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He is an irish actor who is known for his performance in “Tigerland”, “Phone Booth”, “The Recruit” and “Alexander”. Here are some interesting facts about him.
- The handsome Irish hunk, Colin Farrell was born, as Colin James Farrell, on May 31, 1976, in Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland.
- Farrell is the youngest of the four children of Eamon Farrell and Rita (Monaghan).
- His father Eamon Farrell ran a health-food shop and his uncle Tommy Farrell were both athletes and played professional soccer for Shamrock Rovers.
- He has one elder brother Eamon Farrell Jr. and two elder sisters Catherine Farrell and Claudine Farrell.
- Farrell’s brother Eamon, Jr is openly gay and is married to artist Stephen Mannion.
- Farrell’s older sister Claudine is also his personal assistant.
- Farrell took up dancing lessons on his mother’s insistence.
- He was educated at St. Brigid's National School and secondary school at Castleknock College and then at the Gormanston College in County Meath.
- Farrell, when 18 years old, was mistakenly arrested for attempted murder of a teenager while travelling in Sydney, Australia.
- Since he was 12, Farrell suffered from chronic insomnia.
- He was turned downed when he auditioned for the Irish boy band, Boyzone.
- He attended the Gaiety School of Acting on to his brother’s encouragement.
- He dropped out of Gaiety School of Acting to pursue his acting career as he landed the role of Danny Byrne in the BBC series Ballykissangel.
- He worked in “The War Zone” (1999), “Pulp Fiction” fame actor Tim Roth's directorial debut.
- Actor Kevin Spacey led Farrell to his US film debut in Irish gangster drama Ordinary Decent Criminal.
- Farrell rose to stardom through his role as an arrogant soldier Boz which he played with thick Dublin accent for a light Texas drawl in the Joel Schumacher directed “Tigerland” (2000).
- Farrell in a very short duration had worked with few of the industry’s top players.
- He regards Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, James Caan, Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman as his acting idols.
- Farrell was in a relationship with Amelia Warner in 2001, with whom he is rumored to be married.
- However, Farrell accepted to have had ceremony on a beach in Tahiti while on holiday and that it wasn’t anything legal.
- Farrell has the name Millie tattooed on his left ring finger, above the knuckle which was a nickname for his former girlfriend Amelia Warner.
- Farrell sports two more tattoos on his left forearm, black cross and the Latin words Carpe Diem which means Seize the day.
- The Irish actor played the role of the notorious American bandit, Jesse James, in “American Outlaws” (2001) with co-star Scott Caan, son of legendary actor James Caan.
- He starred along Bruce Willis in war film Hart's War (2002).
- He had no qualms in being the second choice, instead of Matt Damon, to play the role of an ambitious agent Danny Witwer in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report (2002).
- Farrell shared screen space with Top Gun actor Tom Cruise in the American neo-noir science fiction mystery-thriller film "Minority Report."
- Farrell reunited with Joel Schumacher for a successful thriller movie “Phone Booth” (2002) opposite Kiefer Sutherland.
- Farrell’s dream to work with his idol, legendary actor Al Pacino, came true when he starred as a young CIA who is mentored by an older CIA veteran (Al Pacino) in a crime thriller “The Recruit” (2003).
- The veteran actor Al Pacino went on to comment and credit Farrell to be "the best actor of his generation."
- One of Farrell’s favorite book is Irvin D. Yalom‘s When Nietzsche Wept.
- In Company magazine, Farrell was voted 6th, in The World's Sexiest Man of 2003.
- Farrell made his first appearance on the Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List and was ranked #98.
- He was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2003.
- “Daredevil” (2003) marks the first time he has been able to use his own Irish accent in an American movie.
- Farrell got a chance to woo his fans with his trademark Irish accent in “Daredevil” (2003) where he was encouraged to keep up his thick Irish accent as his villain character Bullseye in this film’s version is from Ireland.
- In late 2003 Farrell starred in the dark comedy “Intermission,” as a criminal plotting a bank robbery with Cillian Murphy and the film holds the record in the Irish box-office history for three years as the highest-grossing Irish independent film and remains a cult classic.
- Farrell was the original choice for the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil for the film adaptation of the Daredevil comic and Ben Affleck for the part of Bullseye.
- Farrell had tasted success with Daredevil and Phone Booth, and later scored his third success with “S.W.A.T.,” co-starring L.L. Cool J, Michelle Rodriguez, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner.
- Farrell was accompanied by Britney Spears to the “S.W.A.T.” (2003) US- premiere and were seen smooching on his Chateau Marmont hotel-room balcony.
- Apart from Spears, by the end of 2003, Farrell was linked with model Josie Maran, Playboy cover girl Nicole Narain, and to actresses Demi Moore, Angelina Jolie and Maeve Quinlan.
- Farrell had a sex tape controversy with his Playboy cover girl former girlfriend Nicole Narain.
- Farrell’s then girlfriend, model Kim Bordenave, gave birth to a baby boy named James Padraig, on September 12, 2003.
- Farrell’s son James has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which causes intellectual and developmental delay, lack of speech and a happy, excitable demeanor, known as Angelman Syndrome.
- Farrell played the Alexander the Great in Oliver Stone's biographical film “Alexander” (2004) which received favorable international reviews.
- Farrell in 2005 checked into a rehabilitation treatment centre to sought treatment for exhaustion and a problem for his addictions to recreational drugs and painkillers.
- He was considered to play the role of James Bond in Casino Royale (2006).
- Farrell and his co-star Brendan Gleeson both were nominated for Golden Globes for Best Actor, for the "In Bruges" (2008) which was won by Farrell.
- Farrell became a father for the second time to his son Henry Tadeusz Farrell, from his “Ondine” co-star Alicja Bachleda-Curuś in October 2009.
- On his 34th birthday, May 31, 2010.Farrell quit smoking and even wrote a goodbye letter to cigarettes. That night he stubbed out his last cigarette at 11:55pm and has been smoke-free ever since.
- Farrell is expected to join the team of HBO’s True Detective, for its second season, along with Vince Vaughn, Taylor Kitsch, and Rachel McAdams.
