Colin Farrell reveals what Penguin predecessor Danny DeVito really thinks of his performance

Colin Farrell has opened up about his role as The Penguin in the new Batman spin-off, and his chats with Danny DeVito, who also portrayed the iconic villain in Batman Returns

Irish actor Colin Farrell has been singing Danny DeVito 's praises, calling him "super supportive" of his role as 'The Penguin' in the upcoming HBO series.

The 'Banshees of Inisherin' star, who takes on the iconic villain Oswald Cobblepot, shared that although he and Danny exchanged a few light-hearted texts about the character, DeVito humorously maintains that his own portrayal from 1992's ' Batman Returns' is "better".

Chatting with 'Extra', Colin revealed: "Me and Danny shared a couple of texts back and forth, nothing serious about talking about the character, just little slags. He's super supportive, Devito? He's magic man, he's super cool. He still thinks his Penguin is better than mine. Thank God we can't concretise an answer on that."

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But it seems Colin might be inclined to agree with Danny's cheeky assertion, as he himself has been a long-time admirer of DeVito's performance. He enthused: "I grew up watching his Penguin... as a cinema going youngster Danny DeVito's Oswald Cobblepot was so amazing. Danny was just amazing, he was just so otherworldly [but showed] human frailty and feeling of insignificance and feeling like you're on the outside, but having this ambition and drive and having this darkness at the heart of the man."

Colin also touched on how the new series delves deeper into the Penguin's psyche, saying it allows the audience to "really get into the psychology of the character and ask why he is the way he is." He concluded by sharing that the intensity of both the world and the character had left him feeling somewhat grumpy after filming wrapped up!

The 48 year old actor relished the three-hour daily transformation for his latest role, saying he "loved" the process which involved music and script rehearsals in the trailer. He shared: "I just loved it... we listened to music in the trailer, I'd hit the script, thought about the upcoming scenes of the day." His eclectic playlist ranged from opera to rock: "Everything from Puccini to White Snake... everything from every decade."

Colin's on-set metamorphosis was so complete that many crew members didn't recognise him without his character's makeup. He revealed: "Plenty of crew members on the last day who said that they never met me... I worked with them for a year and never got to meet like this. Which was so strange."

The intense nature of the show took its toll, leaving Colin feeling "grumpy" after filming wrapped up. He explained: "It is a dark world, and dark character and... Matt [Reeves] created the template for what Oz was going to ever become if it was ever revisited, which we did with this show."

"And Matt created an extraordinary world of Gotham and then Lauren just took Matt's template and just delved into the psychology of the character and created really complex relationships, particularly between Oz and his mother." Reflecting on the experience, he admitted: "I was kind of grumpy by the end... still very aware of the good fortune I had to play the character."

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