Colin Farrell: Irish Coffee
The former bad boy of Hollywood has been stripping himself bare and exposing his vulnerability in parallel films.
More brunch than breakfast one should say? Never mind that Colin Farrell bites into a croissant as he picks up a cup of coffee, all the while looking at us right in the eyes, speaking in an unmistakably Irish accent. The career of Colin Farrell, now 41, seems to show no signs of slowing down. From the perpetual victim of women’s desires in Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, where we saw him with Nicole Kidman or the disturbing, psychological thriller directed by Yórgos Lánthimos, Colin took us by surprise. After Steve McQueen, he is now working under the direction of Tim Burton. So, there’s more intense things on the cards, we suppose.
What are your regular breakfast habits?
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Terrible (laughs). From time to time I will have myself a brunch, I love eggs and pretty much anything one likes. Otherwise, I do not eat in the morning, especially if I am working. I find myself incapable of becoming another person on a full stomach. Just a coffee or tea is my go-to things.
You divide your time between...
Dublin and Los Feliz, a Los Angeles neighbourhood, where a large part of my family has come to settle. It is where I do yoga and go hiking in the Griffith Park. I cook a little, but ever since I put on all that weight for The Lobster, I am careful about what I eat. I am a true Californian in that respect.
There is a certain gentleness that you emanate; vastly different from your character of the depressive doctor father in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a very Kubrickian tragedy.
Yes, but first, if you happen to be aware of the meaning of the plot of the movie, please let me know (laughs). The film was just as challenging to shoot as it was to watch: tense, repressive and without any clear explanations. I reassured Nicole (Kidman, who plays his wife in the film) that it was all going to turn out well. She is a marvellous woman. I hope the two us do a third film together. With Yorgos as well, if he asks me of course, since I am his number one fan. And he milks that (laughs).
You have worked with so many legends. Has that changed you in any way?
Yes. Filming with Sofia Coppola for example did. She has a calming effect as she surrounds you with gentleness and beauty. But, it is primarily becoming a father and becoming sober that changed me. Also, having done the independent film In Bruges did some trick. With the greats such as Terrence Malick, it is as if one were simply passing through. On the first day of filming Cassandra’s Dream, Woody Allen mistook me for Ewan McGregor!
Your appetite for acting seems to have doubled in recent years.
I was waiting for my two incredible boys to grow up a little before accepting more roles. I have done the Steve McQueen film Widows, a crime thriller with Viola Davis, Michelle Rodríguez and Robert Duvall. I played a lawyer opposite Denzel Washington in Dan Gilroy’s dramatic thriller Roman J. Israel. Next up is Tim Burton’s Dumbo alongside Eva Green, which is under production. I play a father of these children who are besotted by a baby elephant. These variations keep me entertained.
Photography: Vincent Desailly.
From the February 2018 issue of L’Officiel India.
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