to these dark places, and he takes the audience on that journey. I think that's an extraordinary gift that (Farrell) has. And to have him as a producer on this show and for us all to have these kinds of goals was a really, really special experience. I'm grateful to him for his friendship and for his artistry and just being able to do things with him. I just think he's incredible.”

As I finished my conversations with this group of creatives who were working on The Penguin series, I was curious to see what Farrell would say about Oz after understanding the character better and having portrayed him in such detail on screen.

Farrell said: “I wouldn't tell him anything. I wouldn't trust him to respond in any socially appropriate way. I wouldn't tell him anything. I would just leave the room. I don't trust this guy.”