Colin Farrell Is Packing on the Pounds to Play the Penguin in 'The Batman'

It's kind of difficult to imagine anyone else performing a live-action rendition of classic Batman villain the Penguin after seeing Danny DeVito's take on the crook whose real name is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Then again, people were a bit worried when it was announced that Heath Ledger would be playing the Joker at first, so when it was announced that Colin Farrell was in the lead for the monocle-rocking villain, fans embraced the idea, especially after SEEING the actor's weight gain.

Colin's been recently spotted around Los Angeles rocking some silver hair, while ambling about in sweatpants and holding cups of coffee looking way more portly than he usually does. While a lot of people thought that the white follicular action had something to do with the character, the Irish performer assured that it wasn't. However, his weight gain, was.

It seems like he's packed on even more pounds from the date that photo was taken, because on a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, while regaling the late night host and audience with wonderful stories about his disappointment with 23andme, and the fact that he's the only person in the world with a no-limits Abrakebabra Black Card that allows him free food from the delicious Irish restaurant whenever he wants, he also talked about his role in the upcoming film.

Colin confirmed that the cast is about three weeks away from filming, but that he's already in the process of trying to gain more weight for the character, which he quipped shouldn't be a problem with his Abrakebabra card. He also confirmed some interesting rumors regarding the secrecy of the project that Matt Reeves wrote and is slated to direct.

One of the biggest bombshells is that the script is kept such a big secret that the actors had to read it while in a room. They couldn't take it out of said room nor were they allowed to make any copies or take any photos of it. Colin had joked that he was "chained" to a desk and the pages were "cryogenically frozen," but he went on to call the work that Matt created "gorgeous" and "beautifully dark," while saying that Matt's passion for the project is evident.

He also confirmed that yes, Paul Dano will be playing the Riddler, Zoe Kravitz is Catwoman, and Robert Pattinson (as we all know) is Batman. Jimmy also gave props to Colin's previous turn as a superhero villain in the much-maligned Ben Affleck critical disaster, Daredevil. Colin, of course, played Bullseye and while the movie may have stunk and he got a lot of grief for his turn in the flick, I actually liked him in it too. 

An interesting moment in Colin's interview though was when he jokingly said that he was tired of playing villains because he wants his kids to see him as a good guy on screen, but he guesses he'll have to settle for the fact that he's just a "good guy in real life." It was a strangely warm moment in their discussion, even if Colin was simply "taking the piss," but the thought of a dad wanting to play out the hero role for his children was oddly sweet.

The Batman is still very much a project that is shrouded in secrecy, and aside from the cast members, not much else is really known about the movie. There were reports of some shoots taking place in London, so there's that. And there's also been reports that production isn't really happy with the fact that Robert Pattinson isn't getting "jacked" enough for the film.

Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is, he can be rocking a bat suit most of the time for his fight scenes and while Christian Bale definitely gave us a more muscular version of the caped crusader, especially his beefy and burly Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, R. Patts is a heck of a great actor, and I really think that's all audiences will care about once he dons the cape and cowl to fight crime in the anticipated film.

Originally, Jonah Hill was offered the part, but the Wolf of Wall Street star reportedly turned it down. Matt Reeves has previously helmed the War and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movies, and already has a lot of buzz surrounding this new Batman script. A lot will be riding on his vision for Warner Bros.'s newest iteration of the popular franchise. Are you interested in checking it out?

As for Colin Farrell, you can check him out along with Matthew McConaughey in The Gentlemen, directed by Guy Ritchie, which is out in theaters now.