The Penguin Cast Talk Colin Farrell’s Prosthetics & Batman Fighting Tactics

The Penguin made its HBO debut last week, bringing fans back to Gotham, a city that’s perhaps in more turmoil than ever before following the events of The Batman. The eight-part series explores the shake-ups that happen in the city’s criminal underbelly following the death of Carmine Falcone. The cast of The Penguin sees the return of Colin Farrell as the titular mobster alongside a myriad of talented new faces, like Palm Springs’ Cristin Milioti, Starship Troopers’ Clancy Brown, and Michael Zegen of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

The Penguin – aka Oz Cobb – is in a stronger position than ever before to seize power within the city, but he has a great deal of competition. Carmine’s son Alberto (Zegen) is slated to take over the family business, and his sister Sofia Falcone (Milioti) has just returned to Gotham after a stint in Arkham Asylum. The Penguin has received praise from critics for its narrative pacing and strong performances, particularly those from Farrell and Milioti.

Screen Rant interviewed several cast members and creatives at the show’s world premiere in New York City, including Colin Farrell, Cristin Miliotti, Clancy Brown, and many others who helped bring The Penguin to fruition.

How Colin Farrell Views Comparisons Of The Penguin To Other Mobsters

The Actor Brought His Own History Into The Character Of Oz Cobb

Screen Rant: Your character gets compared a lot to a lot of other really famous mob characters like Tony Soprano or characters like Walter White. How do you feel about these comparisons, and how do you feel your portrayal sets Cobb apart from this?

Colin Farrell: They’re nothing but compliments. I still have Breaking Bad as this beautiful unicorn of television to watch someday, and I know as much as I can know something – I actually know nothing about that. I’m going to love it, but I haven’t seen that.

But their work, geez, Bryan Cranston is extraordinary, and Jimmy Gandolfini, God bless him, was just an unbelievably brilliant actor. I know Sopranos really changed the face of television forever, so those kinds of comparisons are nothing but compliments.

Oz, I don’t know how he’s different from them; he was designed by Lauren LeFranc and her team of writers. As for me, a very unique character, because you bring your own story, you bring your own history and your own imagination to what’s on the table. While there were genre tropes that were followed, and a relationship with the mom that we’ve seen versions of before, a rise to power is not exactly a unique pitch. I mean, we’ve seen that how many times? But it’s how something is written. It’s the actors you get involved, it’s the costume department, it’s the production design that created this version of Gotham that we didn’t see so much of in the film.

All of those components, an extraordinary crew in New York, props department, Joey [Spano], all the people that came together are what will make it unique – if it is unique – for the audience to watch.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone Will Go Places “No One Sees Coming” In The Penguin

Screen Rant: I have only seen the first episode, but I really came away from it wanting to know so much more about your character and what she’s capable of, and that’s really due to the complex way that you portray her. Can you give any insight to the fans the different sides of Sofia that they’ll be seeing this season, and what it was like playing a character that can go anywhere?

Cristin Milioti: It was a dream playing such a multifaceted person, and playing a villain, and what I hope is that she will go to places that no one sees coming. That’s what I think. Sorry, I know that sounds cryptic, but they’re unexpected.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Clancy Brown’s The Penguin Character Isn’t Scared Of Anybody – Especially Not Batman

Defining The Character & How Salvatore Maroni’s Wife Lends To The Lore In An Unexpected Way

Screen Rant: I would love to hear a little bit about how – this role was such a key one to take on when there’s been so much lore established, and a reputation that precedes you from the movie. Did you feel any sort of special kind of pressure because of all this precedent that had already been established?

Clancy Brown: Yeah. The precedents have been like – we have Eric Roberts, and Tom Wilkinson [as Falcone], and David Zayas. They’re all terrific actors and they all spun it their particular way. I asked them if they wanted me to do my Eric Roberts imitation, or my David Zayas imitation. They said, “No, just do you,” so they let me off the hook there.

There’s that mysterious air about your character; I’ve only seen the first episode of this show, so I’m curious if you can give fans – and me – any sort of insight into how much we’ll be breaking into the depths of Maroni’s character this season.

