Colin Farrell underwent a complete transformation to become Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin in The Batman, and he’ll do so again in the HBOMax spinoff series. The actor praised makeup artists Mike Marino, Mike Fontaine and their teams for making the epic character come to life behind the scenes. “I just sit in the chair and let Mike Marino work his genius,” Colin said of ‘becoming’ the Penguin in an EXCLUSIVE comment to HollywoodLife at the National Board of Review Awards in NYC. “That was it!” he gushed.
The Oscar contending actor (for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin) continued to chat with Variety about the Penguin spin-off series, telling the outlet he had “no idea” while filming The Batman that his character would get his own show. “The only thing I had an idea was that I wasn’t nearly getting to explore the character as much as I wanted to,” Farrell said at the Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. “Because there was all this extraordinary work done by [makeup artists] Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine and his team, and I just thought it was the tip of the iceberg, pardon the pun, that we were getting to do the six or seven scenes that we did in the film. I was grateful for them, but I wanted more.”
He continued, “Honest to God, any thought I had about an extended series was to do with Mike Marino’s work. I just knew there was so much to do with it — age it up, age it down. He’s just such a genius, Mike, so it was his work that was the inspiration, really.”
Colin attended the National Board Of Review Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street on January 8, 2023, where he was honored with the Best Actor win.