Colin Farrell, ‘The Beguiled’, and the best movie of his career
Most actors relish in the opportunity to sink their teeth into a dense and developed role. In every screenplay that passes through their agent and ends up on their desk, they seek out well-written characters with motivations and flaws, with hopes and dreams, hoping to push themselves and their talent in front of the camera. Those roles often become favourites in their filmography, but it’s quite a different story for Colin Farrell.
It’s not that Farrell hasn’t taken on his fair share of complex characters. He played a regretful hitman in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, completely embodied the strange surrealism of Yorgos Lanthimos’ deadpan dialogue in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and dove into the mind of a supervillain for Matt Reeves’ take on The Batman. However, none of these roles take the title of Farrell’s favourite film in his catalogue.
According to his co-star Kirsten Dunst, that spot is reserved for Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, which adapted Thomas P Cullinan’s novel of the same name to screen. During a chat with Rolling Stone about the film, Dunst recalled Farrell’s love for the film, sharing, “He loves women, he grew up with sisters. He says it’s his favorite movie he ever made.”
The film follows the effects of the arrival of Corporal John McBurney, played by Farrell, at a girls school amidst the Civil War. Farrell stars in a cast of talented women including Nicola Kidman as Martha Farnsworth, the head of the school, Kirsten Dunst as a teacher, and students played by Elle Fanning and Angourie Rice, each of whom are more developed than Farrell’s character.
Like most stories Coppola has directed, The Beguiled focused on the women in the cast rather than the limited male characters and aimed to position Farrell in the sexualised, objectified role that women are often reduced to. “He was the object,” Fanning explained, “and a really, really good sport about it.”
Though Farrell was reduced to the role of “object” rather than a truly developed character, he thrived in the role and in the midst of a female-led cast. He gave into Coppola’s vision for the film, for the female focus, but still managed to deliver a stellar performance as the Corporal, matching up to the talent of his co-stars.
Farrell’s role as Corporal John McBurney certainly won’t be the role or film that he’s remembered for—his filmography is full of projects that show off his talent more adeptly—but the fact that he picked it out as a favourite shows his intentions when it comes to filmmaking. He commits to serving the story, as well as to working with creators who share similar visions to his own.
This is an attitude that has extended far beyond the set of The Beguiled. He knows when to take a backseat, when to let his costars shine, and how to help the director realise their vision for a specific project. This is further evidenced in his collaborative relationship with Yorgos Lanthimos, for example. Farrell completely committed to his strange screen-writing and world-building, allowing his off-kilter visions to come to life on-screen.
Farrell is certainly a scene-stealer, but he also works closely with those behind the scenes to execute their creative vision. Whether it’s the female-focused storytelling of Coppola or the surrealism of Lanthimos, Farrell is an actor who works in service of the projects he chooses and The Beguiled is just one example of this.
