See The Crazy Way Colin Farrell Transformed Into The Penguin

Colin Farrell went through a major transformation to get into his Penguin character for The Batman. Now we can see how it happened.

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Colin Farrell

When the first looks at The Batman started to come out prior to the movie’s release, fans were understandably shocked when they saw Colin Farrell as Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot. The change the actor went through to get into the part had him nearly unrecognizable. It was a testament to how much Matt Reeves and company wanted Farrell in the role that they were willing to alter his appearance so starkly. And it wouldn’t have taken much imagination to understand just how arduous the process would have been to overhaul Colin Farrell in such a way. Now, we are getting a look at just what went into his makeup and the painstaking detail the crew went into making this version of The Penguin.

The Culture Cave just released a look at how Colin Farrell transformed into Cobblepot/ Penguin for this movie. First, there’s a time-lapse piece of the video that shows just how long it took to get the face makeup, and hair to look like the character. This alone was an hours and hours-long process for the actor. And then there is Colin Farrell feeling into the character as well, clearly taking it on himself to transform the personality as well. You can see the minute-long video below and just how different Colin Farrell is by the end of it. 

Pretty amazing all things considered. And the part at the end in which Colin Farrell is acting the Penguin part to someone off-camera in the dressing room is funny with a twinge of creepy. It’s clear it was at this point that he really started to inhabit the character, the sinister and sadistic vibe that we saw come across clearly in The Batman. He was excellent in the role, clearly psychotic but also manipulative, working his way to near the top of the criminal underworld in Gotham. 

This isn’t the last we’ll see of Colin Farrell in the Penguin role either. There are plans for a spinoff series for the character and will be coming to HBO Max. It appears that the plan for this series will be to show how Oswald Cobblepot moved his way up through the Gotham underworld and in this way could be a prequel to The Batman, setting the pieces for when we first meet him in that film. If that was the case, there could be a bit less having to do with the makeup side of things for the actor, especially if he’s a little less scarred and a lot younger than who we meet in the film. The series is expected to air sometime next year.

Next up for Colin Farrell is Thirteen Lives from director Ron Howard. It’s the story of the Thai soccer team and their coach were trapped in a cave after the chamber flooded following severe rainfall. It garnered worldwide attention at the time. Tom Batemen, Viggo Mortensen, and Joel Edgerton are also on board for the film. Farrell will play cave diver John Volanthen. It is set to release on November 18th.