We’re just one week away from the premiere of The Penguin, which is finally set to premiere on Max on September 19. Now that we’re learning more and more about the filming process of this long-awaited series, it seems that Colin Farrell is not having a good time under the shroud of prosthetics and makeup.
As part of a new episode of Total Film, the actor explained the ups and downs of returning to Gotham as Oswald Cobblepot, and while he praised Matt Reeves and showrunner Lauren LeFranc for creating the character, he’s also glad to be leaving the role.
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“Don’t get me wrong – I loved it – but it kind of bored me. By the end of it, I was complaining to anyone who would listen that I f**king wanted it to be over,” he confessed, before describing his personal attachment to his previous roles. “It’s not that I don’t know who I am and go out and burn cars and trash, but … if you compare what Matt Reeves created to what Lauren created, [LeFranc, showrunner] What did Mike do? [Marino, prosthetics and make-up designer] And putting it all together, it was a really powerful experience.”
What he calls “a truly humbling experience” refers not only to the stamina required to wear all the prosthetics and makeup to bring The Penguin to life, but also to how gritty and brutal the actual writing (and filming of some scenes) was. Still, he didn’t turn down a second season: “Lauren said, ‘Look, if I can find a way to do it that makes sense, will you talk about it?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ Maybe in a year I’ll talk about it. But when I was done, I said, ‘I never want to put on that damn suit and that damn head again.’”
Regardless of whether or not Farrell will appear in The Penguin Season 2 (we have yet to see what critics and Max subscribers think of it), Matt Reeves confirmed a while ago that the show is directly connected to Batman 2, so we fully expect to see him return for that film, possibly in a role closer to the “classic” Penguin from the comic books. The original movie was also his origin story, and his spinoff is about a struggle for power, so it’s not hard to predict where his character will go. The fun of The Penguin is exploring the man behind the mob boss’ exterior, and what he’s willing to do and sacrifice to achieve his goals.
While Matt Reeves’ Batman universe could get even crazier as the story progresses, the filmmaker has already denied the possibility of entering the more fantastical side of Gotham City, so set your expectations accordingly. Currently, Batman: Episode 2 is expected to begin production early next year.
