Danny DeVito gets real about “lusting after” Michelle Pfeiffer on the Batman Returns set in a new chat with Colin Farrell.
Danny DeVito is opening up about his longtime crush on co-star Michelle Pfeiffer during the making of Batman Returns.
In a new Variety “Actors on Actors” chat with Colin Farrell, DeVito, 80, didn’t hold back when reminiscing about their time filming the 1992 Tim Burton classic.
“She was a goddess,” DeVito said, recalling Pfeiffer’s role as the unforgettable Catwoman. Playing the creepy-yet-comedic Penguin, he confessed he got “all flushed” whenever she was on set, even asking for “another pound of makeup” to prepare for scenes with her.
When Farrell jokingly asked if he made sure to brush his teeth on days he worked with her, DeVito laughed and added, “It was very difficult… I lusted after her.”
DeVito also cheekily suggested that Pfeiffer’s Catwoman might have been into his version of the Penguin: “I kind of feel like she liked it. She liked Oswald.”
While Catwoman rejected Penguin’s advances in the film, DeVito gave the twisted duo a second chance years later. In 2021, he wrote a short story for Gotham City Villains— a comic book anthology — where Penguin and Catwoman were romantically linked. “I’ve always been a big fan of Michelle Pfeiffer’s,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time.
Farrell, who portrayed the Penguin in the 2024 HBO series The Penguin, asked DeVito if he’d return to the role. Without hesitation, DeVito replied, “Absolutely.” He praised the dark, theatrical style of Burton’s Batman Returns, saying the operatic visuals, music, and drama made it his favorite. “Oswald’s realm and his penguins and his passion — I loved that,” he said, joking that his character would happily live in the sewers “as long as Catwoman visits once in a while.”
While DeVito continues as Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — with season 17 premiering July 9 on FXX — Farrell is set for big screen returns in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (Sept. 19) and The Ballad of a Small Player. He’ll also reprise his Penguin role in the upcoming The Batman sequel.
Source PEOPLE
