Colin Farrell

The Biography of Colin Farrel

Colin Farrell is an Irish actor, most popular in the first half of the 2000s: «Tigerland», «Minority Report», «The Recruit», «Alexander», «Daredevil», «Miami Vice». Back in 2008, his appearance in Martin McDonagh’s «In Bruges» earned him a Golden Globe. His protagonist in season two of «True Detective» was highly appreciated as well. He also played Percival Graves in «Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them», the screenplay of which was written by the author of «Harry Potter» J. K. Rowling.

Colin James Farrell

Childhood and family

Colin Farrell was born in the family of the professional footballer Eamon Farrell, the defender of the Shamrock Rovers Irish FC, and he was the family’s fourth child. The actor has a brother, namesake of his father – Eamon, as well as two sisters – Catherine and Claudine. The latter works as a personal assistant for her celebrity brother.

Childhood photos of Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell had wanted to become an actor since he was 7 years old, after watching Steven Spielberg’s «E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial» movie. He still remembers the final sequence that moved him to tears, when the alien leaves his friend Elliott and returns to the spaceship. After that, both he and his brother got enrolled at the Gaiety School of Acting.

В St. Brigid’s National School Castleknock

Young Colin Farrell wasn’t easy to handle at all. Things only got worse when he turned 10 and his family relocated to the suburbs of Dublin, to a dull and sparsely populated town called Castleknock. Since there wasn’t much to do around there, Colin preferred to hit the bars with his friends and shoplift, rather than stay in school with his peers. Perhaps the only thing he was truly good at was football – there was a time he planned to follow in his father’s and uncle’s footsteps, who also played for Shamrock Rovers.

Young Colin Farrell was quite the rebel

Right before his final exams, 17-year-old Colin was expelled from school, despite his success in football. He had a fight with the teacher, who had caught him dozing off during his class. Following the incident, the young rebel attempted, and unsuccessfully so, to join the Irish pop-band Boyzone, after which he left for Australia with his friends for a year.

Colin Farrell singing in Russian («The Way Back»)

Acting career

Upon returning to Dublin, Farrell tried his luck at acting once again, following his brother’s advice. It turned out that time couldn’t dim his talent. In 1996, Colin made his debut on the screen in the drama «The Disappearance of Finbar», but his role was so insignificant, that his name didn’t even make it in the credits. A year after, he played in the short movie «Drinking Crude», and in 1988, he got a small role in the series «Ballykissangel», telling the story of a priest’s life.

Soon enough, Colin started making a living with his appearance in commercials. On top of that, he also gained experience working at the theater: Colin had several appearances on the stage of the London theater «Donmar Warehouse». In one of his performances, he had to portray Richard, a teenager suffering from autism; this role led to him meeting Kevin Spacey. He was fond of young Farrell’s performance, and he endorsed the actor for a secondary role in his movie «Ordinary Decent Criminal».

Young Colin Farrell in the movie «Ordinary Decent Criminal»

The dawn of the new millennium was marked with Colin’s first big appearance on the screen. He passed the auditions for Joel Schumacher’s anti-war movie «Tigerland». This movie is about a training camp in Louisiana, where recruits have to undergo brutal military training before flying to Vietnam. Farrell played private Rolland, a renegade, and pacifist, who was resolute to avoid deployment at any cost. Farrell’s performance was highly appreciated by the Boston and London Society of Film Critics («Best actor» and «Best debut»).

Colin Farrell’s first remarkable role («Tigerland»)

Two years after, Farrell collaborated yet again with Schumacher («Phone Booth» movie). This time, he got to play the slick impresario Stu, cornered in a deadly trap for his sins.

»Phone Booth»: Colin Farrell as the brilliant agent Stu

At the beginning of the 2000s, the actor had several remarkable works: bandit Jesse James in the western «American Outlaws», lieutenant Tommy Hart in the war drama «Hart’s War», where Colin had to share set with Bruce Willis (who played the colonel imprisoned in a German war camp), as well as the brilliant trainee-programmer, James Clayton, in the spy thriller «The Recruit» with Al Pacino. By the by, at the beginning of the movie, real childhood pictures from the actor’s family archive, of Colin Farrell and his father, were shown.

Moreover, in 2002, he appeared in Steven Spielberg’s thriller «Minority Report». This film quickly became the greatest event of the year, with a worldwide box office gross of 358 million dollars. Then, the adaptation of «Daredevil» came to being, with Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck. Farrell got the role of the psychopath nicknamed Bullseye, the antagonist of the superhero Daredevil. His charismatic performance and striking appearance (in 2003, People even included him in the list of the top 50 sexiest people of the world), won the villain the love of Marvel universe fans.

»Daredevil»: Colin Farrell as Bullseye

In 2004, the actor appeared in Oliver Stone’s high-budget Hollywood blockbuster «Alexander». However, despite the film’s grandeur and its famous cast, among which Angelina Jolie (Olympias), Val Kilmer (Philip), Jared Leto (Hephaestion) and Anthony Hopkins (Ptolemy), the film barely covered the $155 million spent on its making. Moreover, the director was blamed for misrepresenting the character of Alexander the Great (in the movie, he was represented as bisexual), and Colin Farrell himself was nominated for the mock award «The Golden Raspberry».

»Alexander»: Colin Farrell and Jared Leto showed the real meaning of true male friendship

In 2005, Colin starred in the action movie «Miami Vice», a peculiar remake of the 80s series. Together with Jamie Foxx, they had to go undercover in a drug cartel and shut down a major drug operation.