Clancy Brown: Not that much. The nice spin that they put on this one was that he married Nadia, played by Shohreh [Aghdashloo], and he’s married into an Iranian crime family. So it’s a combination of the Iranians and the Italians, which are the two great empires of the ancient world. That’s what I got a kick out of – it’s adding to the lore more.

How do you think your character would act if they wound one-on-one, face-to-face with Batman?

Clancy Brown: With Batman? He didn’t like Batman. He doesn’t like Batman. He’d have somebody shoot him or something.

One on one, though?

Clancy Brown: Oh yeah, he’d ignore him. He wouldn’t mess with that guy. I mean, if he’s going to beat him up, he’d fight him. I guess he’d have to fight him, and then he would knock him out, and that would be the end of that. I’m not scared of Batman – I’m not scared Batman, and Maroni definitely is not scared of him. Sal’s not scared of anybody.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Rhenzy Feliz Wanted Oz & Victor To Be Like Yin & Yang In The Penguin

How The Actor Tackled Acting Alongside Such A Big DC Universe Character

Screen Rant: One of the things that really stood out to me – I’ve only seen the first episode – but the really strange comedic dynamic that your character has with Colin Farrell’s character, where you’re sort of playing the straight man to his just flippant crime committing. What was it like forming that really interesting, eccentric dynamic with Colin?

Rhenzy Feliz: It was interesting. I think it’s that from the beginning. Just naturally, Colin – Oz – is such a big character that I think the only person who can stand next to him is someone who’s – there’s got to be a yin and the yang. You can’t both be this thing.

I think that was one of the things that I initially understood or even wanted to bring to the character, was this idea of Oz as the louder one, and maybe Victor’s a bit more observant and just kind of listens. Then he gets caught up in some situations that might lend to the comedic sometimes.

Obviously, you can’t reveal too much, but can you give any insight on whether viewers will be seeing an evolution of your character in terms of confidence or competency over the course of the season?

Rhenzy Feliz: I think definitely, yeah. I think he changes a lot over the course of the show. He’s in a different world. He’s in a different planet than he’s ever had to be in. He’s been put in different situations and circumstances than he’s ever had, and so naturally you’re going to change a lot. I think the situations that he’s in force him to adapt.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Colin Farrell’s Penguin Prosthetics Had An Unintended Consequence On Michael Zegen

Screen Rant: I would love to hear a little bit about what it was like filming that really intense discussion scene with Colin Farrell’s character in the first episode. I feel like your character, you did a really good job of portraying both overconfidence and uncertainty at the same time.

Michael Zegen: Yes. Well, he’s a troubled soul, he is. But beyond that, getting to work with Colin was incredible. That scene, which is the first scene of this episode, or one of the first scenes of this episode, it’s a big scene. It was two days with Colin – just me and Colin. We shot it – it was actually the first scene that we shot for the entire series, so I was nervous out of my mind.

Also, it was freezing cold in that studio. Because Colin was in all the prosthetics, and so he was really hot, and I was freezing. I’m shivering – I hope you can’t see. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope you can’t tell. I’m literally shivering.

I did not notice.

Michael Zegen: Good. But no, it was amazing. He was amazing to work with. He never forgot a line in the entire two days that we worked together. He never dropped one line. I dropped a few, but I’m human and apparently he’s not.

Also, just the prosthetics, getting to work with him as the Penguin was so cool. Luckily he’s not method or anything like that, so when they yelled, “Cut,” he was back to being Colin. Despite the fact that he’s in all these prosthetics, it was still Colin in the eyes. But yeah, he would come up to me and be like, “Let’s run lines,” in that Irish brogue – I wasn’t doing an Irish brogue. It was amazing. The whole experience was really wonderful.

How do you feel like your character would act if they went one-on-one, head-to-head with Batman?

Michael Zegen: He’d lose. I mean, he’s a mess. [Laughs] Alberto’s a mess, and Batman obviously – he has his s*** together. He’d be done for.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Emily Meade’s The Penguin Character Counterpart Helped Her From Afar

Playing The Younger Version Of Cobb’s Mother In The Penguin Was No Easy Feat

Screen Rant: First, I would love to hear a little bit about how closely you worked with Dede [Deirdre] O’Connell when you were working out the intricacies of playing a younger version of her character.

