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Co-starring Manhattan: Golden Globe Winner Colin Farrell Filmed Scenes for The Penguin across NYC

Colin Farrell was spotted numerous times around the streets and highways of Manhattan as “The Penguin” HBO crime drama series was being filmed. He won a Golden Globe on Jan. 5 for best actor in a limited series although he was clearly co-starring with Manhattan.

| 14 Jan 2025 | 11:21
    Colin Farrell was captured on W. 22nd St. off Park Ave. last year while filming “<i>The Penguin,</i>” the HBO crime drama that won him a Golden Globe on Jan. 5. His co-star may have been Manhattan itself.
    Colin Farrell was captured on W. 22nd St. off Park Ave. last year while filming “The Penguin,” the HBO crime drama that won him a Golden Globe on Jan. 5. His co-star may have been Manhattan itself. ( Photo: STEVE SANDS/NEW YORK NEWSWIRE)
    Exterior scenes for the fiction apartment of Oswald “Oz” Cobb aka The Penguin, which are set in a fictional diamond district in Gotham were actually filmed on W. 27th St. in Chelsea between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
    Exterior scenes for the fiction apartment of Oswald “Oz” Cobb aka The Penguin, which are set in a fictional diamond district in Gotham were actually filmed on W. 27th St. in Chelsea between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. ( Photo: HBO)
    That exit sign says “Bristol TownshipI in the series in real life is a sign pointing to the ramp to the Palisades Parkway off the George Washington Bridge.
    That exit sign says “Bristol TownshipI in the series in real life is a sign pointing to the ramp to the Palisades Parkway off the George Washington Bridge. ( Photo: HBO)

“The Penguin” was here, giving some gritty realistic Manhattan street scenes for the HBO crime drama set in the fictional Gotham..

The star Colin Farrell, who was reprising the title role that he played in “The Batman” snagged the best actor in a mini series at the Golden Globes on Jan. 5.

But he was co-starring with the city itself from the streets of Chelsea where the exterior scenes for the fictional apartment of his character Oswald “Oz” Cobb to the George Washington Bridge. Farrell was spotted numerous times around the streets of Manhattan during filming for the series in 2023.

The entrance to the Iceberg Lounge Club with the large metal arches was filmed under Riverside Drive in West Harlem. Oz’s apartment in Gotham’s Diamond District was actually filmed on West 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. And a sign pointing to an off ramp to “Bristol Township” in real life has a sign pointing to the ramp off the George Washington Bridge to the Palisades Parkway.

HBO had actually green lit the series in 2022 and started filming in March 2023, but production was interrupted by Hollywood labor strife when the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA went on strike from May to November that year. Thankfully filming resumed and was viewed on screen over eight episodes from Sept. 19, through Nov. 24, 2024. Farrell went on to snag the best actor award for a limited series at the Golden Globes on Jan. 5.

Farrell wore prosthetics on his face during much of the filming and joked in a self deprecating acceptance speech that obscuring his natural looks played a role in why he won the best actor award.

“All it took was three hours in the chair in the morning,” he told People. “I drank black coffee, listened to ‘80s music, and I became a canvas for that team’s brilliance...I guess it’s prosthetics for here on out,” he said.