Still from the thriller «Miami Vice»

In 2007, the actor appeared in Woody Allen’s drama «Cassandra’s Dream», a story about two brothers: the «bad» one, playboy and renegade, played by Farrell, making him reminisce about his school days, and the «good» one, almost pristine (Ewan McGregor).

Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor co-starring in «Cassandra’s Dream»

Colin Farrell’s acting in the art-house film which came out the same year, «In Bruges», earned him a Golden Globe. He played the young and inexperienced mercenary, who later committed an irreparable mistake, which led to him being hunted by his better-skilled colleague.

»In Bruges» Colin Farrell was awarded a Golden Globe

It seemed that after that performance, the actor himself decided to keep a low profile. During that period, several run-of-the-mill works made their way in his filmography: «Horrible Bosses», «Miss Julie», «Saving Mr. Banks», «Fright Night»... In 2012, he starred in the 1990-year remake of «Total Recall» with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie didn’t receive a warm welcome (the comparison to its original counterpart didn’t turn out in the remake’s favor), but it brought Farrell’s his once forgotten popularity. Shortly after, the dark humor comedy «Seven Psychopaths» and action movie «Dead Man Down» came to light, of course, with Farrell as the star.

Farrell starring in the «Total Recall» remake in 2012

Not that long after, the actor starred in the second season of the iconic «True Detective» series, enabling Farrell to prove once again that he is an amazing drama actor, and not yet another good-looking wannabe Hollywood actor. His detective character Ray Velcoro – corrupts and rogue; collaborating with the mafia and not hesitant in using brute force as a means to his end. However, the second season, according to the critics, didn’t live up to the intensity of the first one, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Even so, in general, it still got positive reviews.

Still from the «True Detective» series

His performance in the absurdist movie «The Lobster» was very engaging. The scene was set in a town, more precisely, in a hotel – the people residing there have to find their better half in 45 days, otherwise, they will be transformed into animals. «The Lobster», without any doubt, has caused a great furor at the Cannes movie festival in 2015, winning 3 of the 4 nominations: «Jury Prize», «Queer Palm» and «Dog Palm». The prize for the main nomination («Palme d’Or), however, was snatched away from «The Lobster» by the French drama «Dheepan», telling the story of the assimilation of Sri Lankan refugees in the Parisian slums.

Colin Farrell in «The Lobster»

In 2016, the first of the minimum 5 parts of the new Harry Potter movie series was released. The blockbuster «Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them» brought Colin Farrell the role of Percival Graves, an Auror and head of MACUSA’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The main role – of Newt, magizoologist – was played by British actor Eddie Redmayne.

In 2016, Colin Farrell played in the new Harry Potter-verse movie

In 2018, the actor appeared in the thriller "Widows", as the corrupt politician Tom Mulligan", and teamed up with Denzel Washington in the crime thriller "Roman J. Israel, Esq".

Colin Farrell’s personal life

Although tabloids tend to misportray him as a real heartbreaker, Colin Farrell doesn’t get distracted by every skirt that passes him by, although you can’t call him a family man either. Soon after his success in «Tigerland», he married the novice actress Amelia Warner, who was barely 20 years old at the time.

Amelia Warner was Colin Farrell’s first wife

Not even a year after they got divorced, and in September 2002, Colin Farrell became a father for the first time, but the mother of his newborn son James wasn’t Amelia, but the Canadian model Kim Bordenave. Not long after the birth of his son, he was diagnosed with a serious genetic anomaly, scientifically known as the Angelman syndrome. Perhaps the child’s developmental delay led to Colin’s and Kim’s divorce.

In the photo: Colin Farrell and Kim Bordenave

At the end of 2005, the actor decided to check himself into a clinic, to get rid of his drug addiction. The official version of the story states that Colin Farrell’s addiction was sparked by his abuse of painkillers, which he took for his back pain.

Farrell’s eldest son James (on the right) and his youngest – Henry (on the left)

A year after, Farrell was the main character of a scandal – his ex-lover, Playboy model Nicole Narain shared their sex tape online.

Farrell’s ex-lover Nicole Narain leaked the actor’s compromising tape

In 2008, on the set of the melodrama «Ondine», Farrell met Polish actress Alicja Bachleda, who became the mother of his second son – Henry Tadeusz Farrell. However, this relationship wasn’t meant to last long.

Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda at the premiere of «Ondine»

The name of Colin Farrell’s current girlfriend is unknown – in May 2016, paparazzi caught the actor kissing another woman, who seemed to have no connection whatsoever to the showbiz world since not even the actor’s most loyal fans couldn’t recognize her.

The name of Colin Farrell’s current girlfriend is still a mystery

Colin Farrell in the present day

In 2020, Colin Farrell was busy filming "Batman", whose premiere is scheduled for 2021. His partners on the set were Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz.

Colin Farell in 2020

Paul Griffith

The most good movie with Colin is in Seven Psychopaths and there is nothing else

2021-04-15 23:19:01
Elizabeth Jones

Farrell is still in his prime, many movies should come out with him, I guess in 2020 something will release

2021-04-12 12:03:30
Frank Adkins

Good that they took him to The Gentlemen. I like how he played there his role :)

2021-04-11 11:27:26
Hilda Reyes

Colin has a very bright appearance so it`s easy to remember him in the movies and he is not bad as an actor

2021-04-06 10:10:59
Matthew Adrian Hughes

I remember the time when Farrell was playing almost in every movie, I saw him all the time

2021-02-25 12:57:22

Photos: Colin Farrell

The Biography of Colin Farrel

Childhood and family

Acting career

Colin Farrell’s personal life

Colin Farrell in the present day

Colin Farrell - latest news and articles