When Colin Farrell was arrested for attempted murder: “It was a long time ago, and I was drunk”
Colin Farrell is the founding father of the Hollywood Irish bad boy (now relinquishing this title to Barry Keoghan), who, back in the day, was known for a number of scandals that made him quite the hot topic in the film industry. Despite his clean-cut beginnings in an all-boys Catholic school, the actor went on to create a stir with his accidental sex tape, dating dramas, and eventual admission to rehab. But despite the headlines, the actor has left an incredible mark through his performances in Seven Psychopaths, The Lobster and The Banshees of Inisherin, able to devastate audiences with one line and entertain with a single glance.
Even though the actor has mellowed out over the years and now lives a relatively quiet life, Farrell still has many surprising stories about his younger days, and in a talk show interview, he shared a story about the time he was arrested for attempted murder.
Farrell revealed that on a visit to Sydney in his late teens, he was taken into custody for allegedly beating up a man and setting fire to his apartment. Much to his misfortune, the actor bore an uncanny resemblance to the actual perpetrator of the crime, and his arrest was a case of mistaken identity. However, Farrell had been drunk the night before, and after being questioned by the police, he began to doubt himself and wonder whether he could’ve done something.
The actor said: “It was a long time ago, and I was drunk. I saw a photo-fit of the guy that actually did the crime and it looked remarkably like me and for a second I – because I had had a blackout that night – I wondered, could I have done such a thing? They showed me a photo-fit, a pencil sketch of the guy that had attempted to murder this other gentleman – and it was me. They had bushy eyebrows, a mole on his face, spoke even in 2D with an Irish accent.”
Despite discovering his doppelgänger at the most inopportune moment, Farrell was eventually released from custody after his friend submitted a journal entry that described what they had been doing the previous night, perhaps the only time that you would want someone reading your diary. Farrell described the entry, saying, “It was terrifying. I was there for about six hours, and then thankfully, a friend of mine had kept a journal of that particular night and that particular time we were at a party the other side of town doing ecstasy…”
While Farrell was known for his extreme partying days, it’s safe to say that he was never intoxicated to the point of accidentally murdering someone, which, funnily enough, feels all too similar to the predicaments of some of his characters.
Farrell is currently starring in the HBO series The Penguin, reprising his character from the critically acclaimed Batman film directed by Matt Reeves, starring alongside Cristin Milioti, which follows the origin story of the notorious Gotham gangster. The show has recently released its first season, with no confirmation yet on whether there will be a second.
