Birthdate: March 31, 1976

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Occupation: Actor

Quote: "It all goes back to [Joel Schumacher]. I wouldn't have done Phone Booth without him. I wouldn't be doing Hart's war. I probably wouldn't have done American Outlaws if he hadn't picked me out of obscurity. I've worked, but not at the level or people I'm working with now if he hadn't taken a chance on an Irish kid playing a Texan." --E! Online, January 2001

Claim to Fame: Starred as Roland Bozz in the Joel Schumacher film Tigerland (2000)

Significant Other(s):
Wife: Amelia Warner, actress; married July 2001

Family:
Father: Eamon Farrell, Irish football player

Factoids:
As a teenager, Farrell hoped to follow in his father's footsteps to soccer stardom

Education:
Attended the Gaiety Drama School in Dublin; eventually dropped out to play Danny Byrne on the BBC series Ballykissangel

When Edward Norton pulled out of Bruce Willis’s upcoming WWII film, the director enlisted Irish upstart Colin Farrell to fill the void. “If that’s part of the reason I got Hart’s War, I couldn’t care less,” says Colin. “For whatever reason the stars have aligned themselves in the right place at the right time. I’m loving what I’m doing now, so I’m just going to see what happens.” What’s happening is this: Colin Farrell is about to become a major star.

In 1999 Colin auditioned for a small Joel Schumacher project called Tigerland in London. And while he hadn’t read the script, the former Ballykissangel hunk used his charm to good effect and landed himself a callback. With the help of his sister, Colin video-taped his best Texas drawl – after throwing back a few pints – and sent the tape off to the Hollywood heavyweight. A short while later, the Batman Forever director placed an early-morning call to the actor, saying, “Wanna make a movie?”. Such was the end of Colin’s relative obscurity.

And while Tigerland earned a paltry $140,000 at the US box office, the name Colin Farrell was suddenly on every casting agent’s lips. Betting house Ladbrokes was even taking bids on when he’d land on the cover of Hollywood bible Vanity Fair.

“It’s mad. None of this was planned,” says the 5ft 11in actor of his sudden Hollywood stardom. “I always just auditioned for jobs and hoped I did well, so I could move on to the next step. Now I’ve skipped so many rungs on the ladder, and I’m working with Cruise and Spielberg. It’s insane.”

Colin was born on March 31, 1976, in Dublin, to Eamon Farrell, a former professional footballer, and his wife Rita. The youngest of four children, he originally planned to follow in his father’s tracks, but Colin enjoyed a good time too much and found the idea of rigorous training daunting. Instead, the man with a penchant for colourful four-letter words spent a year travelling Down Under.

Upon returning home he shifted gears, enrolling at the Gaiety School of Drama. But, not a great fan of school, he soon dropped out. Stage roles at London’s famed Donmar Warehouse, where he was spotted by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, who earmarked him for a later film, would follow, as did television roles. Then Colin made the leap to film and never looked back.

The self-assured actor has just wrapped Minority Report with Spielberg and Cruise, and Phone Booth – playing a role once linked to Jim Carrey – with Schumacher, as well as Hart’s War. He’ll next be seen on screen in American Outlaws as the famed hero of the American West, Jesse James.

In July 2001 he shocked his close friends by secretly walking down the aisle with 19-year-old English actress Amelia Warner in a Pacific island resort.

“I’m going to get a backpack and grow a beard,” he says of his plans for when his next four projects open. “Acting is not where my happiness in life comes from. I won’t be shedding any crocodile tears if it’s taken away. I’ve had a good trip so far.” And it’s just the beginning…

© E Online!

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