One of my favorite corners of the 2024 TV schedule has been the intense crime drama we’ve been seeing out of HBO’s The Penguin. It’s a formula that’s hard to pass up too, as you’ve got an extended teaser for an upcoming DC movie property, with a magnetic and prosthetic lead in Colin Farrell’s Ozwald Cobb. However, it’s that latter half that gives me pause, as the Irish actor has shared some of the “bitching and moaning” he’s done on the set of the limited series. After reading these good natured concerns, I’m wondering if we’ll even get a Season 2 at this point.
Again, it’s not like The Banshees of Inisherin star is putting the experience on blast. As he spoke with our sibling publication Total Film (via GamesRadar), he certainly shared his pleasure with the experience. But take a look at what Colin Farrell had to say, and tell me this doesn’t sound like he’s on the bubble for another round:
I don’t know, man. Don't get me wrong – I loved it – but it got in on me a little bit. By the end of it, I was bitching and moaning to anyone who would listen to me that I fucking wanted it to be finished. I tried to remind them that I had 'grumpy gratitude.' I was still grateful, and still honored – I grew up watching Burgess Meredith, and then Danny DeVito was my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged. But by the end of it…
Colin Farrell, Total Film
I can totally see where Mr. Farrell’s coming from, as the astounding job of transforming the svelte performer into the pudgier DC Comics character we all know and love isn’t easy. And while it provides us with hysterical stories, like that of The Penguin’s “anatomically correct” prosthetics, it does put any actor that steps into its trappings under a lot of physical and mental pressure.
In his continued remarks of “grumpy gratitude” for his part in the latest cable TV hit, Colin Farrell highlights both prosthetics and make-up designer Mike Marino and showrunner Lauren LeFranc as two parties that have compelled him to stay in The Batman Epic Crime Saga. And even in his love for his corner of Gotham City, he explains just how he went from that initial enthusiasm to questioning the future:
…if you take what Matt Reeves created and then what Lauren did and what Mike [Marino] did and put them all together, it was a really powerful experience. Lauren said, 'Look, if I could find a way that makes sense, would you talk about it?' And I said, 'Absolutely.' And maybe in a year I would. But when I finished I was like, 'I never want to put that fucking suit and that fucking head on again.'
Colin Farrell, Total Film
Reading that further bit of context, I cannot blame Colin Farrell for wanting to maybe take a break from The Penguin. With The Batman Part II looking to gear up to shoot in the next year, he’ll be returning to that world pretty soon; albeit in a presumably more supporting role, as opposed to a full on lead. At the very least, his honesty is refreshing, and tempered with caveats as to why he felt that way. So we probably shouldn’t expect any sort of remorse, like Daniel Craig’s regret on his infamous James Bond comments.
Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if The Penguin ends in a spot that naturally leads to another season. And to do that, you’ll need access to either HBO or a Max subscription, as our weekly trips to Gotham will be running on Sundays at 9 PM ET, with the season finale set to air on November 10th.