Emily Meade: Well, we actually did not even get to meet before I had to put something on camera. It was all very quick, but she was so lovely and she made recordings – because the really hard part was the voice. Because she was having to imitate a dialect that basically Colin created, and then she made it her own, and then I was having to mimic her exact dialect, so that was pretty intimidating, especially because it was such a short amount of time.

But she recorded my lines in her voice, so I got to listen to her voice over and over, and they sent me some footage of her, and I got fake teeth made to get rid of my gap and look more like her teeth. So I felt toast to her, but we didn’t get to meet. She sent me lovely, beautiful flowers, because she’s such a sweetheart. But yeah, we didn’t meet until we were on set, so not a lot.

Are there any behind the scenes moments that especially stick out to you for whatever reason?

Emily Meade: It was just so sweet working with children. I think it was my first time having that intense of scenes with children, and they’re so vulnerable and present, and it was just really emotional. It’s so easy because they are acting, but they’re just so authentic that that was really striking to me, the experience of acting with a child.

How do you think your character as an adult, since you also have an insight into that, would react if they wound up face-to-face, one-on-one with Batman?

Emily Meade: My character, she wouldn’t give a s***. [Laughs] She wouldn’t be scared at all. I think she would offer him a drink, light up a cigarette, and tell him to f*** off.

Did you walk away from the project having any different perspective or opinion of Cobb’s character than you did when you came into it?

Emily Meade: Yeah. I think in general, I’m someone who leans towards being really interested in finding the nuance and empathy in villains. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a criminal psychologist. I’ve always been interested in that.

So it’s not that I didn’t think Oz had any redeeming qualities, but I got to be a part of that piece of the story in a way that I have a love for Oz because of that. That’s different than probably if I just watched. Actually, I don’t know – I’m soft, I might love Ozzie even if I watched him. I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Deirdre O’Connell & Colin Farrell Were “Compatible Animals” In The Penguin

Screen Rant: First, I would love to hear a little bit about what it was like developing the really unique mother-son dynamic that you have with Farrell’s character.

Deirdre O’Connell: I feel like we were very lucky in that we were kind of compatible animals. We were two actors who kind of went off into our own training camps, and there was a lot of homework to do.

There was a lot of homework to do on the dialect. There was a lot of homework to do on the thinking about the disease that my lady had. There was a lot of homework to do on what the backstory is, which you get to learn very slowly and dribs and drabs. But when we actually came into the ring together, it was also about keeping each other alive and awake. It was one of the happiest experiences I’ve ever had.

I asked Emily [Meade], your younger counterpart about this earlier, and I’m curious if your responses match up at all. What do you think your character would do if they ever wound up with Batman?

Deirdre O’Connell: Laugh at him. Hate to say it. Be like, “[sardonically] Really?” Sorry. [Laughs]

That’s very close to what she said. She said she wouldn’t care, and probably light him a cigarette and make him go away.

Deirdre O’Connell [Laughs] I think really, it would be a matter of indifference to Francis. Sorry, Batman. He thinks he has a huge impact on everybody in Gotham – some people are not thinking about you.

Is there any scene from filming that sticks out to you as particularly impactful or difficult for whatever reason? Obviously, without revealing too much.

Deirdre O’Connell: Bathtub. I’ll just say: bathtub. Colin gave me a huge basket of flowers before we did bathtub so that I would feel strong. It was hard, but I felt strong.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

James Madio Had An Up-Close Introduction To Colin Farrell On The Penguin Set

The Actor Wasn’t Shy About Embracing His Character’s Intensity On Set

Screen Rant: I would love to know your opinion on if – as Carmine’s former bodyguard – you feel like your character feels any special sort of need for revenge or guilt after his death.

James Madio: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I’d like to be in Batman 2. Yeah, I feel there’s revenge. I played the consigliere, the right hand guy, so losing your boss – the domino effect of that inside the family, it’s catastrophic, so someone has to stay vigilant.

