Colin Farrell Discusses Transformation for ‘The Penguin’ Series

Actor Colin Farrell recently attended the premiere of “The Penguin,” a new HBO series where he reprises his role as the iconic Gotham villain. In the series, Farrell undergoes a significant physical transformation to embody his character, Oz Cobb. The premiere event took place in New York, where Farrell spoke about the challenges of adopting a New York gangster accent for his role, moving away from his well-known Irish accent.

Farrell shared insights from his preparation process, humorously revealing that the term ‘Gefilte fish’ helped him maintain the New York accent. His dialect coach, Jessica Drake, supported Farrell by providing a range of accents from historical recordings. One particular reference was a gentleman from the 1980s, whose way of talking, especially about Gefilte fish, served as a guide to perfecting the accent.

The series is set in the aftermath of the 2022 film “The Batman,” which starred Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. It follows Farrell’s character as he navigates the criminal world of Gotham. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc explained that while discussions were held about including Batman in the series, the team decided that Oz’s story should not be overshadowed by the superhero.

LeFranc further described “The Penguin” as a grounded character drama rather than a traditional supervillain narrative. It focuses on flawed, complex personalities, drawing comparisons to other celebrated gangster series like “The Sopranos.” Executive producer Dylan Clark mentioned that HBO’s reputation for quality gangster content adds depth to this series.

The show, which also features actors Cristin Milioti, Michael Kelly, and Rhenzy Feliz, is set to premiere on Max. The creative team includes notable contributions from executive producer Matt Reeves, further enhancing the series’ credibility.

Neha Joy, among others, contributed to this report for The Hollywood Reporter, part of Penske Media Corporation.