Looks like his role as The Penguin in the DC franchise has given Colin Farrell a taste for the criminal underworld. The Oscar-nominated Irish actor stars as a hardboiled Hollywood detective in the eight-episode limited series "Sugar," coming to Apple TV+ on Friday, April 5.
Billed as a contemporary and unique take on the detective genre, "Sugar" follows one private eye's plunge into the darkest corners of Tinseltown as he attempts to unravel the mystery of a missing girl. Here's the official synopsis from Apple TV+:
"Colin Farrell stars as John Sugar, an American private investigator on the heels of the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Siegel, the beloved granddaughter of legendary Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel. As Sugar tries to determine what happened to Olivia, he will also unearth Siegel family secrets; some very recent, others long-buried."
In addition to his starring role, Colin Farrell also serves as an executive producer on "Sugar," which was created by Mark Protosevich ("I Am Legend"). The series was directed by Oscar-nominated Brazilian auteur Fernando Meirelles ("City of God," "The Two Popes") and Emmy-nominated TV veteran Adam Arkin ("The Offer," "Succession").
Apple TV+
Colin Farrell is joined by an impressive roster of co-stars, including Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad"), Kirby Howell-Baptiste ("The Sandman"), Amy Ryan ("The Wire"), James Cromwell ("Succession") and Dennis Boutsikaris ("Better Call Saul"). Nate Corddry ("Mindhunter"), Lindsay Pulsipher ("True Blood") Sydney Chandler ("Don't Worry Darling") and Alex Hernandez ("Invasion") round out the cast.
In a 2023 interview, Fernando Meirelles gushed about working with Colin Farrell on "Sugar," noting that the duo crafted the series as a team. "I think Colin had the best collaboration I've ever had with an actor. We built his character and the series with a lot of exchanges," Meirelles said.
He added that the show was inspired by classic Hollywood noir (think "The Third Man," "The Maltese Falcon" or Hitchcock's thrillers). "'Sugar' is a detective story based on film noir, the detective stories of the '40s and '50s. I signed an NDA and I can't say any more or I'll go to jail."
Apple TV+
"Sugar" is certainly not Colin Farrell's first foray into noir fare. Who can forget the tragedy of Ray Velcoro in the much-maligned second season of "True Detective," in which Farrell was the best part? Then there's his transformation into Gotham's beaky gangster, The Penguin, in Matt Reeves' "The Batman" (2022) — a role which Farrell will reprise in Max's "The Penguin" miniseries premiering sometime in 2024.
The first three episodes of "Sugar" premiere Friday, April 5 on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly.
