COLIN FARRELL

'Colin James Farrell' (born May 31, 1976) is an Irish actor who has appeared in several high-profile Hollywood films including ''Daredevil'', ''Miami Vice'', ''Minority Report'', ''Phone Booth'' and ''S.W.A.T.''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Personal disputes

Dessarae Bradford's accusations

Celebrity status

Miscellaneous

Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

Wins

Nominations

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Farrell was born prematurely, weighing 1 pound 6 ounces, in Castleknock, Dublin to Rita and Eamon Farrell. His father was a footballer who played for Shamrock Rovers FC. Farrell has three siblings, two sisters, Claudine and Catherine, and a brother, Eamon Jr.
Farrell was educated at St. Brigid's National School in Castleknock followed by Castleknock College and Gormanston College. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was a promising young football player for Dublin team, Castleknock Celtic, as a goalkeeper. Farrell attended The Gaiety School of Acting, but dropped out and was cast in the part of Danny Byrne on ''Ballykissangel'', a BBC television drama. Farrell appeared on the show from 1998 to 1999.

Career

Farrell had a number of small parts in various TV shows and movies, until 2000, when he was cast in the lead role of Private Roland Bozz in ''Tigerland'', an American film directed by Joel Schumacher. Farrell's next American films, ''American Outlaws'' (2001) and ''Hart's War'' (2002), were not commercially successful, but his 2003 films, including ''Phone Booth'', ''S.W.A.T.'' and ''The Recruit'' were well-received box office successes. Although he has a pronounced Irish accent, Farrell uses an American accent in some of his films including ''American Outlaws'' and his breakthrough role, ''Tigerland''. Farrell is also a proven supporting actor, given his performances as an ambitious cop who chases after a potential criminal, played by actor Tom Cruise in ''Minority Report'' (2002), and as the skilled villain Bullseye in ''Daredevil'' (2003).

In late 2003, Farrell starred as a criminal who plots a bank heist with Cillian Murphy in the comedy ''Intermission'', which held the record as highest-grossing Irish independent film in Irish box office history until 2006.^[1] In 2004, Farrell appeared in several independent films that received only a limited theatrical release in most countries, including ''A Home at the End of the World'', which received some positive reviews. ^{[2] [3]}
Farrell appeared in the title role of Alexander the Great in 2004's ''Alexander'', which received mixed reviews.^[4] The film was marked by controversy according to some historians, including an in-accurate characteristic interpretations of the Persian and Greek people; and homo-erotic scenes. ^[5] Though it failed at the US box office, it made a profit on its overseas revenues. ^[6]
Farrell appeared as a bisexual character in ''A Home at the End of the World''. He has credited his homosexual brother, Eamon Farrell Jr., for inspiring him and teaching him about "the meaning of love and understanding." ^[7]

His next film was 2005's Academy Award-nominated ''The New World'', also a historical epic that was met with mixed reviews.^[8] Farrell played the leading role of captain John Smith, the founder of 17th century colonial Jamestown, Virginia who falls in love with a beautiful Native American princess, Pocahontas, played by actress Q'Orianka Kilcher. The film achieved success, despite being released in 811 theatres worldwide and having a relatively low box office gross. ^{[9] [10]}
''The New World'' was followed by ''Ask the Dust'', a romance film set in period Los Angeles co-starring Salma Hayek. It received a very limited theatrical release and was not a financial success.
^[11] 2006 brought more success in Farrell's career, as he appeared opposite Jamie Foxx in Michael Mann's action-crime film ''Miami Vice''. The film was a box office success grossing a total of US $163,557,986 worldwide. ^[12]

Personal life

Farrell married English actress Amelia Warner in July 2001 and divorced her four months later. He has a son, James (born September 12, 2003), with American model Kim Bordenave, from whom he has since separated. ^[13]
In December 2005, Farrell voluntarily checked into a rehabilitation treatment center for addictions to recreational drugs and painkillers. ^[14] His publicist commented that Farrell had started taking painkillers due to a back injury. He was released on January 2006. In May 2006, Farrell started attending rehabilitation meetings.

Personal disputes

In July 2005, Farrell filed a lawsuit suing his former girlfriend, ''Playboy'' model Nicole Narain, the Internet Commerce Group (ICG) and adult entertainment producer David Hans Schmidt over the unauthorized public distribution of a 14-minute sex tape that Farrell made with Narain in 2003. The tape is believed to have been made at Narain's apartment. Farrell claims he understood the tape as being "strictly private and confidential and will take legal court actions to anyone who tries to distribute it", ^[15] but it was leaked to Schmidt and ICG who tried to release it publicly. A Los Angeles judge issued an injunction barring the sale, distribution, or display of the tape.
Narain claimed that she did not give the tape to anyone and was not sure if or how copies were taken from her. She originally said that she would work with Farrell to ensure that it remained private, but Farrell said Narain was trying to release it along with Schmidt in order to damage his career and "make money out of it", which Narain denies. ^{[16] [17]}
In January 2006, the tape surfaced on website named dirtycolin.com. The site was shut down on the same day because of server overload, but re-opened a week later. The tape was then pirated through BitTorrent and other file sharing systems. Both Farrell's and Narain's lawyers denounced the site, which was shut down again a few days later for unknown reasons. Farrell's legal team said it would take legal action against sites that hosted the tape. A trial date for the Narain lawsuit was set for July 17, 2006, but the judge allowed Farrell and Narain to mediate until April 20. On April 16, the two reached a settlement with confidential terms. However, Farrell's lawsuit against ICG continued with a trial date set for July 21, 2006. ^[18]

