From Left: Colin Farrell; Heath Ledger; and Joaquin Phoenix. Photo:
Penske Media via Getty; FilmMagic; Dave Benett/Getty Images for Apple
Colin Farrell is making history!
On Sunday, Jan. 5, the actor, 48, reflected on becoming the third actor to win a Golden Globe award for playing a Batman villain, along with Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, after his historic win at the 2025 ceremony.
While speaking with press after winning the trophy for best male actor in a limited or anthology series for his role as the titular Gotham gangster in the HBO series The Penguin, he called Ledger and Phoenix, 50, “extraordinary talents.”
Colin Farrell poses during the 82nd Golden Globes on Jan. 5, 2025. Penske Media via Getty
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Ledger, who died at 28 years old in January 2008, posthumously won best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight. Phoenix later won best actor in a motion picture drama for playing the same role in 2019’s Joker.
“Dark Knight was extraordinary and will live on for future generations,” Farrell said of Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman franchise, adding, “And what Joaquin did in the Joker was exemplified by all the awards that [he] won.”
The actor also said that it feels “lovely” to have his name “in the same sentence as those performances,” although he still approaches “it all” from a “fan” perspective. “I don’t feel like I’m part of that pantheon,” the Sugar star said.
Colin Farrell in ‘The Penguin’. Macall Polay/HBO
While accepting his third Golden Globe win, Farrell joked about the massive physical transformation required to portray Oswald “Oz” Cobb — a role he first originated in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. “No one to thank on this one. I did it all by myself,” the actor quipped when he took the stage. “Just a raw, paired away performance.”
He went on to thank makeup artist Michael Marino, who designed the Penguin’s look, as well as his “extraordinary” team. “All it took was three hours in the chair in the morning,” Farrell explained. “I drank black coffee, listened to ’80s music and I became a canvas for that team’s brilliance.”
“I guess it’s prosthetics for here on out,” he teased.
In September 2024, Farrell opened up to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview about the transformation, saying, “I had a bodysuit, so I was basically covered wrist to ankle. Only things that were me were my hands and feet.”
He praised Marino at the time, adding, “If it wasn’t for Mike’s design, I’m telling you now, if it was just me with a f—ing cigarette and a top hat and a bit of a limp and an umbrella that was a machine gun, we wouldn’t have had the HBO show.”
