Colin Farrell's transformation into The Penguin for new crime drama series stuns co-stars

The crime drama series is based on the popular DC Comics villain named Penguin and serving as a spin-off of the 2022 film The Batman, which Farrell also starred in as the Penguin.

When Colin Farrell looked in the mirror after donning prosthetic makeup for his role as the title character in the Max series The Penguin, he could no longer recognise himself.

“I looked in the mirror, and I saw something looking back that was not me,” the Irish actor said.

Farrell added that, except for his hands, every part of his body was transformed by The Penguin designer Mike Marino.

The crime drama series is based on the popular DC Comics villain named Penguin and serving as a spin-off of the 2022 film The Batman, which Farrell also starred in as the Penguin. It unpacks Oswald “Oz” Cobb’s – aka the Penguin’s – rise to power through crime in fictional Gotham City.

Along with the The Banshees Of Inisherin actor, the series stars Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, heiress of a mob family, and Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, a teenager who becomes the Penguin’s driver.

"Sofia comes from such astronomical wealth, and Victor and Oz come from the rough, poor, side of the city," Milioti said of the main characters.

"Yet they all go through these horrible things," she added.

The show is produced by DC Studios in association with Warner Bros Television and arrives on Max on Thursday (Sep 19). All three are units of Warner Bros Discovery.

For Farrell, what he calls his “powerful transformation” into the Penguin wasn’t just about external alterations to his appearance; it was a psychological change.

“There was a particular internal change that happened with such an abundance of external brilliance that was placed upon me,” he said.

Like Farrell, Feliz was taken off guard by the striking difference in Farrell’s appearance for his sinister role.

“You know it’s Colin doing the thing, but then it’s like a magic trick going on because your brain’s telling you that it looks like Oz, but your brain knows that it’s Colin,” Feliz said.

Milioti also found herself impressed by the makeup used in the show.

“The makeup is so real, there’s not a part of it that looks like someone’s in makeup. It moves, it feels real,” she said.

However, it was her co-star's connection to the character that Milioti found especially interesting.

“Colin is in such communion with that character,” she said.

On set, Milioti saw Farrell dressed as Oz more than she saw him dressed as his normal self.

“Even if he would still talk, like ‘How was your weekend?’ I was with the visual of Oz cuz I do feel like I know this other person that’s very real to me and very real to him, and real to all of us that were there.” she said.