‘It Was An Extremely Uncomfortable Day For Colin’: The Penguin Director Breaks Down Filming Oz’s Nude Interrogation Scene From Episode 1
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 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:
