After his stunning transformation into the iconic Batman villain, the Penguin, in The Batman, Colin Farrell is set to reprise the role in the spinoff series The Penguin. Viewers intrigued by his role as the mobster and channeling of Tony Soprano may be interested in his other acclaimed performances.
Check out our guide for the best movies and TV shows featuring Colin Farrell that you can stream today on platforms like Max, Hulu, and Disney+.
In 2022, Colin Farrell became one of four actors, alongside Robert Lord Taylor, Danny DeVito, and Burgess Meredith, to portray Oswald Cobblepot (a.k.a. The Penguin) in live-action. He starred opposite Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ Batman movie. Farrell is nearly unrecognizable as the scarred, balding villain who lurks in the background, waiting for his opening to become Gotham’s Kingpin. He has been hailed as one of the best iterations of the character and is set to return for The Penguin and The Batman Part II.
Although the Penguin is one of his most recognizable roles, Farrell most frequently thrives in movies with a touch of absurdism and black comedy, such as The Banshees of Inisherin. Farrell took home his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as the naive but kind-hearted Pádraic Súilleabháin, who is perplexed when his lifelong friend, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), breaks off their friendship to devote his life to music. The humorous and surprisingly morbid tale of a broken friendship and loneliness earned 9 Oscar nominations.
Colin Farrell’s adeptness at black comedy has suited him well for Yorgos Lanthimos’ movies, which embody the Greek Weird Wave movement. He starred in Lanthimos’ The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. In the former, he shines once again as a lonely man, David, who must find a partner lest he be turned into a lobster. Its wildly ambitious and ambiguous premise and the performance of Farrell, Olivia Colman, and Ben Winshaw make The Lobster one of Lanthimos’ most memorable films. Farrell also led the critically acclaimed The Killing of a Secret Deer as Steven Murphy, a doctor whose family is terrorized by a teenage boy, Martin (Barry Keoghan).
Colin Farrell’s versatility means that he can seamlessly transition between ambitious absurdist and indie films and blockbusters and comedies. He played a prominent role in Guy Ritchie’s gangster film The Gentlemen and appeared as the Auror Percival Graves in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, two movies that became successful franchises. Like most actors, he also has a few hidden gems to his filmography, such as the biographical drama Thirteen Lives, which captures the Tham Luang Nang Non cave rescue, and Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Minority Report.
Where to watch the best Colin Farrell movies and shows online
Check out our list below to find where to watch all of Colin Farrell’s best performances online in the U.S., ranked from the best based on his role and film quality.