During the press tour for “The Batman,” Colin Farrell could be found extolling the virtues of the prosthetic work and how it brought the performance out of him. And in a behind-the-scenes featurette attached to the film’s Blu-ray release, Farrell said: “When I saw Mike Marino’s work and what he had created and how the Penguin was going to look facially […] I was so moved and excited and provoked and my imagination just kind of kicked up a notch.” That’s evident in the final film, where he’s clearly at ease beneath the layers of silicone and makeup.
In an interview with Total Film last March, Farrell expanded on his experience of being at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank during pre-production and becoming Oz for the first time:
“It took about six or eight hours, and it was about 12 people […] Someone was there that had molded the teeth. Someone was there that had done the hair. [Marino] and his team were there, three or four of them were applying different pieces because it’s six or eight different individual prosthetic pieces. And once it all went on, honest to God, it overtook me, as I think it would most people. I started moving and talking and gesticulating with my hands and it felt like being a kid in the sandbox, man.”
Farrell added he had “unbridled fun” throughout his time in “The Batman” and “felt somewhat untouchable” in his Penguin getup. “The Batman” star Robert Pattinson — who plays Bruce Wayne — also noticed how much fun Farrell was having, recalling how “it’s always nice to be in a scene with someone and you can see they’re really enjoying it as well. Just really feeling the look of the character.”