Colin Farrell has had his fair share of critical and commercial success in his career, and his new role as The Penguin in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, along with his Golden Globe win for The Banshees of Inisherin, seem to suggest more to come. However, back in 2004, his appearance in Oliver Stone’s epic historical flop Alexander is something that the actor still feels shameful of. He said in a Hollywood Reporter roundtable:
"Expectation is a dangerous thing. There was a load of things that went on with Alexander. The most significant thing to be a part of was, you know, two or three hundred people who traveled the world over six months to tell this story and bring it to life, and it was a story that Oliver Stone had dreamed of since he was in college, so as grand as it was, as global as it was, as political as it was, and as thrilling as it was and as violent as it was and essential as it was — it was really personal. It was really personal, and it was really personal to me. When I say 'expectations' we all have our tuxedos ready. I’m not even joking. There was some of the lads, yeah, who were all like ‘Right, lads, we’re off to the Oscars. This is a sure thing’, because we had Oliver Stone. We had a story of that magnitude. We had a script that was really moving and really, kind of, just brilliant and so muscular, and then it came out. I was in Toronto, and I think I was due a bit foot in the a*s to be honest, which is not the same as saying I deserved it. I just want to be clear. And I may have, that’s not the same as saying I didn’t. Not to get too meta, but the reviews came out — we were up in Toronto — and I remember my sister Claudine going ‘Oh god. It’s not good’. And Danica, who’s here today, going ‘It’s really not good’. As I go ‘What do you mean, not good’. There wasn’t any shortcut, Rotten Tomatoes. What percentage are we talking here? It wasn’t that. It was ‘What do you mean’, and they had all the printed reviews, and it was one after another, and it was pack my bags, found out, Alexander the Dull, Alexander the Boring, Alexander the Inarticulate, Alexander the Weak, Alexander the… I was like ‘Holy sh*t.’ And I thought ‘What can I do?’ I felt so much shame."
Colin Farrell Will Reprise His Role As Penguin in The Batman Spin-Off Series
Colin Farrell is no stranger to playing a comic book villain, but playing the Penguin in The Batman is a world away from his appearance as Bullseye in Ben Affleck’s Daredevil movie. He is currently filming a spin-off series featuring his take on the Gotham City gangster, and it seems the role is one that he is relishing taking on again. He previously said of his role:
“The only thing I had an idea was that I wasn’t nearly getting to explore the character as much as I wanted to. Because there was all this extraordinary work done by [makeup artists] Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine and his team, and I just thought it was the tip of the iceberg, pardon the pun, that we were getting to do the six or seven scenes that we did in the film. I was grateful for them, but I wanted more.”
Production on The Penguin series is expected to start next month, with the series thought to be coming to HBO Max in 2024.