Here's What the Penguin’s Prosthetics Reveal About the Character

Colin Farrell getting made-up for The Penguin
Credit: HBO; Fair use for news and promotional purposes

Colin Farrell getting made-up for The Penguin
Credit: HBO; Fair use for news and promotional purposes

The first season of The Penguin is already three episodes in, and a lot of fans still can’t believe that it’s Colin Farrell underneath all that makeup when they look at Oz on the screen.

While he just looks like a portly, scarred gentleman, there was actually a lot of artistic intent when it came to the prosthetics, and they reveal a lot about Oz as a character—visually and emotionally.

How Penguin’s Prosthetics Inform His Character

A new featurette has just been dropped for the series, and it gives an in-depth look at the make-up process that transforms Farrell into Oz Cobb. As it turns out, it takes roughly three hours to apply all the make-up, and that’s not even taking into account the fat suit that Farrell has to wear to fully become the character.

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Probably the most dominant thing about Cobb is the facial scarring, whether it be from acne or the scar that he has that’s running across his mouth.

Mike Marino, who designed Penguin’s look for The Batman also revealed that he actually took some inspiration from actual birds when it came to realizing what Penguin’s face is going to look like. Apparently his nose was shaped the way it was so that it would occasionally resemble a bird’s beak.

With Farrell’s eyebrows also being a signature to the actor’s face, Marino decided to cover those up and give him some brows that could resemble that of a bird. He also made it so that the eyebrows’ neutral position made it look like Oz was already angrier than usual—but he would still be able to showcase all the different emotions when he needed to.

Oz Cobb in The Penguin
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Credit: HBO; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Farrell’s Bald Cap

In a recent appearance in the official Penguin podcast, Marino also revealed that they had Farrell originally shave his head for The Batman, which made it easier for the make-up team to incorporate his balding wig with Farrell’s actual hair. With The Penguin though, Farrell actually needed to keep his hair, so the make-up team needed an extra hour just installing a bald cap on Farrell before they could start adding the wig.

To be fair, it still looks pretty convincing in the series, and people can barely tell that Oz’s face is mostly prosthetics.

Oz's clubfoot in The Penguin
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Credit: HBO; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Oz and His Clubfoot

Though it’s not part of the make-up, there is actually some detail as to how Oz limps in the show. In the first episode, it’s revealed that Oz refuses to sit on a handicap seat on the train, and this informs how his character doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s a person with a disability.

It goes so far as to he tends to limp way more when he’s alone, but when he’s in front of people—particularly the Falcones—he limps less.

Though a lot of people have a very clear idea of who the Penguin is as a character, the Max series proves to be a very original, grounded take that everyone is loving.

Let’s hope they manage to keep this pace throughout the whole season. Catch The Penguin now showing on Max.

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