Colin Farrell

Colin James Farrell (/ˈfærəl/; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. He first appeared in the BBC drama series Ballykissangel (1998), then made his film debut in the drama film The War Zone (1999), and was discovered by Hollywood upon taking the lead role in the war drama film Tigerland (2000). He then portrayed outlaw Jesse James in the Western film American Outlaws (2001) before starring in the thriller films Phone Booth (2002), S.W.A.T., and The Recruit (both 2003), establishing his international box office appeal. During that time, he also appeared in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi thriller Minority Report (2002) and as the supervillain Bullseye in the film Daredevil (2003).

After starring in the independent films Intermission (2003) and A Home at the End of the World (2004), Farrell portrayed Alexander the Great in the biopic Alexander (2004) and starred in the historical romantic drama film The New World (2005). He followed these with roles in Miami Vice (2006), Ask the Dust (2006), and Cassandra's Dream (2007), underscoring his popularity; his role in the comedy film In Bruges (2008) earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He next starred in the black comedy film Horrible Bosses, for which he received critical praise, along with comedy-horror film Fright Night (both 2011), sci-fi action film Total Recall, and black comedy crime film Seven Psychopaths (both 2012).

In 2013, Farrell starred in the action film Dead Man Down and the quasi-biopic Saving Mr. Banks, in which he portrayed the father of P. L. Travers. He starred as Peter Lake in the supernatural fable Winter's Tale (2014), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mark Helprin, and portrayed Detective Ray Velcoro in the second season of HBO's True Detective (2015). He also starred in the film The Lobster (2015), for which he was nominated for his second Golden Globe. He then portrayed auror Percival Graves / Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter prequel film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), as well as crime boss Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot / The Penguin in the 2022 superhero film The Batman, a role which he will reprise in a spin-off self-titled solo series for HBO Max. In 2020, he was listed at No. 5 on The Irish Times ' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Early life
Colin James Farrell was born in the Castleknock suburb of Dublin on 31 May 1976, the son of Rita (née Monaghan) and Eamon Farrell. His father played football for Shamrock Rovers FC and ran a health food shop. His uncle, Tommy Farrell, also played for Shamrock Rovers. He has an older brother named Eamon Jr. and two sisters named Claudine (who now works as his personal assistant) and Catherine. 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. He was inspired to try acting when Henry Thomas' performance in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) moved him to tears. 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. While travelling in Sydney at the age of 18, Farrell became a suspect in an attempted murder case. 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.

Early career
Farrell had roles in television shows and films, including Ballykissangel and Falling for a Dancer in 1998 and 1999. He made his feature film debut in English actor Tim Roth's directorial debut The War Zone, a drama about an incident of child abuse, starring Ray Winstone and Tilda Swinton as parents of a girl Farrell's character (Nick) dates. Farrell also appeared in Ordinary Decent Criminal with Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino, a film loosely based on the life of Martin Cahill. In 2000, Farrell was cast in the lead role of Private Roland Bozz in Tigerland, an under-released film directed by American Joel Schumacher. He reportedly got the part on the basis of his charm. 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". Michael Holden of The Guardian wrote that Farrell was "too much the hero" to fit the classic rebel archetype properly, but he did not mind. Tigerland earned $139,500.

2001-2003: First box office successes
Farrell's next American films, American Outlaws (2001) and Hart's War (2002), were not commercially successful. His 2002–2003 films, including Phone Booth, The Recruit and S.W.A.T. (all thrillers, with the former two his first starring roles), were well received by critics and successful at the box office. Of Phone Booth, 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". Philip French of The Observer praised Farrell's performance. 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]." 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". Ebert and The New York Times ' A.O. Scott disagreed on Farrell's effectiveness in The Recruit; Ebert noted Farrell's likability, 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". Phone Booth earned $46.6 million, S.W.A.T. $116.9 million and The Recruit $52.8 million at the box office.