Colin Farrell Biography

Dublin’s answer to Russell Crowe, actor Colin Farrell reached Hollywood stardom by being darkly handsome, charismatic and a bit of a rogue, both on screen and off.

Farrell attended the Gaiety Drama School in Dublin before winning the role of Danny Byrne in the 1990s BBC TV series Ballykissangel.

He then got nearly unanimous raves for his performance in the little-seen American drama Tigerland (2000), and cemented his up-and-comer status in 2002 with Phone Booth (with Forest Whitaker), Hart’s War (starring Bruce Willis) and Steven Spielberg‘s Minority Report (starring Tom Cruise).

A regular in the gossip columns in his early years, Farrell earned a reputation as a bad boy, but he’s also a hard-working leading man whose first decade in the movies included big Hollywood movies such as The Recruit (2003, starring Al Pacino), Oliver Stone‘s Alexander (2004, as Alexander the Great) and Miami Vice (2006, based on the 1980’s TV show, with Farrell in the role played by Don Johnson).

Since then, Farrell has had a steady and varied career, appearing in both big and small productions, sometimes as the lead and sometimes in supporting roles. He is especially known for injecting intensity and a certain oddball unpredictability to his performances.

Farrell’s notable films include In Bruges (2008, also starring Ralph Fiennes), Seven Psychopaths (2012), the remake of Total Recall (2013), The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2015 and 2017, both by director Yorgos Lanthimos), the remake of The Beguiled (2017, with Nicole Kidman) and, in heavy makeup as The Penguin, The Batman (2022, starring Robert Pattinson).

Farrell also appeared with Vince Vaughan in the second installment of TV’s True Detective (2015).