Much like the movie that spawned it, Matt Reeves‘ 2022 The Batman, new HBO series The Penguin invites the viewer to creep into Gotham City’s dark, gritty underworld. There’s nothing bright and glossy about Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) and his life on the mean streets—he may have comic-book origins, but authenticity is the buzzword here. That commitment extends even to the character’s prosthetic make-up. Sure, there are the facial layers that make Farrell largely unrecognizable, but The Penguin is also going below the belt when necessary.
In the opening episode for the spinoff series, Cobb and his foe Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) share a scene in which he’s tied up and tortured by her henchman as she takes him to task for his role in the death of her brother, Alberto. It’s a tense interrogation but the scene is made even more agonizing by the fact that Cobb is completely naked. The audience only gets a glimpse at his fleshy body from the side, but apparently care was taken to transform all of Farrell into the character.
Speaking to Variety, Farrell explained how the show’s prosthetics designer, Michael Marino, who also made the face and body additions he wears while in character, crafted an “anatomically correct” appliance for him to wear… down there. “I had a velcro piece to stick on, and a nice retro bush,” the actor said, calling the prosthetic a source of “surreal discomfort.” Even though he was technically fully covered, he felt so vulnerable he covered up with a towel between takes.
“That was kind of the strange psychological no man’s land that you could find yourself in when you’re the canvas to something as powerful as the makeup designed for it,” he explained. “I felt incredibly exposed, even though I was anything but. I was totally covered, but I was covered by a naked man. And it’s not like I thought I was him, but it had a very strange effect on my ego.”
The Penguin runs for a total of eight episodes, with new installments arriving Sundays on HBO and Max. In addition to Farrell and Milioti, it stars Rhenzy Feliz (as Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush). It was developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc.
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