Colin Farrell has suggested he may not return to the role of The Penguin, due in part to the labour required for the part. Hidden behind extensive makeup, Farrell is unrecognisable as the Gotham City mobster, and speaking to Total Film (via GamesRadar), has erred on the side of caution for a second season. “I don’t know, man,” the In Bruges actor said.
“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 fucking wanted it to be finished,” he added.
Farrell shared with the publication that he had grown up watching Burgess Meredith, known for her role in the 60s TV series, and later, Danny DeVito in the 1992 Batman Returns by Tim Burton, who he defined as “my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged. But by the end of it…”
Farrell praised the collaborative efforts of Matt Reeves (director), Lauren LeFranc (showrunner), and Mike Marino (prosthetics and make-up designer), describing the culmination of their work as a “powerful experience.”
The physicality and extensive costume design associated to the role is only one half of the picture. The other is the mentality required to undertake the part. “Lauren [LeFranc] 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 fucking suit and that fucking head on again.’”
The Batman, released in 2022, stars Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, Barry Keoghan, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Alex Ferns, and Rupert Penry-Jones.
The Penguin will debut on Sky Atlantic and NOW on September 20 in the UK, and one day earlier in the US via HBO Max.
