SPOILER ALERT: This story contains key plot details from the finale of HBO’s ‘The Penguin,’ now streaming on Max.

It was a dark night on set.

During a Q&A following a screening of the finale of “The Penguin” at the Saban Media Center on Nov. 10, Colin Farrell described the somber tone felt by the collective cast and crew on the night of their final filming for the limited-edition Max series.

This was the night Farrell filmed the show’s shocking finale, in which his character Oswald Cobb kills beloved student Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz).

Feliz described the moment before his death as perhaps the most vulnerable interaction between Oz and Victor in the entire series. He suggested that the internal layers of masculinity between the two men prevent them from explicitly saying the words “I love you”, and that Victor conveyed this message to Oz by comparing the latter to the closest thing the young teenager has to family .

“It really was the last vestige of innocence,” Farrell said of the scene. “Someone who had given so much of his life, who had suffered so much loss and sacrificed so much loyalty and so much love… it was seeing that light snuffed out by the person he had offered it all to.”

The Irish actor talked about how the team behind ‘The Penguin’ had spent a year together at that point, which led to an extremely close bond between the cast and crew. He shared both his hatred and respect for this story that ended with Victor’s arc.

“There was a dark energy that night,” Farrell said. “If you’re going to ask the audience to fall in love with the character, which I think the audience fell in love with Rhenzy’s Vic, there’s a world where the crew is going to fall in love with that character too.”

Deirdre O’Connell, who plays Oz’s mother Francis Cobb, said she shed a special tear on the last page of the series’ final episode as she lay in a vegetative state, unable to experience the penthouse promise that promised her gangster’s son has finally fulfilled. to her.

O’Connell explained that she thought about the heartbreaking scene almost every day during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. She said she had no specific plan for how to perform her performance in Francis’ final moment, but Farrell did something creepy that forced her to respond.

“I don’t even know if he knew he was doing it and I don’t know how a human being can do it, but he withdrew his love,” O’Connell said. “It was absolutely clear in the room that Oz was withdrawing his love and I felt it, and my blood ran cold. He gave me the tear.”

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc explained how she wanted to create a version of Oz that is flawed but still inspires empathy in viewers. She expressed her desire to present this portrayal of Oswald Cobb as an exploration of the man in the antagonist, which fans of the Batman universe may be familiar with from previous screen or comic portrayals.

Farrell highlighted the character’s complexity and multifaceted psychology as crucial aspects behind his decision to commit to the role. He added that it was LeFranc’s understanding of the relationship between Oz and Francis – particularly the emotional subtext of the relationships between sons and their mothers – that ultimately captivated him.

“It was so human and so relatable,” Farrell said. “It was painful, but there was also beauty in it.”