Speaking of makeup and prosthetics in movies, Colin Farrell’s full body transformation for DC penguin Impressive (and Very Challenging). Originally in Matt Reeves’ BatmanFarrell to return as Oswald “Oz” Cobb penguina new series coming to Max that will be set between the events of the first film and Batman Part IIHowever, becoming Oz again is not easy, according to penguin Prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino (who has worked with Farrell Batman).
Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down with Mike Marino for a roundtable discussion with other journalists to ask about the entire process of working with Colin Farrell and shaping him into such a new (but already iconic) Penguin. During the interview, Marino revealed how long the process took, and how much time Farrell typically spends in the makeup chair. He also talked about the unique challenges and differences when filming a movie like Penguin. Batman As well as long-running series, e.g. penguin.
Prosthetic makeup designer reveals how long it takes Colin Farrell to fully transform into Penguin
Mike Marino explains: “It’s been a pretty long process.”
Screen Rant: I’m curious about how long it takes Colin Farrell to transform into Oz. How long does it take to install the full prosthetics and everything? Does the time in the makeup chair get shorter over time, or does it get longer for the show?
Mike Marino: A lot of times at the beginning of any movie or any series, you start trying things and doing all these things and trying to figure it out. So it’s a constant process of exploring how long something takes. One day you try something different and, okay, make it better. And then you’re like, oh shit, I screwed up, or whatever. It’s always longer in the beginning, but once you get into it. I think when we started, prep took 4 hours, which in my opinion was way too long.
We got it down to about two and a half hours a day in makeup. Every morning, sometimes it was 2 a.m., sometimes it was 5 a.m., and if we were lucky, if it was a night shoot, we would start at noon, but it still took a lot of time to do it all day. After the makeup was done in the morning, he (Farrell) would shoot all day, and we wanted the makeup to not fail. So we also had other experts on the set, like making sure he didn’t sweat and tear up. A lot of times, the fun thing is, it all happened in camera. When we were shooting, everything was happening in real time.
So sometimes the paint would come off his shirt or his suit, or when he would bend over or look down. No matter what we did, there was always something that would happen and we would have to go in and fix it, fix it, whatever. It was quite a long process, and he was really amazing and patient. It was cumbersome, but I think it was also liberating in a way because he could just completely forget himself and get into character.
Mike Marino reveals the change from Batman to Penguin
The difference between filming a movie and a long-running series
How has Prosthetic Work changed in going from a film to a feature-length series?
Mike Marino: Well, a lot of it was pretty much the same. A lot of the material was the same as we did for the movie. Although during the shooting of Batman, Colin was heavier to begin with. He had just finished a project and had gained a little bit of weight. During the shooting of this movie, it was a year of shooting. It was supposed to be, I think, five months or six months of shooting. But given the circumstances, in 2020, the shooting was always staggered, so we took a lot of breaks. So during that year, I think he lost about 40 pounds.
So I had to re-do my makeup in the movie. I think about three times. So at the beginning, you’re shooting, and you’re like, wow, this looks great. And then you have a two-month break, and he’s on an exercise bike, you know, losing weight, because there’s nothing to do at that time. So we would do a test makeup before we went back on, and the makeup wouldn’t be right. So I was like, oh my god, I have to re-do my makeup. So we re-do the makeup, and he kept losing weight, and we re-do the makeup again. So during the shoot
Batman
it was a really big learning experience, like, how to build all of this stuff and what you can do. And it was very form-fitting, very rigorous.
As the series aired, his weight stayed the same. It was consistent. So he finally had a Colin whose appearance hadn’t fluctuated. So we recreated the makeup for the fourth time. So, I mean, there were differences here and there, but it was basically the same. In addition to the technological advancements every year, we invent something different. A different silicone rubber, a mold making process, a different technique, or we change the hairline, or we make it better. There are things that are always being worked on to improve.
The difference is pretty similar. But I think the long series that we shot in the movie, even though it was only six or seven scenes, I think it took about 30 to 35 days to shoot him in makeup. In the show, it was basically all him, so I think we shot him in makeup 80 to 85 times, so it was much more. And he was in makeup all day. It was mostly himself. So it was extremely challenging and much more difficult. In the show, it was much more difficult to hold the look and keep it from falling apart throughout the day and so on. So it was a huge challenge. Probably the most challenging thing I’ve done in my career so far.
View our other penguin The roundtable interview is here:
penguin Premieres September 19 on Max.