To what lengths is Colin Farrell willing to go to ensure that his portrayal of Oswald Cobb is as accurate as possible in the upcoming DC series The Penguin? For starters, he wears layers upon layers of prosthetics, making him all-but-unrecognizable from the handsome Irish lad we know him to be. Farrell also adopts a limp – there’s an explanation for it given in the series – that creates a waddle, which leads to him being called The Penguin, a nickname that Oz hates, by the way. One thing that we didn’t expect to learn about The Penguin during a recent press day for the HBO show is just what Oz is packing underneath those tailored suits.
I got the opportunity to speak with Colin Farrell and his Oscar-nominated makeup designer Michael Marino (The Penguin) about the work that they did on the series. Specifically, I wanted to ask about the design of Oz’s feet, which are part of the creation of his overall physical weaknesses. And then, out of nowhere, Farrell decided to add the following.
Consider this a little bit of a warning. Or a tease, depending on how you feel about Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell). But there’s a nude scene in Episode 1 of The Penguin, which will be available to those with a Max subscription beginning on Sept. 19. I won’t give you the details as to how and why we see Oz without his clothes on. But you do. It’s… something else.
You do not see Oz’s private parts, even though Colin Farrell tells us that his character was “anatomically correct.” And that’s because, as he was joking with make-up artist Michael Marino, he confirmed:
There was no weakness in my Penguin pecker that you designed. Which we never filmed. But it was there, man! It was there. I was fully anatomically correct.
So, they never filmed the “Penguin Pecker” while working on the eight episodes of The Penguin. Which means we won’t even get to see it in a deleted scene, or a Blu-ray extra. It’s part of Farrell’s process. But it didn’t make the final cut. Or, circumcision.
Reactions to The Penguin have been fantastic so far. The series currently enjoys a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than The Batman, the movie that inspired it. Our own TV editor claims to like the Penguin character more than Robert Pattinson’s Batman, though the Gotham hero will get the chance to shine in The Batman: Part 2. But we won’t see that movie until October 2026, so that’s a long way off. In the meantime, strap in for The Penguin, which will run for eight episodes from September through November, and is absolutely worth your time.
