While DC fans patiently wait for Matt Reeves to begin filming his anticipated upcoming DC movie The Batman: Part 2, they have been relying on the new dramatic series The Penguin – available with an HBO Max subscription – to transport them back to the seedy underbelly of Gotham. The show kicked off with its debut episode, which picked up the story right where Reeves left it at the end of The Batman. Parts of Gotham have been flooded by The Riddler (Paul Dano), while the murder of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) created a power vacuum that Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell) is going to try and occupy. To do so, Oz needs to contend with up-and-coming crime bosses like Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) and more.
As you no doubt saw in the premiere episode of The Penguin, Oz Cobb thinks quick on his feet. Sometimes, he’s scrambling in reaction to a dilemma he placed himself into. Other times, he’s talking fast to stay ahead of an adversary who has the drop on him. Oz picked up an ally in the series debut in Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), but that kid almost didn’t come to the rescue when Oz was naked, tied to a chair, and staring down Sofia Falcone.
In the wake of the debut episode of The Penguin, I got the chance to speak with episode director Craig Zobel about the work that went into the series. And I spoke about that difficult interrogation scene, which required hours of make-up work to show us a completely nude and vulnerable Penguin. As Zobel told CinemaBlend:
I was worried, in like three dimensions, about that scene. Because it also is an important scene for Cristin. I didn't want the scene to be so technical, for lack of any other way to describe it, that it got in the way of what is an interesting scene for Cristin. It's an evolution of what's happening to that character. So she needed to be able to … she couldn't act in front of an empty chair. She needed Colin, and it needed to be real. The amount of time that doing that takes is – it was a lot. It was an extremely uncomfortable day for Colin. He couldn't go to the bathroom for hours. We all had to psych ourselves up to know how to do that. This is after a million, trillion meetings. Lots of meetings happened regarding that scene. … It was a feat. We actually moved the shooting of (that scene) several times because we were like, ‘We aren't ready.’
I love that Craig Zobel understood that, even though the show is called The Penguin, and Colin Farrell is giving a towering performance that will have him in the Emmy conversation whenever that rolls around, this interrogation scene was a golden opportunity for the show to establish what a force Cristin Milioti is as Sofia. She knows that Oz has something to do with the disappearance of her brother, Alberto. She’s flexing a muscle in this scene, so the appearance of Oz can’t distract from what the show is trying to say about Sofia in this moment, too.
The Internet took notice:
It is Colin Farrell’s show & he’s brilliant & captivating in it (Michael Marino’s flawless makeup is still amazing to look at). He completely disappears into the role of Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb. But I think Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone is gonna steal the whole show. #ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/XyQkN83rfuSeptember 20, 2024
And just wait, Milioti will own this show in just a few episodes. You have no idea all of the places The Penguin goes over the course of Season 1. Get on board with this critical acclaimed series before The Penguin Episode 2 arrives on HBO on Sunday, Sept. 29.
