- The DC Studios miniseries is running for eight episodes on HBO
- Farrell originally played the role of The Penguin in 2022’s The Batman
- Cristin Milioti stars alongside Farrell as Sofia Falcone
Colin Farrell may be receiving plenty of plaudits for his turn as The Penguin in HBO’s new DC Miniseries of the same name, but the role has taken its toll on the Oscar nominated actor.
Reprising the role of the deformed underworld crime boss from Matt Reeves’ critically acclaimed 2022 hit The Batman, Farrell has admitted that filming the new series took him to a dark place and some childhood classics were needed to alleviate his mood at the end of each day on set.
The Banshees of Inisherin star revealed to AP Entertainment that he would “escape the darkness” by losing himself in Pixar movies after long, arduous days of playing the DC supervillain.
“I watched Toy Story, I was watching them all at the end of the working day just for something light and beautiful.”
In the HBO series, set a week after the events of The Batman, Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb (shortened from Cobblepot in the comics to keep the TV series version more grounded and real) is looking to secure his place as the criminal kingpin of Gotham City after the death of his boss Carmine Falcone. However, The Penguin faces a challenge from Falcone’s daughter Sofia, played by Cristin Milioti, who has recently been released from Arkham Asylum and plans to take over the family’s criminal empire herself.
The series is also set to bleed into the story for The Batman – Part II, which will be released in 2026, and form part of the wider Batman universe that director Matt Reeves has dubbed the ‘Batman Epic Crime Saga’.
The Penguin has been received well by critics and fans alike, scoring 94% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
