The “tedious” movie that presented Colin Farrell with his biggest challenge
Many people don’t realise this, but making movies can be a relentlessly dull process at times. Entire days can be spent on one tiny scene, with actors, camera operators, and crew members repeating the same actions over and over until they get it just right.
It can be hard to stay focused when a task is so monotonous, especially for actors. Their job is to make dialogue and action look and sound fresh and exciting, even if they’re on their 20th take of the day. Even movies with an abundance of action get dull sometimes, especially with the constant setting and resetting of big-set pieces. It’s not uncommon for the stars of these films to grow achingly frustrated.
When Colin Farrell stepped into the meaty shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the role of Douglas ‘Doug’ Quaid in the 2012 remake of Total Recall, he knew what was ahead of him. He told Movies about his experience on set, explaining that it was different to other jobs he’d done in the past. “In many ways,” he said, “Total Recall was a bit more challenging because it was more tedious. It took about five months to do that film and I maybe have five pages of dialogue in the whole thing.”
The film, which is about a man who uncovers a secret past through a machine that implants false memories, is very action-heavy. In Farrell’s words, “That’s more of an exercise in physical performance and stunt work and all that kind of stuff.” This was in stark contrast to the film the Irish actor was promoting at the time, Saving Mr. Banks. “Each gig is a challenge in a different way, but I loved this,” he said in reference to the Mary Poppins origin story, although he did add: “If I was in it loads, my answer might be different!”
The 2012 Total Recall still followed the same plot as the original, which itself was based on a short story by Philip K Dick from 1966. There were some changes, however. In the Arnie version, the action is set on Mars, which has been colonised by humans in the near future. With Colin at the reins, the story takes place on Earth, albeit a version that has been ravaged by chemical warfare and split into two massive superstates.
A lot of people turned out to see the original, which became the fifth-highest-grossing movie of 1990. It wasn’t a total knockout critically, but it holds a place in a lot of action fans’ hearts, especially Arnie’s “consider that a divorce” quip. As for the 2012 version that fared less well, both at the box office and with the press, they didn’t even do the “divorce” line, what were they thinking?
As for Farrell, he can currently be seen in the title role of DC’s The Penguin. Reprising his role as Oswald Cobb (not Cobblepot) from the movie The Batman, the Irishman warned audiences that the series would be “incredibly violent” ahead of its release on HBO.
