Colin Farrell Reveals Unwatched TV Watchlist

Colin Farrell revealed he’s still behind on some of TV’s biggest hits during the New York premiere of The Penguin, where he reprises his role as Gotham’s infamous Oswald “Oz” Cobb. When reporters mentioned that his portrayal is being compared to The Sopranos, Colin was both amused and surprised, admitting he’s barely seen the show.

At 48, Colin confessed that while he appreciates the comparisons to such legendary series, he’s only watched a couple of episodes of The Sopranos and still needs to catch up on Breaking Bad and The Wire. 

He expressed how flattered he is by the connection, acknowledging the groundbreaking influence these series had on television. 

“That, kind of, in their time, changed the face of television and opened up possibilities for other shows,” he stated, adding, “So what do I think of when I hear about those comparisons? Nothing but compliments. You know, they’re revered and deeply loved shows by so many people. So that’s — they’re cool comparisons. I think there are worse ones you could make.”

Making the evening even more special, Colin was joined on the red carpet by his 14-year-old son, Henry, with whom he shares a close bond. 

The actor also has a 21-year-old son, James, though both boys are notably unimpressed with their father’s career as a villain on-screen. 

In a previous interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2022, he joked that his sons seem tired of seeing him play the bad guy.

“They’re sick of me being a bad guy. Which apparently, reading between the lines, leads me to believe that they think I’m okay,” he shared.

For The Penguin, Farrell went through a dramatic transformation to fully inhabit the iconic Gotham villain. Reflecting on seeing himself in full makeup, he likened the experience to watching a cat react to its own reflection — a strange but powerful moment of disorientation. Despite the drastic change in appearance, Farrell found the experience incredibly immersive, describing it as almost hypnotic.

In his words to PEOPLE: “Do you ever see cats looking at themselves in the mirror? How they recoil and they just don’t know [it’s them]? It was strange. It’s not like I ever fully lost sense of myself, but it was a very powerful thing to know yourself a certain way for 45 years and to see a reflection. And it also kind of made me aware of how much I identified with how I look.”