Farrell also gives some insight into what to expect from his upcoming HBO series focusing on The Penguin.
The Irish are good at being bad.
Just look at some of Batman’s biggest baddies: Cillian Murphy as Doctor Jonathan Crane (aka The Scarecrow) and Liam Neeson as Ducard (aka Ra’s al Guhl) both attempted to take down Gotham in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, while Ciarán Hinds provided the voice for intergalactic warrior Steppenwolf in Joss Whedon’s take on the Justice League.
Joining this motley crew is none other than Colin Farrell, who will appear as Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin) in this year’s The Batman (check out our spoiler-free review right here) and he’ll be joined on screen by a fair few other members of Batman’s famous villains.
In the run-up to the release of the blockbuster, JOE sat down with Colin to talk about his role, and you can check out that interview in full right here:
Off the back of all of that Irish talent taking over the DC villainy, we asked Colin if there were any other Irish performers out there he’d like to see take part in the Rogues’ Gallery? Farrell initially responded:
“Oh God, any of them! I just leave them all. From my old pal Brendan Gleeson and obviously Cillian [Murphy] has been in there already, and Liam [Neeson] has been in there already. Brenda Fricker! You don’t get better actors, they don’t make better actors, or more honest actors or spirited performers than Brenda Fricker.
We then pitch an idea to Colin: what about Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter, Chernobyl) as Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy?
“Oh wow! That’s a great idea! That’s tasty! Now how would [writer/director] Matt Reeves do Poison Ivy? I’m kind of excited just thinking about how Matt Reeves would bring any of these Rogues’ Gallery villains to life. Because everything with Matt really has to be grounded, everything has to be really grounded.
“As was done so well with Nolan’s films, and you mentioned Cillian’s character – Scarecrow, Doctor Crane – was so grounded and so believable and so based in science, and it would be interesting to see.
“But yeah, Jessie Buckley is brilliant. She’s a wonderful actress, wouldn’t it be extraordinary? I’m going to text Matt Reeves about that today, not that she needs my help!”
As for what we can expect from Farrell and his future in this new Batman movie universe, The Penguin will soon be getting his own HBO show which picks up directly after the events of the movie, and Farrell is already looking forward to that project:
“He’s a toughly-drawn character, The Penguin. Not without his humour, but he’s dangerous and he’s kind of broken himself a little bit, and he’s violent. And I didn’t get to delve as deep into him as I would’ve liked to, just because I’m greedy, and it was just an amazing character both on the page and then when I saw the design, it was just a blast to inhabit.
“But hopefully that’s what we’re going to get to do the TV show and I’ll get to really get stuck in, y’know? From talking a little bit to Lauren LeFranc, who is writing it at the moment, just some of the ideas that she has are just tasty!”
When we mention maybe that could be a good entry point for Jessie Buckley-as-Poison Ivy, Colin asks if we have any other casting ideas? Matt Reeves has previously mentioned potentially tackling Victor Fries (aka Mister Freeze) for a future instalment, so what about maybe Domhnall Gleeson taking that role on?
Colin is immediately on board: “Domhnall in anything! Put Domhnall in anything! Let’s just take over the whole franchise!”
The Batman arrives in Irish cinemas on Friday, 4 March.
Clips via Warner Bros UK & Ireland
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