Colin Farrell says his Penguin character wasn't allowed to smoke in 'The Batman': 'I fought valiantly for a cigar'

• Colin Farrell told entertainment reporter Jake Hamilton that fought to have a cigar in "The Batman."

• Farrell's character Penguin is known for having a cigar or cigarette holder.

• Farrell told him that the studio wouldn't even allow him to even have an unlit cigar.

"The Batman" Penguin actor, Colin Farrell says he wasn't allowed to have his character's signature cigar in the movie.

The new movie about the iconic comic book vigilante shows Batman (played by Robert Pattinson) in his early years of crime-fighting and also sets up the origin for notorious villains such as Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman. Farrell plays Oswald Cobblepot, who in the comics becomes the crime kingpin, Penguin.

In an interview with entertainment reporter Jake Hamilton, Farrell was asked if his character may evolve in future projects to become more like the comic counterpart who is known for wearing a monocle, top hat, and smoking a cigar.

"I don't think the cigarette and the holders will," Farrell responded. "The big studios make big decisions around such things as the presence of cigarettes in films."

The Irish actor said: "I fought valiantly for a cigar. I even at one stage said, 'I can have it unlit. Just let me have it unlit.' And they were like, 'no,' like a bunch of 12-year-olds were going to start smoking Cuban cigars because of [it]."

During the interview, John Turturro, who plays Penguin's current crime boss Carmine Falcone, said he would pay to see Farrell "discover the cigarette holder."

"That would be a good moment," Farrell then said in response. "HBO give me the green light for that one."

Farrell also said that his performance in "The Batman" is "the tip of the iceberg" in terms of showing the true Penguin character and that he would love to explore more. This could hint that the Penguin HBO Max spin-off series, which was reported by Variety but not confirmed by the streaming platform, could be in the works.

In the past, DC movies and series that are spin-offs of official movies have been released on HBO Max such as "Peacemaker," which was a spin-off of James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad."

"The Batman" also already has a prequel series in the works. In 2020, Warner Bros announced that a series focused on Gotham's police department in Batman's first year as a vigilante will be developed by "The Batman" director, Matt Reeves.

"The Batman" is out on March 4 and also stars Zoe Kravitz, Andy Serkis, and Jeffrey Wright.

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