The bizarre interview Colin Farrell regrets doing: “Heroin’s fine in moderation”
Irish actors have been enjoying plenty of success of late, with the likes of Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon, Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal helping the country become known for its ability to produce the latest contemporary stars. Yet, few have been able to break Hollywood with the same potency as Colin Farrell, the actor of such modern blockbusters as The Batman, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Daredevil.
Well toeing the line between arthouse and commercial filmmaking, although Farrell has thrived in these aforementioned franchises, he has also enjoyed collaborations with some of the greatest working directors, including Martin McDonagh, Yorgos Lanthimos, Steve McQueen and Sofia Coppola. Despite giving a number of excellent performances during such artistic collaborations, Farrell has only ever earned one Academy Award nomination, receiving the nod for 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin.
Back in the early 2000s, however, Farrell was still peddling minor leading roles and rather insignificant supporting parts, appearing in such movies as Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, Joel Schumacher’s Phone Booth and the Marvel flick Daredevil. Still yet to truly grasp the industry by its horns, Farrell was still an up-and-coming name who thought he had everything to prove to the industry.
As a result, Farrell was pretty brazen with the media and sat down with Playboy in 2003 to discuss his opinion on drugs.
“I wouldn’t touch that fucking shit. Cocaine would be the road to ruin for me,” Farrell responded when asked about the popular Hollywood drug of choice, “I’d get addicted. A great friend of mine in Dublin is a driver and all he said to me was, ‘When you get to Hollywood, if I ever hear you’re on that white powder, I’ll fucking rip your head off’. He’s dead right, because he knows I’m as bold as brass”.
Yet, when asked about the dangerous and highly addictive drug heroin, Farrell surprisingly responded, “Heroin’s fine in moderation”.
It wasn’t till a few years later that Farrell reflected on the interview with regret, speaking to GQ whilst promoting his 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks. “You have to be careful, because you know in Playboy I talked about a particular drug I had used once,” he started, “I wasn’t saying that it was ever a good idea, but years later I was coming out of a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles and I bumped into a gentleman who was without a home, [living] on the streets. And he said to me, ‘Colin Farrell? Oh man, big fan. You’re the reason I did,’ – and he mentioned the drug”.
Take a look at an unrecognisable Colin Farrell in a clip from The Batman below.
