Colin Farrell Opens Up About His Penguin Makeup in THE BATMAN and How Excited He Was For It

Colin Farrell taking on the role of The Penguin in The Batman is a great choice and as you’ve seen in the trailers, the actor is completely unrecognizable in the role! It’s pretty cool to see when actors completely transform themselves for certain roles, and this is one that Farrell was pretty excited about, he was especially excited about the makeup.

During a recent interview with CBR, Farrell discussed makeup artist Mike Marino’s design, saying:

"[Reeves] had a clear idea about the silhouette of the man ... But I gotta give massive props to the artistic brilliance of [Marino] who designed the face. It felt like [Marino] created this amazing marionette and asked me to help inhabit/animate it. I'd no idea we were gonna travel this route. But once we agreed on it I got excited. Then I saw the design on a computer screen and I got more excited. Then we did a make-up test and I just felt so fortunate to be able to play in such a sandbox."

It’s explained that The Penguin’s face is a physical manifestation of who he is, his experiences, and his broken qualities. The actor went on to say:

"I think – from what I read – every single character in [Reeves'] Gotham is broken ... Every character has some internal fracture or struggle that is striving for repair in a variety of ways. Oz certainly has his share of ghosts."

When previously talking about the inspiration behind the character, director Matt Reeves shared that he is like Fredo from The Godfather:

"There's a touch of John Cazale as Fredo in The Godfather. He's a mid-level mobster guy and he's got a bit of showmanship to him, but you can see that he wants more and that he's been underestimated. He's ready to make his move."

It was also said that The Penguin was inspired by Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday and Tony Soprano from The Sopranos. Farrell shared his thoughts on the character and the connection to Fredo, saying:

"[Matt Reeves] mentioned Fredo to me, because Fredo's crippled by the insignificance that he lives within, in a family that is full of very strong, very bright, very capable, very violent men. Which is why he commits the act of betrayal that he does, because he's weak, he's kind of broken, and he's in pain. There is a kind of fracture at the core of Oz, which fuels his desire and his ambition to rise within this criminal cabal. Where that rise goes ... I would love to get to explore that in the second film, if that was ever to happen."

I’m pretty pumped up for The Batman and I’m excited to watch it when it drops in theaters on March 4th, 2022.