The Penguin has a surprisingly strong connection to Ireland both in terms of actors and story.
Irish actors Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan and Peter McDonald all had villain roles in the 2022 smash hit blockbuster The Batman.
Both Farrell and McDonald, briefly in the latter’s case, reprise their roles in The Penguin – the excellent new spin-off series to The Batman – which also features an Irish gang named The Sullivans.
A couple of years prior, Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson famously appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.
On top of this, Farrell and Keoghan’s Banshees of Inisherin co-star Brendan Gleeson has a supporting part in the much-anticipated sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, which is out in cinemas on 4 October.
When JOE chatted to Farrell this week about The Penguin, we noted how it is great time for Irish representation in Batman-related projects.
We then asked the Irish Oscar-nominee if he was aware when he joined The Batman, that there was going to be such an Irish presence in the franchise going forward and if that was something he encouraged on The Penguin.
And while Farrell said this had nothing to do with him, he was quick to praise his Banshees’ co-stars Gleeson and Keoghan – stating it was their talent alone that led to them being sought out to join the superhero franchise.
You can see his answer in full below:
“No, I wasn’t aware of it and didn’t encourage it. Nothing to do with me, no. That’s just Barry’s talent and [The Batman director] Matt Reeves being drawn to Barry’s talent and Brendan’s talent and [Joker 2 director] Todd Phillips being drawn to Brendan’s talent.
“So, no it was nothing to do with me. I didn’t even join the dots. Really cool to hear that, actually. That’s cool.”
You can check out a clip of Farrell making these comments below, while you can also read about one unusual prosthetic the actor sported for The Penguin right here:
The first episode of The Penguin is already available to watch on Sky and streaming service NOW, with new episodes out every Monday.
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