2001
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Jesse James has been the subject of many westerns, but the latest film version of his legend portray his outlaw gang as Robin Hood-type robbers giving a little back to the people. Colin Farrell plays James in American Outlaws and gave an interview one fine Sunday morning to discuss the film. Farrell's big break was in Joel Schumacher's war film Tigerland, but after Outlaws, he will also star in the high profile projects Minority Report and Phone Booth. Farrell still speaks with a thick Dublin accent, which makes even his profanity sound innocent.

Is anything in this movie based on actual historical events?

I think he was christened Jesse James, but that's as far as the historical accuracy goes. No, it was all a completely romanticized version of what went down back in the day, you know. We weren't restricted by the confines of historical accuracy. It was just make it light, have a good time. I mean, they were cold-blooded killers. They were mean men, you know.

Did you study anything of the real Jesse James?

Yeah, I mean, I read a bit on the James brothers and on the Younger brothers and I wanted to go to Missouri and I read a bit on the Civil War and stuff but then I just put it all down because it wasn't our film. It was just about taking what's between page 100 and 111 and making that seem real if we can.

Did they ever talk about killing him off, as Jesse James did die young in real life?

What did happen was Gabriel Macht's character, Frank, [Jesse's older brother], what originally was going to happen was the camera was going to go around him a few times and then he was going to age and be left standing on top of the hill on his own with Jesse James's son and the son saying, "How did my dad die?" But they decided to just scrap that and he literally rides off into the sunset.

Did you ever shoot that ending?

No. They were pretty sure how they were going to end it.

There's some ambiguity in the film as to whether or not Younger tried to turn him in. Were we supposed to think maybe he did?

No. Fook. Didn't make that clear enough? No, he didn't, although it's nice that maybe you didn't notice. But he didn't do it.

Was your gunplay more influenced by John Woo or older westerns?

Neither really in respect to the guns. Just hold the gun and see how it feels in your hands and just play around with it. They got a guy to show us a few tricks and a few of the quick draws and then we took the guns off on our own. In between takes, every day, on the set, everyone would be bored so we were just playing our guns and showing each other tricks and stuff like that. So, it wasn't really taken from anywhere as such but it wasn't - as much as it was probably the right kind of setting to make it real, it's all about being fast with guns and tricks and stuff like that. There's plenty of other tricks and stunts to be worrying about, so I never really wanted it to be about this and this and this. My character was too cocky and did everything so perfect anyway. He was so overbaked anyway with perfectness and always does everything right.

How much stunt work did you do yourself?

I did whatever they'd let me do because it's not to be tough or macho or prove a point or play the hero. It's just because you're 24 and someone says, "Do you want to run along the top of a train or will we get the stunt man?" It's like, "No, please, please, please." You get the chance to do those things that you'd never get the chance to do, so I was jumping at any chance I could get really. The hardest thing of all was [rolling around] on the table, doing that thing. It was just impossible. I was dropping the guns, fell off the wrong way, the back of the table instead of the front. "Cut, cut, cut, cut." It just kept on going and going and going so thank got they got their scissors in there and made me look really smooth and cool. It wasn't like that on the day, so that really pissed me off and was just frustrating because I couldn't do it.

How did you learn how to ride horses?

We spent five or six weeks before we went to Texas just hanging out with a bunch of Cowboys in a ranch. We hung out every day and drank Coors lights and listened to them tell their stories and they taught us how to ride. And with great horses, because I rode the same horse for the first six weeks before we went to Texas and that horse came down and I rode that same horse, Milagro, for the whole shoot.

How did you lose your accent?

It just takes a bit of work. It can be fun sometimes. Then it can get frustrating because you get to a stage where if you're on the set and you say a line and you can hear the words coming out of your mouth because you can hear the Dublin come back into it, it's just constantly trying to stay on top of it the whole time. Having a dialect coach there really helps because even in between takes he's coming up and giving you notes.

What were your favorite westerns?

I remember old John Wayne films, Shane and then when I was 15 I saw Tombstone.

What's your role in Minority Report?

I play a young federal agent who comes in to make sure that the agency that features as the backdrop to the film is being run correctly. I have a bit of conflict with Tom Cruise and had a blast.

Do you have any action scenes?

Yeah, a little bit. Not as much as this.

Are you chasing Cruise?

A little bit.

Did you read the original story?

No, I have the short story. My dad got it for me and I haven't read it yet. I think the characters are a lot younger in the story we're telling but I don't know how the narrative has changed.

Were you looking at blue screens or an actual set?

There were a couple of them, which is unusual but not a lot of it. I don't have to fight imaginary dragons or anything like that. I'm just doing dialogue with someone and have a blue screen behind you that they'll put in [the set] later, so it didn't really affect.

What does your uniform look like?

I just wear a suit, but it's all very stylized and I think there will be hover ships and stuff like that and interesting gadgetry.

How about Phone Booth?

I had to learn my lines. I had to learn 12 pages of dialogue a day, but as far as camera set ups and all that go, they have three cameras running most times. Sometimes they had five cameras I think. It was hard enough to do, shooting a whole film in 12 days. It was aided, of course, by the fact that it was all in one location, 5th street between Broadway and Spring, but it was a blast. I had such a great time doing that job.

How do you replace Jim Carrey on a movie like that?

I'm just thrilled to get the chance. When we were doing looping for Tigerland, Joel came in and said, "I've got Jim Carrey to play the part in Phone Booth and I hadn't read it. I asked him if I could read it, he gave me the script and I thought it was amazing. What a part, what a script, what a story, what a thriller. I said, 'I hope it works out.' And what an exciting prospect, the idea of just doing it in 12 days, just getting in there, banging it out. Then Carrey fell out and I couldn't believe that I'd be given the chance to do it.