Colin Farrell loses himself in villainous ‘Penguin’ role

Colin Farrell likes to lose himself in a role. As the Penguin, he was completely MIA.

Consider: It took over four hours each day to attach a pile of prosthetics to his face. Tack on two fat suits and a new way to walk. He even shaved his head. And when filming was over, Farrell had to lose the bird.

“It took 45 minutes at the end of each day in the makeup chair to remove the pieces and makeup,” the soft-spoken Irish actor says. “I had to become Colin again.”

Such is the plight of Gotham’s most wanted.

Farrell says big chances in midlife lead to exhilarating moments. “The first day in full Penguin costume with the makeup on was one of the best days I’ve ever had in my 25 years as an actor. It proved that even at age 48 you can still get giddy – and I’ve been around the block a couple of times,” the Dublin native says.

He debuted his archvillain in 2022’s Matt Reeves version of “The Batman,” but now it’s the time for the Penguin’s rule. The new HBO/Max series “The Penguin” offers eight, hour-long episodes that take place after the events of “The Batman.”

It features Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, an overweight, bald, petty criminal with a limp, turning himself into one of Gotham’s biggest gangsters.

“I didn’t know what I could do with the character, which was part of the joy. The not knowing,” Farrell acknowledges. “The amazing artists behind this show took me and created this beautiful thing that’s brilliant, dark, complicated and even funny as it turns. He’s just a tasty character because he’s such a disaster.”

In real life, the actor lives far more calmly, splitting his time between Los Angeles and Ireland, insisting, “I’m just a true Irish boy at heart.”

His good life tips:

‘I was gone’

Farrell says you’re never too old to let your imagination run wild. He did that by being transformed in “The Penguin.” Farrell was shocked when he saw the finished look. “I was so hidden. I was gone. The only thing that was mine were my hands,” he says. “It was like looking in the mirror at another person, but I instantly had a sense of character, place, history, violence and pain. There was so much etched on that face.”

Becoming a villain

Farrell admits it was “a thrill” to bring one of his favorite bad guys to the small screen. He is a die-hard “Batman” fan who came home from school to watch the same Bat channel each day. Farrell says that the Penguin was his favorite villain. “I grew up watching Burgess Meredith in the ’60s TV series and then Danny DeVito in the Tim Burton films,” he says. “They were part of my timeline as a human being. They were my Penguins. For me to be a part of that lineage and storytelling was such a privilege.”

Skinny Penguin?

Farrell didn’t want to gain weight again for a role after packing on the pounds for a show called “The North Water.” He calls his look there “rather robust.” It was fulfilling creatively, but he longed to get back to his healthy routines. “I was dying to get healthy again after that role because I had put on quite a bit of weight over a short period of time,” he shares. Farrell set producers straight, insisting that he’d drop the weight ASAP. He even joked, “Can the Penguin be skinny?” That was a no.

‘Life is magic’

Farrell is the proud father of two sons, including 20-year-old James, who lives with Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder. Farrell started the Colin Farrell Foundation to support adult children dealing with the condition who age out of support systems. He says his sons saved him. “Children allowed me to care for someone in this world, which is such a beautiful thing,” Farrell says. He says his sons remind him that “human life is magic. It’s really magic that we exist here at all. If you think about what it takes to create a life it’s just insane.”

Stamp out stress

Farrell says that when he’s stressed, he calls up good friends or family members. He also looks to exercise as a stress buster. “I can’t wait to get on my yoga mat or go hiking in the woods.” He came late to yoga, discovering it through an online class. “It proves that life is about trying new things.”

Bringing stories to life

As long as the story moves him, Farrell sees little difference between a big-budget Batman spinoff like “The Penguin” and smaller indie films. “It’s all the same. You take the written word and put breath and movement to it. You’re just a storyteller as an actor. You’re trying to bring stories to life. And we all need stories to understand the world.”

‘Extraordinary life’

“I’ve had so many extraordinary days as an actor,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate to be in parts of the world I’ve never seen and meet people I never would have met without this career. I’ve brought wonderful stories to life. It’s been an extraordinary life.”

Wonder of it all

Farrell says to clear his head all he needs is a little bit of nature. “I’ve never seen a moon in the sky,” he shares, “that if it didn’t take my breath away, at least it misplaced it for a moment.”