Dessarae Bradford's accusations

Farrell has been sued twice for alleged harassment and sending foul messages to telephone sex worker Dessarae Bradford. The lawsuits were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence provided by Bradford. ^[19][20] Bradford, who has announced that she is "waging war on Colin Farrell", ^[21] has recorded a song entitled "Colin Farrell is My Bitch" and has self-published a book called "Colin Farrell: A Dark Twisted Puppy". ^[22] Bradford had previously recorded a song and written a book in which she claimed to have engaged in pegging with actor Alec Baldwin. ^{[23] [24]}
Bradford took a lie detector test on an i TV program in an attempt to support her claims and stories. She failed the test. July 20, 2006, Bradford confronted Farrell on the set of ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and was escorted out by police while shouting "I'll see you in court". Farrell's response was, "You're insane" ²⁰. Farrell requested a restraining order in court against Bradford; Farrell said Bradford "accosted me during the taping of a network television show on July 20, 2006. I am concerned that her harassing behaviour has escalated and may pose an immediate threat to my well-being and the well-being of my family." The request also asked for Bradford to keep away from Farrell, his son James and James' mother, Kim Bordenave. ^[25]
The temporary restraining order was granted and will remain in effect until August, 2009. The restraining order was upheld during a later appeal.

Celebrity status

Farrell was named one of ''People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2003. ^[26]
He was also voted 6th in the World's "Sexiest Man" contest by ''Company Magazine'' in that same year, cementing his place as one of the most popular celebrities in Hollywood. ^[27]
In 2007, Farrell and other celebrities including Bruce Willis, Muhammad Ali, Eva Mendes, Vanessa L. Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger became an official games spokesman for the Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, China. ^[28]

Miscellaneous

★ Farrell auditioned for the Irish group Boyzone when he was still unknown. ^[29]

★ Sister, Claudine Farrell is his personal assistant. ^[30]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1999	''The War Zone ''	Nick
2000	''Tigerland ''	Pvt. Roland Bozz
	''Ordinary Decent Criminal''	Alec	Released in the U.S. in 2003 (DVD and video)
2001	''American Outlaws''	Jesse James
	''Hart's War''	Lt. Thomas W. Hart
2002	''Phone Booth''	Stuart Shepard
	''Minority Report''	Danny Witwer
2003	''Veronica Guerin''	Tattooed Boy	Cameo
	''Intermission''	Lehiff	Released in the U.S. in 2004
	''S.W.A.T.''	Officer Jim Street
	''The Recruit''	James Douglas Clayton
	''Daredevil''	Bullseye
2004	''Alexander''	Alexander the Great
	''A Home at the End of the World''	Bobby Morrow (1982)
2005	''The New World''	Captain John Smith
2006	''Miami Vice''	Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett
	''Ask the Dust''	Arturo Bandini
2007	''Cassandra's Dream''		Post-production
2008	''Pride and Glory''	Jimmy Egan	Completed
	''In Bruges''	Ray	Post-production
	''Dirt Music''	Luther Fox	Pre-production

Awards and nominations

Wins

★ Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Actor for ''Tigerland'' in 2000.

★ London Critics Circle Film Awards: Best Newcomer of the Year for ''Tigerland'' in 2002.

★ Shanghai International Film Festival: Best Actor for ''Hart's War'' in 2002.

★ IFTA Awards: Best Actor in a Film (Public Vote) in 2003.

★ MTV Movie Awards: Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer in 2003.

★ Teen Choice Awards: Best Choice Movie Actor for ''Daredevil'' and ''Phone Booth'' in 2003.

★ Teen Choice Awards: Best Movie Villain for ''Daredevil'' in 2003.

★ MTV Movie Awards, Mexico: Best Actor in a Movie for ''S.W.A.T.'' in 2004.

Nominations

★ Empire Awards: Best Actor for ''Minority Report'' in 2003.

★ IFTA Awards: Best Actor in a Film for ''S.W.A.T.'' in 2003.

★ IFTA Awards: Best Supporting Actor in Film/TV for ''Intermission'' in 2003.

★ MTV Movie Awards: Best Villain for ''Daredevil'' in 2003.

★ Teen Choice Awards: Best Choice Breakout Star-Male for ''The Recruit'', ''Daredevil'' and ''Phone Booth'' in 2003.

★ European Film Awards: Best Actor for ''Intermission'' in 2004.

★ IFTA Awards: Best Actor for ''A Home at the End of the World'' in 2004.

References

1. "Loach Film Sets New Money Mark", RTE.ie, August 8 2006. Retrieved on July 18 2007.
2. Everyonesacritic.com
3. Thenumbers
4.
5. Hellenicnationalist.blogspot.com
6. Boxoffice.com
7. Contactmusic.com
8. Boxofficemojo.com
9. Yahoo!Movies.com
10. Movies.yahoo.com
11. Thenumbers.com
12. Boxofficemojo.com
13. Teenhollywood.com
14. Quepasa.com
15. Kdkaentertainment
16. Kdka.com
17. Bravenet.com
18. New York Daily News
19. Jossip
20. AccessHollywood
21. Jossip
22. BlessedAdventurePub
23. Heclerspray.com Stuart Heritage
24. Blessedadventurepub.com Dessarae Bradford
25. TMZ.com
26. CBS News Entertainment
27. Companys 100 Sexiest Men
28. Eircom.net
29. Visimag.com
30. Hellomagazine.com

External links

★ Colin Farrell Official Website

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★ Onset photos of Colin Farrell filming In Bruges including his character being shot