Colin Farrell Discloses Special Technique for Mastering New York Accent in HBO’s The Penguin: ‘I’d Just Say Gefilte Fish’
Colin Farrell not only underwent a major physical transformation for his role in HBO’s series The Penguin but also learned a specific New York accent with some assistance. The actor who stunned audiences with his performance in The Batman as the titular villain Oz Cobb is set to reprise the now-iconic role in its spin-off series.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Farrell revealed that playing the New York gangster came with its challenges. However, one trick came in handy while reciting dialogues in an American accent. Firstly, he explained the detailed process of selecting a peculiar accent for his character that is true to the region he’s from.
“My dialect coach, Jessica Drake, she has a library of thousands of accents from all over the world dating back to the ’30s and ’40s,” he recalled. After listening to multiple different recordings of that region, they narrowed down to the accent, which was good both “energetically” and soundwise — a middle-aged man and manager of an apartment in the 80s.
“He talked a lot about Gefilte fish,” the actor said. “And so whenever my accent started to go, she would call me back and I’d say ‘Gefilte fish’ and that was a little trick,” Farrell added. Now that’s a unique and efficient trick!
The spin-off series follows the aftermath of the events of Gotham City in The Batman, which was released in 2022 and starred Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. In The Penguin, Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot will move heaven and earth, attempting to take the reins of the crime world in Gotham.
Showrunner Lauren LeFranc claims that it’s less of a supervillain story and more of a “grounded character drama” about a very complicated man who’s problematic at times, overly pretentious with a dark sense of humor. “It’s really grounded so there’s really no heroes or villains on our show; there’s just flawed, complicated people,” she added.
As for a cameo from Pattinson as Batman, she denied it, saying it would steal the spotlight from Oz and detract from the plot. “Oz certainly would not appreciate that,” she quipped. The Penguin, which also stars Cristin Milioti, Michael Kelly, and Rhenzy Feliz, will premiere on September 20 on Max.