Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito recently sat down for Variety Studio’s Actors on Actors series to chat about their shared experience of bringing The Penguin to life, each in his own unique way.
The two first worked on Tim Burton’s Dumbo back in 2019, but this conversation was all about Gotham’s most iconic bird-themed villain.
DeVito, who famously played Oswald Cobblepot in Batman Returns, and Farrell, who reinvented the role for The Batman and the upcoming Max series The Penguin, compared notes on their takes of the character, from the tragic origins that shaped him to the wildly different ways each actor inhabited the role.
Their chat dove deep into the physical transformations required to become The Penguin. They reminisced about their time working with Burton, the heavy makeup that helped define their performances, and the strange joy of seeing themselves disappear under prosthetics.
Farrell even teased more to come with his Penguin’s story in the spin-off series, while DeVito recalled his delight in seeing a new, darker version of the character emerge.
The duo also shared a few laughs about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with DeVito admitting he was initially confused by the show when he first joined it.