The Batman: Colin Farrell Recalls Going To Starbucks In Penguin Makeup
Colin Farrell recently revealed, ahead of the upcoming The Batman, that he visited a Starbucks while in full Penguin makeup. Farrell's portrayal of the famous Batman villain will be the first live-action incarnation since Danny DeVito's in 1992's Batman Returns. Farrell underwent a heavy makeup process in order to completely transform into the Penguin that initially took four hours to apply.
Farrell has appeared in everything from critically-acclaimed dramas to tentpole franchise installments, making him a fairly recognizable face amongst audiences. Similar to the first looks at Lily James and Sebastian Stan in Pam & Tommy, viewers did double takes when they saw Farrell as the Penguin for the first time. The responses illustrated how effective the transformation was. Prior to any official reveal, Farrell put the makeup to the test in an amusing way: getting a cup of coffee.
Farrell sat down with Collider and talked about how the trip to Starbucks as the Penguin happened on the first day of makeup testing for The Batman. The first set of prosthetics on Farrell were completed by makeup designer Mike Marino. After the work was done, they decided to test it out and see if the famous actor would be recognizable in public. Read the full comment below:
“The first day we tried the whole thing out, we took it for a drive, a spin metaphorically speaking. We did it in Burbank. It took about six or eight hours. It was a team of ten or fifteen people. And it was really fun. I went into Starbucks and ordered myself a very un-Oswald drink, an oat milk late with two stevia sweeteners. I got a couple of stares but only because it’s such an imposing look. Mike (Marino) did so much of the work for me on this, so much of the heavy lifting.”
The Penguin makeup on Farrell has become a huge talking point amongst audiences since the first trailer for The Batman debuted back in August 2020 at DC FanDome. There was much praise for the design of the character, who will start out in the film merely as Oswald Cobblepot before taking on the Penguin moniker. Many people thought it was Richard Kind in the trailer instead of Farrell. Marino even had to go on social media to confirm that it was Farrell as the Penguin.
The extensive makeup work done on Farrell is just another testament to the great power of movie magic. Prosthetic makeup takes a lot of time and effort, and Farrell intimidating Starbucks customers with his look alone already seems like a good start. But with so much hype for The Batman and its release being so close, it all comes down to what he brings to his performance of the legendary Batman adversary. Captivating audiences on screen will be something else entirely, but it's something that viewers are already ecstatic to see after all these years, now that the Penguin is back on the big screen.
Source: Collider