Colin Farrell‘s phenomenal performance in ‘The Penguin‘ has been lauded by both his fans and Batman’s. The Irish actor has done full justice to the iconic villain, though reports were rampant about the trouble he faced while putting on the make-up necessary to give him the required look.
As season 2 of the show aired recently, the actor has cleared the air around the rumors, and to his fans’ delight, he is more than willing to continue playing the iconic villain. Here’s everything he said about it.
Colin Farrell Previously Said He Never Wanted To Put On The “F**king Head Again”
Colin Farrell has had a complicated relationship with the acclaimed show ‘The Penguin’. In the past, the Irish actor had expressed his exhaustion with the physical transformation that his character of Batman’s arch-nemesis and Gotham crime boss puts him through. “I never want to put on that f***ing suit and f***ing head again,” he had told ‘Total Film‘ some months ago, suggesting that he might have outgrown the villain. But it looks like Farrell has had a change of heart.
Thanks to the fan feedback and the show’s impressive ratings on HBO, Farrell now says he would do it all over again considering a second season. “If there’s a great idea [for season two], and the writing was really muscular and as strong or stronger on the page than it was the first season, of course I would do it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
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It was the viewers’ liking and the growing buzz around the show that helped soften his stand. In fact, according to Farrell, though critical appreciation is indeed a great thing, it is the audience’s nod that gives the most important approval. “I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s the audience who are really the most important critics,” he said during the interview.
‘The Penguin’ Cast And Crew Acknowledges Colin Farrell’s Hardship Wearing His Mask Mask And Costume
‘The Penguin‘ was initially conceived as a limited series leading into Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman‘ (2022) and into the sequel ‘The Batman Part II‘ (2026). But with the way it’s been doing, director Matt Reeves and showrunner Lauren LeFranc are said to be discussing an expansion of the project to multi-season stature with HBO.
This is much like what happened with ‘The White Lotus‘ and ‘Shogun‘, two of which were originally made as limited runs but whose massive fan acclaim turned them into loose ongoing series.
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In fact, Colin Farrell also hinted that his earlier reluctance had little to do with the makeup chair. The actor said he had to deal with mental fallout from playing the brooding, violent Oz Cobb. Farrell was in character on set, wearing a ski mask to conceal his face when not under his Penguin latex-heavy mask. Even his co-stars barely encountered “the real” Colin Farrell while shooting.
‘The Batman‘ director Reeves said that as impressive as it was, the process didn’t come without cost. “As much as he loved the role, it was also a kind of hell at the same time,” he said. Despite the hardship, Farrell’s willingness to face the ordeal all over again shows his dedication to the art.
