Colin Farrell Spent 4 Hours Becoming The Penguin in “The Batman”
While Robert Pattinson has been talking about Bruce Wayne’s transformation into Batman (including how for one terrified Gothamite, Batman probably looked like a werewolf) in The Batman, Colin Farrell’s metamorphosis into the pockmarked, obese Penguin was an even harder transition. Physically, that is. Speaking with Variety at Sundance, Farrell revealed that at the beginning of The Batman filming, it took four hours to turn him into the iconic villain, complete with a combover, layers of fat, and an unrecognizable face.
“Eventually they got it down to two,” Farrell told Variety.
Even two hours is an awfully long time in a makeup chair, but Farrell was eager to do it for a film he was happy to take a smaller role in. Not for nothing, Farrell will get a chance to expand his Penguin character in a spinoff series on HBO Max.
He was on hand at Sundance to discuss After Yang, writer/director Kogonada’s slow-boil sci-fi film about a family in the near future reckoning with loss, impermanence, and connection after their A.I. helper breaks down. Farrell stars alongside Justin H. MIn, Malea Emma, Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson and Jodie Turner-Smith in a film he said was “one of my most favorite experiences by a mile.”
In The Batman, Farrell took on that supporting role with equal enthusiasm. The film obviously belongs to Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, with meaty roles for Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Paul Dano’s the Riddler, who features as the film’s primary villain. Farrell said he was interested in the role because of writer/director Matt Reeves.
“Matt Reeves is a wonderful filmmaker, so I was just grateful to be allowed anywhere near it,” Farrell told Variety. “Hopefully people are entertained by it and moved by it. It’s a very unique take on a story that’s often been told.”
For more on The Batman, check out these stories:
Robert Pattinson Describes His Batman as a Werewolf
Robert Pattinson & Zoë Kravitz on Why “The Batman” Will Shock People
“The Batman” Posters Tease The Riddler’s Diabolical Games
“The Batman” Funeral Scene Reveals the Riddler’s Deadly Obsession
Featured image: Caption: COLIN FARRELL as Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure “THE BATMAN,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jamie Hawkesworth/™ & © DC Comics
