Colin Farrell Says Exploring Oz’s ‘Disturbing,’ R-Rated Life in ‘The Penguin’ Made the Show ‘Tasty’ | Video

Somehow, the Gotham City shown in “The Penguin” is an even darker, more violent place than fans saw in “The Batman” – and that was by design.

The HBO series picks up shortly after the events of Matt Reeves’ 2022 film, and things couldn’t be worse for the city. Much of it is still reeling from The Riddler (Paul Dano) flooding parts of town, and the criminal underworld is racing to fill the power vacuum left by Carmine Falcone’s (John Turturro) death. Things are looking bleak.

“The Batman” managed to show plenty of the violent, depraved corners of Gotham, but still felt held back on occasion by it’s PG-13 rating. Colin Farrell said even he felt it at times on set.

“I was fighting to try to get a cigar into the film,” Farrell told TheWrap. “I got to the stage where I was like, ‘Can I even just have a cigar in my hand that’s not lit?’ And they were like, ‘Nope.'”

“The Penguin” represented a whole different beast. Being on HBO meant they could go darker, crueler and more violent as they got deeper into the world of one of Batman’s most recognizable villains – Oz Cobb. The prospect of that is what convinced Farrell to continue with the series.

“It seemed to be a decision that was made from the top on down, from the bottom on up and everyone was in unison that we were now having the opportunity,” he said. “We weren’t talking about cinema or theatrical box office. We’re talking home box office, HBO. We’re talking a mature audience and parents who can decide what was suitable for their younger kin.”

Farrell continued, “If we’re going to get into this guy’s life, it’s going to be violent, it’s going to be very dark. The psychology of the character is going to be disturbing — and that made it tasty.”

Much of the early headlines for “The Batman” had less to do with Robert Pattinson in the titular role and more to do with Farrell’s unrecognizable transformation via prosthetic makeup into Oz. With the movie, Farrell was merely a supporting actor in the film. Now, he’s the lead and still requiring hours in the makeup chair before shooting. It meant there would be challenges.

Craig Zobel, who serves as an EP on the show and directed the first three episodes, said it was an “omnipresent” thought while working on the show.

“It was in some ways one of the challenges that made me say yes to the project,” he said. “It had me asking, ‘How do you even do that?’ It doesn’t actually seem possible to in a weird way not have your lead actor for essentially four hours a day.”

Turns out it was possible, despite long hours in the chair for Farrell. The show also meant that Mike Marino – the prosthetic makeup designer who spearheaded The Penguin’s look in “The Batman” – had an opportunity to shore up some things. He also wanted to show Oz’s changing psychology in the look over time.

“[W]e tried to improve certain areas that in my mind needed to be improved, like maybe an edge or an eyebrow or something like that,” Marino said. “I think psychologically the progression of how he is slightly changing as he gets more power, as he gets more crazy I think that his physicality is adjusting to moving ahead and moving forward.”

One area they focused on early was Oz’s foot. It’s the injury that gives The Penguin his signature waddle so the look needed to be right. Of course, Marino figured it all out while Farrell was getting other makeup applied

“I had sculpted like 20 minutes before [Colin] came — a foot that I thought was crazy,” Marino recalled. “He sat in the chair and I was working in the corner and I showed him and I was like, ‘What do you think of this thing?'”

Farrell added that it was a testament to the “lofi” workings that make not just Oz’s look better, but the whole show.

“It was so cool man, and that’s how it goes down,” he said. “I was sitting in the trailer, in the makeup chair getting me chin and hair applied, and I see him in the back and he’s got his toothpick or whatever the f–k and a piece of clay.”

Farrell added, “It’s so lofi and yet so highly brilliant. It’s real hands-on art the way artisans envision it. Not to deny the advent of technology and the benefits of it as well in all sorts of realms of experience – but the hands-on makeup that this guy designs and applies, what Dick Smith did, what Rick Baker did, all these geniuses. I just hope that all filmmakers choose to use practical, in-camera stuff.”

“The Penguin” premieres on Thursday, Sept. 19 on HBO.

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