The movie Colin Farrell admits “failed gloriously”
Even some of the finest actors of their generation have a few blotches on their resumé. It’s part and parcel of being a star. Sometimes, it’s even tactical – agree to star in a movie you know will be a stinker, pocket the inevitable hefty wad of cash that comes with it, and then spend the next few years of your career generating industry-buzz and focusing solely on cool, edgy, indie darlings. Other times, it’s a big fat disappointment. Just ask Colin Farrell.
Farrell first garnered major international fame with his breakout in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report in 2002. In the 20-odd years since then, he’s managed to transcend from supporting actor to leading action hero/ heartthrob – and then right on to the formidable character actor we know and love him for now.
However, when he’d just emerged into the limelight as a young international star, the Irish actor was paired with an iconic and supremely talented director on what would surely be the project of his career: Oliver Stone’s 2004 historical epic, Alexander. Speaking to MovieWeb, Farrell recalled: “The chance to work with Oliver was the most attractive thing about it. And then a close second was how fantastic a script he wrote. Then, a very close third or maybe joint second was the part itself.”
Despite thinking his role as the ancient Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, was “an amazing, amazing part and amazing character”, and even though Farrell knew working with Stone would “be an absolute trip,” the resulting movie would end up being a bonafide flop – both critically and commercially. What made it worse was the expectations put on the movie, with Farrell relaying to Total Film that “we were really doing something that had never been done, and we were going to get 12 Oscar nominations – in our heads.”
Their ambitions couldn’t have been more severely undermined, and the disappointment was almost too crushing for Farrell. “I’m not going to apologise for how much it affected me emotionally and psychologically,” the actor stated, explaining the impact of Alexander’s failure had on him.
“I was going to walk away from acting,” he explained. “I couldn’t even buy a packet of cigarettes without feeling like I needed to say sorry to the guy behind the counter just in case he happened to see the thing.” Later, after the dust had settled, Farrell acknowledged that “It was a very big story, and I know that Oliver was very rushed to do a cut.” However, in the actor’s opinion, “it just failed gloriously.”
Farrell’s insecurity wasn’t just limited to the part, either. It had him questioning his entire career choice, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “So I went to Lake Tahoe to a ski resort. I didn’t ski, but I realised I could wear a mask and a beanie, and I did that for three days. I went, ‘I’m just shit at it. I’m a crap actor. I’ve been found out.”
