Underneath ‘The Penguin’ prosthetics Colin Farrell felt ‘really, really powerful’ — but he was relieved to take them off

Colin Farrell admits that he’s usually “doused” in insecurity, self-doubt and disdain when it comes to his acting roles, even his Oscar-nominated part in “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
But for “The Penguin,” the HBO series debuting Thursday about the comic book criminal Farrell first played in the film “The Batman,” the three hours of hair and makeup (reduced from eight pre-filming) enabled him to instantaneously disconnect from himself and become Oz “The Penguin” Cobb.
“Looking back at your reflection and it’s not what you have seen for 45 years, it’s really, really powerful,” he said in a video interview. “It’s confusing at first, but there’s a stirring inside you. It’s a little bit strange, but it’s really powerful. Just based on the writing and that makeup, you give yourself over to it.”
So powerful was the transformation that Farrell was too shy to play the character without the makeup and prosthetic suit. He performed all the read-throughs wearing a balaclava and had a dedicated Penguin trailer that only essential people could enter while applying the costume. 
“At the end of the day, it was a 45-minute removal and the relief — the relief! — after being in it for 15 hours,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not feeling sorry for myself, but the relief of that (stuff) coming off after 15 hours at the end of every day, it was like being reborn.”
Series executive producer Matt Reeves, director of 2022’s “The Batman,” knew he wanted to lean into the organized crime elements of the Penguin’s back story. He also wanted to dig deeper into the character’s descent into villainy, a concept he initially thought would anchor a second film.
But Cobb’s journey within Gotham’s underbelly proved too complex for one movie. And so, following a 2022 deal with HBO and filming interruptions due to the Hollywood strikes, the eight-episode series finally debuts on Crave this week.
“The version of Oz in our movie is a mid-level, not kingpin, version of the Penguin, and he is mocked and underestimated,” Reeves told media in a recorded video.
“He has a deep, deep ambition, a sort of dark American dream building within him, grabbing for power, of becoming something. When we were pitching that idea, an almost ‘Scarface’-like story, (we knew) that was the show.’”
“The Penguin” picks up a week after the end of “The Batman” with the assassination of mobster Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). There’s a power struggle in Gotham as a result, with Falcone’s drug-addicted son, Alberto (Michael Zegen), poised to take over. Soon other players emerge, including Alberto’s sister, Sofia (Cristin Milioti).
Thus begins Oz’s quest for power alongside his newest henchman, Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), with plenty of politicking and life-or-death situations that keep the story full of twists and turns.
Farrell said that people have likened his take on the character to famous film portrayals, like Dustin Hoffman as Ratso in “Midnight Cowboy” or Robert De Niro as Al Capone in “The Untouchables.”
“All of them are in there,” Farrell said. “I’ve seen ‘The Untouchables’ twice. I’ve seen ‘Midnight Cowboy’ four times … I knew we were going to get to look into the engine of this guy in an interesting way .”
Although “The Penguin” began as a story about the rise to power, showrunner Lauren LeFranc feels it digs much deeper than that. She doesn’t believe people seek power just to have it but because there’s a greater motivator. In this character’s case, Oz is profoundly impacted by his mother, Francis (Deirdre O’Connell), and her ambitions for her son.
“I think people seek power because of a deeper want or a deeper void inside of them, and so it made a lot of sense to build a mother figure for him and have so much more emotion rooted in that,” LeFranc said. “Oz wants to make his mother proud, and he needs her love and affection, and she’s withholding.”
Before filming the show in New York City, Farrell and Reeves had deep conversations about Oz, his upbringing and his overall psychology. They felt this was a paranoid and insecure character who didn’t want others to see him as “crippled” or less than. Instead, he wants the people of Gotham to see him as someone who commands respect in the city’s underworld.
Farrell said throwing off the girth of Oz wasn’t just a physical relief, but an emotional one given the darkness of the character and his world.
“By the end of it, I was broke because it’s so dark and he’s such a remorselessly cruel character,” Farrell said. “I say that with affection and not judgment; it was a bit of a funny thing. I was glad to be done.”
“The Penguin” debuts on Crave on Sept. 19 at 9 p.m.