'The Penguin's Colin Farrell On First Time He Saw Oz

For a guy who grew up loving An American Werewolf in London and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, Colin Farrell loved how he was the subject of a “justifiably glorified magic trick.”

While promoting the HBO limited series The Penguin at the recent Deadline Contenders at HBO Max event, Farrell recalled how The Batman writer-director Matt Reeves first approached him about becoming an unrecognizable villain named Oswald Cobblepot. At first, Farrell had some playful suggestions for the introduction of his Gotham gangster, like how he could maybe present as a skinny scoundrel. Or better yet, why couldn’t he be reimagined as a long and elegant evildoer?

But Reeves and prosthetics designer Mike Marino had something far more drastic in mind.

“I’ve always loved practical things in