Could Brad Pitt match Colin Farrell’s The Penguin? ‘Impossible’
Brad Pitt’s genuinely awed by Colin Farrell’s The Penguin, singling out a feat beneath the prosthetics he reckons he couldn’t match.
If there's one thing Brad Pitt knows, it's what makes a tough acting gig. But even by his standards, what Colin Farrell managed on The Penguin is in a league of its own — at least according to Pitt himself. In a recent chat with Esquire, Pitt basically admitted he'd never survive what Farrell pulled off under those layers of prosthetics. And anyone who's seen the show knows he's probably not exaggerating.
Brad Pitt, speaking to Esquire about Farrell's Penguin: "How do you emote the way he did with an inch of rubber on your face? I'm telling you, it's impossible to get any kind of emotion out, but he did it."
The Art of Acting Under Rubber
Pitt, who apparently ends most evenings falling asleep in front of a TV show, found himself glued to The Penguin on HBO for one reason: Farrell, buried under what looked like a kilo of latex, still found ways to make Oz Cobb genuinely gripping. Pitt reckons the physical side of the job would do his head in — having to work through a fake limp, sit for hours getting fitted up, all while trying to land those subtle emotional notes. He joked the mere thought of it reminded him of childhood run-ins with poison ivy, itching up his face and neck so badly he couldn't focus on anything else.
His main point? For him, that combination of prosthetic claustrophobia and performance would make his own acting fall to bits.
Farrell's Gotham: Big Shoes, Heavy Makeup
The Penguin spun out of The Batman and follows Farrell's Oz Cobb muscling his way to the top of Gotham's underworld. The show drew heaps of acclaim for its moody style and, especially, for Farrell's turn slathered in chemicals and rubber for hours a day. The industry clearly noticed: he picked up a Golden Globe and a string of Emmy nominations, which is not something you see every day for a comic-book spin-off.
Brad Pitt, comparing the discomfort to his own childhood: "That drives me crazy. I cannot do it."
Pitt, by the way, is currently out flogging his next film Heart of the Beast with director David Ayer, but he still claims he'd dive into TV or streaming if the script was irresistible. He namechecks Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown as another example of natural commitment, but admits the distance Farrell covered between physical restriction, voice, and emotional depth on The Penguin is on another planet compared to most roles he sees.
The Penguin landed multiple major awards nods, including the Golden Globe win for Colin Farrell.