By LOUIS B. HOBSON -- Calgary Sun

Monday, September 3, 2001

Outlaws actor Farrell hits jackpot with career, love life

HOLLYWOOD -- For Irish actor Colin Farrell life seems like one big honeymoon.

He's a 25-year-old high school dropout from Dublin who has only been acting for five years and he's suddenly considered one of the hottest properties in Hollywood.

Farrell, who plays Jesse James in American Outlaws, came to America to star as the rebellious Texas recruit in Joel Schumacher's Vietnam war drama Tigerland.

Since then, he's barely had time to visit his family and friends in Ireland.

After Tigerland and American Outlaws, he was immediately signed for a small role opposite Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report and then it was off to Prague for a starring role with Bruce Willis in Hart's War.

In between all this he managed to reteam with Schumacher for the drama Phone Booth after Jim Carrey pulled out of that project.

"There's no other way to deal with this other than to simply go along for the ride. I'm too busy working to try to put it into any kind of perspective," says Farrell.

Riding, shooting, roping and running atop trains is what Farrell did for the two months he shot American Outlaws in Texas last year.

"I look a lot more agile than I really am. It's the magic of the editing room.

"For all the stunt work on the train, I was attached to a wire. I felt like Peter Pan. I slipped a lot and missed my mark. The editors took out the bits they liked and spliced them together."

Talking about honeymoons, Farrell married actress Amelia Warner on July 15. She played Michael Caine's youthful bride in Quills.

"We went down to Tahiti for a holiday and turned it into a honeymoon.

"She's a great girl. She's like one of my mates. She doesn't just go to the pubs with me. She gets there before me and leaves after I do."

Farrell says playing Jesse James was a dream come true.

"I grew up idolizing Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. When I was training for American Outlaws one of the cowboys who taught me to ride and shoot had worked as an extra with John Wayne, Newman and McQueen.

"I got him to tell me all his stories. For me, it doesn't get much better than that."

Well, maybe the paycheque.

Farrell took home $100,000 from Tigerland; tripled that for American Outlaws; was paid $2.5 million for Hart's War and has seen his asking price leap to $5 million US and the studio bidding war is on to get him signed to his next film.