Colin Farrell Talks About How He Created the Backstory for Each of His Scars in the Role of the Penguin in THE BATMAN
Director Matt Reeves’s The Batman was full of deeply interesting characters with thoughtful backstories and layers that were just starting to peel in the first story. It definitely got us thinking about the future of the franchise, and how it will move forward and explore these characters more.
One in particular was The Penguin, aka Oz, who was played by Colin Farrell (Minority Report, In Bruges, The Lobster). He was transformed to play the role with heavy prosthetics that made him unrecognizable to fans. It not only changed the way he looked, but his voice as well. He spoke about the process in James Field's The Art of the Batman, a new sourcebook that goes through every detail within the making of the movie.
Farrell said:
"You look at his face and you see some scars. It was fun creating a backstory for every single mark and every single issue that he has, because there's a wealth of a kind of information, of personal history that one can design. You would hope that from thinking about it — even subtextually or unconsciously — this information finds its way into the character and onto the screen. But certainly lends itself to much more [authenticity]."
He went on to talk about how the make-up applied by prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino literally weighed on him, changing his voice into the character’s gravelly tone:
"Marino recorded a little piece of me in the makeup. I didn't feel like I was ready, but he asked me a few questions and I answered then. And then when I saw it back, I thought 'That sounds good!' Because my voice actually sounds different. The timbre of it sounds different. It sounds like it's in a different place. It sounds heavier. It sounds like it's struggling a bit more."
The makeup and prosthetics took approximately four hours to apply each day. That’s a crazy painstaking process, but it all worked out to create the perfect Penguin. Farrell did a great job.
via: /Film