How do you think your character specifically would deal with going head-to-head with Batman himself if that ever occurred?

James Madio: Milos would be calm and collected. I think that’s why they hired me: to be calm and collected, the level-headed man in the room. Just trying to take the two parties, instead of banging their heads together, teach ’em peace and harmony – until you can’t. That’s kind of the show.

Are there any behind-the-scenes moments from filming that really stand out to you for any particular reason?

James Madio: Well, there’s one I was actually telling someone earlier: when I first saw Colin as Oz in the suit, you can’t help but stare at him. It’s amazing, it’s remarkable – the make up, everything, the transformation. And I’m looking at him at the corner of my eye, and I keep looking at him, and I’m looking at him and he sees me, he clocks me.

He’s like, “This kid’s going to keep on looking at me,” and he just made a beeline to me, and he put his face right [gesturing close to face] there, says, “Take a good look. You see everything now?” And I’m like, “I do. That was great, thank you for that.” He understood, actor to actor, to just get it out the way. That was my intro to Colin, so that stood out.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Scott Cohen Looked To John Turturro’s Performance For Falcone Family Inspiration

Screen Rant: I’m curious, in your preparation for this role, how much you worked out what your character’s relationship with Carmine had been like over the years. How deep did you go back in that regard in terms of your character’s backstory?

Scott Cohen: Well, it went way back, because we’re family. I kind of went through childhood, and as we grew up, and tried to figure out who’s who and what’s what, idolized him and wanted to be like him, but was never him. And I went in a different direction, but then needed to kind of step up and do what he always wanted me to do.

Would you say your character probably is more upset about Carmine’s death from a familial perspective rather than political ramifications?

Scott Cohen: Yes, absolutely, yes; it’s all about being brothers – that’s it. It has nothing to do with politics, has everything to do about being brothers. Just in terms of actor-wise, it was about really taking John Turturro and figuring out, “Can I do any of what John Turturro does? Can I sound like John Turturro? Can I give him familial commonalities?” That’s kind of the way I went.

How do you think your character personally would handle it if you went face-to-face, one-on-one with Batman?

Scott Cohen: [Laughs] I think I would just kind of cower. Yeah, thank God Batman’s not in this story, I think I’d be a little afraid.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Director Helen Shaver “Worked So Intensely” With Cristin Milioti On A Future Episode

Fans Can Look Forward To Complex & Surprising Upcoming Scenes

Screen Rant: The showrunner Lauren LeFranc talked about how this really gave an opportunity to explore complex female characters in the crime genre, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the show achieves that.

Helen Shaver: The characters start with a script, which Lauren LeFranc created, and she created these characters and then cast so well. Cristin Milioti and Deirde O’Connell, brilliant, brilliant actors, and then wise enough to hire a woman director. [Laughs]

Then it was just really a matter of embracing and bringing them out, and I think what it adds to the whole world, the DC world, is a great richness and a great depth that I’m not sure has ever existed before.

Are there any behind-the-scenes moments from working with those amazing women actors that you just named that really stand out to you for whatever reason?

Helen Shaver: Cristin and I worked so intensely together on episode four, and one moment would not be enough to talk about, right? Because it was like a creative conversation that was manifesting as it went along. It wasn’t about talk most of the time; it was about creating – for me – creating a space where she was safe enough to let herself be that complex, and big, and grand, and real.

In terms of introducing other female characters into the DC universe, are there any that you would love to see explored next?

Helen Shaver: Well, I would love to see what would happen – because the Catwoman of the Batman and Sofia of the Penguin are actually half sisters, because Sofia is a Carmine Falcon’es daughter. So I would love to see that.

I think Zoe [Kravitz] did such an amazing job in the film, and Cristin is – I know her so intimately now. I think the two of them would just knock it out of the park.

More About The Penguin Season 1

Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin is a crime-drama spin-off television series of 2022’s film The Batman. Set shortly after the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, A.K.A. the Penguin, begins his rise in the underworld of Gotham City as he contends with the daughter of his late boss, Carmine Falcone, for control of the crime family’s empire.

Check out Screen Rant‘s other interviews for The Penguin here: