The first episode of HBO’s The Penguin has finally premiered. Much to the excitement of fans, Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) now has his own standalone story, and we have been introduced to a new member of the Falcone crime syndicate, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti). Episode 1 gives audiences a brief glimpse into Oz Cobb’s home in the lower ends of Gotham, and it’s safe to say he won’t be winning any awards for interior design. Located in Gotham’s Diamond District, Cobb’s apartment is adorned with tacky furniture, and his bedroom literally is a diamond vault. But every aspect of his “bad taste” was completely intentional by the creative team behind the series.
In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, production designer Kalina Ivanov broke down Oz Cobb’s tacky apartment, and explained the creative choices and design influences behind it. “[Showrunner Lauren LeFranc] described the place, that is shows Oz has bad taste,” Ivanov said. The Penguin follows Oz as he rises through the criminal underbelly of Gotham City, trying to fill the power vacuum left by the death of Carmine Falcone. Ivanov explained that Cobb’s “bad taste” comes from his desperation to present status and act like his former boss Carmine. But, The Penguin doesn’t yet have the means or knowledge to make that possible. She continued:
“He has bad taste, but he’s not a cartoon character, right?
He just has the aspirations of being Carmine, but he doesn’t know yet
, doesn’t have the taste to get there or the education.”
Oz Cobb’s Apartment Reflects His Status as The Penguin
Set in Matt Reeves’ ultra-gritty and hyper-violent world of The Batman,The Penguin explores a new side of Gotham, taking the imitation of New York found in the comics and bringing it to life on screen. Just like Reeves did with The Riddler (Paul Dano) in The Batman, Lauren LeFranc is reinventing The Penguin, removing him from the character’s cartoonish origins in the early comics, and making him feel real and grounded.
While LeFranc and Colin Farrell were adamant about not letting Oz Cobb act like a penguin (unlike Danny DeVito’s version in Batman Returns), elements of his comic book origins made it into the production design. Kalina Ivanov recalled a conversation with Farrell about Cobb’s apartment, and the decision to situate his bedroom inside a vault. Ivanov pitched the idea to Farrell, who absolutely loved it. The actor took the idea and ran with it, installing another layer of meaning to the design choice, relating back to Oz Cobb’s status as The Penguin. She explained:
“I pitched it to Colin, and he was so thrilled with it. He really embraced the idea. And he also said something about the character. It had that coldness and shine. And the reason for the vault, is that it’s shiny, and the penguin likes shiny things, so it served a purpose. Not only was that kind of true to the history of the character and through the history of the building, it gave it a very specific place, but [it’s]
also true to the emotional arc of this character
, or his emotional life and what he is really like inside.”
The Penguin premiered its first episode Sep. 19 and releases weekly on HBO and Max. Past episodes are available to stream on Max. You can watch it and its trailer below:
Watch The Penguin
