Oscar-nominated Colin Farrell has been on a career-defining hot streak over the last few years, so he could really take any role he wanted to, and he chose to stick with a Batman villain. That’s his right as an Irishman, as so many have done before him.
The Penguin follows Farrell as his Batman villain who is working his way to the top of the Gotham City underworld. For his role of Oz Cobb, Farrell had to be fully suited up to the point where he looked unrecognizable. “I had a bodysuit, so I was basically covered wrist to ankle. Only things that were me were my hands and feet,” he told People Magazine. “Everything else, including ears, were pieces. Everything was covered.” Unfortunately, he meant “everything.”
Farrell then revealed information that nobody asked for, but he was happy to share anyway. When talking about his prosthetics needed during a nude scene, the actor praised artist Mike Marino, who also worked on The Batman. “Marino is so twisted and brilliant. He was like, ‘I made you a penguin penis,’” Farrell recalled. “I said, ‘Really? They’re not even going to see it. I don’t know if I want to walk on set with a penguin penis.” It gets weirder.
He continued to describe the detachable addition: “And he was like, ‘No, no, no, dude. It’s detachable, it’s Velcro. It’s got a beak at the end of it.’ So I had a penguin penis,” Farrell said.
Luckily, this can’t be seen on screen, because that would make The Penguin a different type of TV show that HBO probably isn’t on board with. But it’s nice that Farrell got a laugh! Especially since it seems like he won’t ever wear the suit again.
Still, it was important for the character. Farrell said, “If it wasn’t for Mike’s design, I’m telling you now, if it was just me with a f***ing cigarette and a top hat and a bit of a limp and an umbrella that was a machine gun, we wouldn’t have had the HBO show.” He’s was joking, but that show would definitely have been a cult favorite on The CW.
The Penguin premieres Thursday, Sept. 19, at 9 pm on HBO and Max.