Colin Farrell in his Penguin make-up in ‘The Batman’, and at a 2019 premiere.

Colin Farrell wore so much prosthetic make-up for ‘The Batman’ that his co-star Jeffrey Wright didn’t recognise him when he appeared on the sets.

Farrell’s transformation as The Penguin unexpectedly stole the show in the film’s first teaser trailer, which was released last Saturday (22 August). Many fans were left confused as to whether it was even Farrell in the role, due to how different he looked.

The same confusion was replicated on the sets, it has now been confirmed. Speaking to US radio station Sirius XM, actor Jeffrey Wright, who plays Commissioner Gordon in the film, said that he didn’t recognise Farrell while they were first working together.

“I’ve worked with that makeup artist before and it’s just incredible,” Wright said. “Colin walked onto set one day and I walked right past him.

Colin Farrell wore so much prosthetic make-up for ‘The Batman’ that his co-star Jeffrey Wright didn’t recognise him.

“I was like, ‘OK, hey, what’s happening? Where’s Colin? Are we going to shoot?’ It was pretty remarkable.”

Farrell’s transformation was confirmed on 24 August by The Batman’s lead make-up artist Mike Marino, who shared a picture of the actor dressed as The Penguin on his Instagram.

The Penguin is one of a number of villains in the forthcoming film, which will star Robert Pattinson as Batman. Paul Dano plays The Riddler, Zoe Kravitz is Catwoman and John Turturro is crime boss Carmine Falcone.

Danny DeVito, who played The Penguin in 1992’s Batman Returns, said in August that he was excited to see Farrell’s interpretation of the character.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” DeVito said. “I think that no matter what, he’s going to be great because he’s a great actor.”

The Batman, which is directed by Matt Reeves, will be released on 1 October, 2021.

The Independent