Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell (/ˈfærəl/; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various awards and nominations, including two Golden Globe Awards and a nomination for an Academy Award. The Irish Times named him Ireland's fifth-greatest film actor in 2020, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.[1][2]
For other people named Colin Farrell, see Colin Farrell (disambiguation).
Colin Farrell
Farrell began acting in the BBC drama series Ballykissangel (1998) and made his film debut in the drama The War Zone (1999). His first lead film role was in the war drama Tigerland (2000), and he made his breakthrough in Steven Spielberg's science fiction film Minority Report (2002). He took on high-profile roles as Bullseye in Daredevil (2003) and as Alexander the Great in Alexander (2004), with further starring roles in Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006) and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007).
Farrell earned acclaim for playing a rookie hitman in Martin McDonagh's comedy In Bruges (2008), winning a Golden Globe Award. He went on to play a variety of leading and character roles in the comedy Horrible Bosses (2011), the science fiction film Total Recall (2012), the drama Saving Mr. Banks (2013), the dark comedies Seven Psychopaths (2012), The Lobster (2015), and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), the thrillers The Beguiled (2017) and Widows (2018), and the fantasy films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Dumbo (2019). He also starred in the second season of HBO's thriller series True Detective (2015).
In 2022, Farrell played Penguin in the superhero film The Batman, and gained acclaim for his roles in the science fiction drama After Yang, the survival film Thirteen Lives, and McDonagh's drama The Banshees of Inisherin. For playing a naïve Irishman in the lattermost, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and another Golden Globe, in addition to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.[3]
Early life[edit]
Colin James Farrell was born in the Castleknock suburb of Dublin on 31 May 1976, to Rita (née Monaghan) and Eamon Farrell. His father played football for Shamrock Rovers FC and ran a health food shop. Colin played for Castleknock Celtic FC, and the team was managed by his father.[4] His uncle, Tommy Farrell, also played for Shamrock Rovers. He has an older brother named Eamon Jr.[5] and two sisters named Claudine (who now works as his personal assistant)[6][7] and Catherine.[8] He was educated at St. Brigid's National School, followed by the exclusive all-boys private school Castleknock College, and then Gormanston College in County Meath. He unsuccessfully auditioned for the boy band Boyzone around this time.[7]
He was inspired to try acting when Henry Thomas' performance in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) moved him to tears.[9] With his brother's encouragement, he attended the Gaiety School of Acting, but dropped out when he was cast as Danny Byrne in the BBC drama Ballykissangel.[10] While traveling in Sydney at the age of 18, Farrell became a suspect in an attempted murder case.[11] The police sketch looked remarkably like him and he had even described blacking out during the night in question; his only alibi was a journal kept by his friend, which explained that the two had been taking MDMA on the other side of town that night.[12]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Farrell had roles in television shows and films, including Ballykissangel and Falling for a Dancer in 1998 and 1999.[13][14] He made his feature film debut in English actor Tim Roth's directorial debut, The War Zone,[13] a drama about child sexual abuse, starring Ray Winstone and Tilda Swinton as parents of a girl Farrell's character (Nick) dates.[15] Farrell also appeared in Ordinary Decent Criminal with Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino, a film loosely based on the life of Martin Cahill.[13] In 2000, Farrell was cast in the lead role of Private Roland Bozz in Tigerland, directed by Joel Schumacher.[13] He reportedly got the part on the basis of his charm.[14] Emanuel Levy of Variety said that Farrell "shines as the subversive yet basically decent lad whose cynicism may be the only sane reaction to a situation".[16] Michael Holden of The Guardian wrote that Farrell was "too much the hero" to fit the classic rebel archetype properly, but he still delivered a good performance.[17] Tigerland earned $139,500.[14]
2001–2003: First box office successes[edit]
Farrell's next American films, American Outlaws (2001) and Hart's War (2002), were not commercially successful.[18][19] His 2002–2003 films, including Phone Booth, The Recruit and S.W.A.T. (all thrillers, with the former two his first starring roles),[20] were well received by critics and successful at the box office.[20] Of Phone Booth, Roger Ebert wrote that it is "Farrell's to win or lose, since he's onscreen most of the time, and he shows energy and intensity".[21] Philip French of The Guardian praised Farrell's performance.[22] In S.W.A.T., Farrell starred in an ensemble cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, Olivier Martinez and Jeremy Renner; Renner became a friend. Alan Morrison of Empire wrote, "Farrell can usually be relied upon to bring a spark to the bonfire. That's also true of [this movie]."[23] Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times criticised Farrell's accent, writing that he "employ[ed] a wobbly American accent that makes him sound like an international criminal a step ahead of the authorities".[24] Ebert and The New York Times' A.O. Scott disagreed on Farrell's effectiveness in The Recruit; Ebert noted Farrell's likability,[25] but Scott felt that Farrell "spends his time in a caffeinated frenzy, trying to maintain his leading-man sang-froid while registering panic, stress and confusion".[26] Phone Booth earned $46.6 million,[27] S.W.A.T. $116.9 million[28] and The Recruit $52.8 million[29] at the box office.
Farrell's supporting roles include an ambitious Justice Department agent opposite Tom Cruise as a "potential criminal" in Minority Report (2002),[30] and the villain Bullseye in Daredevil (2003). Matt Damon was originally offered the Minority Report role, turning it down to appear in Ocean's Eleven.[31] Farrell said "he had no problem" being the producer's fallback after Damon declined.[32] Farrell was signed to the role in December 2001, although he was considered for the lead role of Matt Murdock (Daredevil) until Ben Affleck signed.[20][33] Farrell was encouraged to keep his Irish accent, since this version of Bullseye is from Ireland.[34] He read Frank Miller's Daredevil comics to understand Bullseye "because the expression on the character's faces in the comic books, and just the way they move sometimes, and the exaggerations of the character I'm playing... he's so over-the-top that you do draw from that. But it's not exactly a character you can do method acting for...you know, running around New York killing people with paper clips".[35] In 2003, he was voted sixth World's "Sexiest Man" by Company magazine.[36]
Charity work[edit]
In 2007, Farrell joined other celebrities as a spokesperson for the Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai.[125] He also lent his support to the anti-bullying campaign Stand Up! organised by the Irish LGBT youth organisation BeLonG To in March 2012.[126] Farrell, whose brother, Eamonn, is gay,[127] had appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show two years earlier to increase awareness of the subject.[128]
In 2015, he became an official Ambassador of the Homeless World Cup, which uses street football to inspire homeless people to change their lives.[129]
He is an advocate for people afflicted with Angelman Syndrome.