Colin Farrell had a prosthetic "penguin penis" for 'The Penguin'.

The 48-year-old actor is virtually unrecognisable as Oz Cobb in the new HBO series and he praised the extensive work put in by his make-up artist Mike Marino, who spent three hours a day on the star's transformation having previously done the same when he first played the role in 2022's 'The Batman'.

Colin told People magazine: "I had a bodysuit, so I was basically covered wrist to ankle. Only things that were me were my hands and feet. Everything else, including ears, were pieces. Everything was covered.

"If it wasn't for Mike's design, I'm telling you now, if it was just me with a f****** 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."

Of a scene that required him to be naked, he added: "Marino is so twisted and brilliant. He was like, 'I made you a penguin penis.'

"I said, 'Really? They're not even going to see it. I don't know if I want to walk on set with a penguin penis.' And he was like, 'No, no, no, dude. It's detachable, it's Velcro. It's got a beak at the end of it.' So I had a penguin penis."

The biggest part of the actor's bodysuit was around his shoulders and back.

He explained: "That was kind of the anchor and it came up to the chin. And then the bodysuit would go under it. They were nice enough to give me a hump as well."

And despite the time and effort his look took every day, Colin was "never bored" because it involved so many different things.

He said: "I mean, by the time we'd get to two hours and 45 minutes, I'd be a little bit...

"Because they had to spray paint like seven different pieces, ball cap, wig on top of ball cap, and then they'd get into spraying every little pockmark, every little zit, every little crease, every little scar."

The Irish star was amazed by his transformation when he saw it for the first time.

He said: "I couldn't believe it, yeah. I'd never done anything like it. You're moving your face and seeing what happens. I knew expressions manifested a particular way through the mask and how beautifully it was designed, so I just went for it."