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He was born Colin
James Farrell in the Castleknock area of Dublin, at the edge of
Phoenix Park, on March 31st, 1976. The place was fairly
well-to-do, a new money suburb, but Colin came from resolutely
working-class stock. Colin's father Eamon and his uncle Tommy both
played football for Shamrock Rovers. At their Sixties peak they
were the Manchester United of Ireland. Colin was the youngest of
four, his brother Eamon now running a performing arts school in
Dublin, while sisters Catherine and Claudine have both popped up
in Colin's movie productions.
Farrell studied acting at the Gaiety School of Drama in Dubin and
has already established himself as a recognizable talent back home
with a starring role in the BBC series Ballykissangel and Dierdre
Purcell's miniseries Falling for a Dancer, in addition to a
featured role in Tim Roth's directoral debut, The War Zone. Colin
Farrell made his North American theatrical debut in the dramatic
movie, "Tigerland," directed by Joel Schumacher. "Tigerland"
followed a group of American soldiers as they prepared for the
Vietnam War by participating in war games in the backwoods of
Louisiana. Since then, Farrell's gone on to star in such diverse
films as "The Recruit," opposite Al Pacino, and "Daredevil," where
he played the role of the villain 'Bullseye' with devilish charm.
He teamed up again with director Joel Schumacher for "Phone
Booth," a movie that was delayed for many months due to the
real-life sniper shootings in Washington. In "Phone Booth,"
Farrell portrayed a man pinned down in a phone booth by an unseen
sniper.
Farrell also starred alongside Kevin Spacey in Thaddeus
O'Sullivan's Dublin gangster movie, Ordinary Decent Criminal. It
was Spacey who suggested him for the part after catching Farrell's
riveting performance in the play, In a Little World of Our Own at
the Donmar Warehouse in London. Farrell took on the role of Jesse
James in American Outlaws. He also co-starred with Bruce Willis in
Hart's War which was shot on location in Prague, Czech Republic.
He also starred in Stephen Spielberg's Minority Report alongside
Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, and Max Von Sydow.
Ever the ladies man, Farrell was briefly married to Amelia Warner
in 2001, and has a child by his girlfriend, Kim Bordenave. Never
satisfied, he has also been romantically linked with Britney
Spears and Demi Moore. The young Dublin heart-throb looks set for
more conquests in the future, as he stars in Oliver Stone’s
‘Alexander’. |
