With the release of his latest movie The Lobster arriving in Irish cinemas this weekend, featuring what may be considered one of the best performances of his career to date, we've had a look back over Colin Farrell's five most important roles to date.
1. Phone Booth
Unless you were a massive Ballykissangel fan back in the late 90's when Farrell appeared for eighteen episodes, most likely your first exposure to Colin was in this claustrophobic thriller. While he had smaller roles in Ordinary Decent Criminals, or bigger roles in smaller films such as Tigerland, it was Phone Booth that finally placed him firmly on everyone's radar.
2. Minority Report
You know that when you work with Steven Spielberg, you've made it. Playing the kinda-antagonist, chasing down Tom Cruise who is wanted for a murder he has yet to commit, Farrell played the role supremely Irish (something he'll do several times more, e.g. Alexander, Fright Night), but here it absolutely worked out in his favor.
3. In Bruges
Farrell would return to work within Irish film several times despite the constant lure of Hollywood, but even with his appearances in Intermission and Veronica Guernin, this was the film that really allowed his charm, wit and emotional range to fully shine through. It also helps that the film is insanely quotable. "They're filming midgets!"
4. Horrible Bosses
There was a while when Hollywood tried to turn Colin into a bit of an action star - The Recruit, S.W.A.T., the remake of Total Recall - but it's clear by now that he does much better when he's working on something... a little bit weird. Showing up in a supporting role and stealing the entire movie out from the three well established comedic leads AND Jennifer Aniston as a nymphomaniac is a difficult thing to do, but Farrell absolutely pulled it off.
5. True Detective
Not everyone loved the second season to the hit TV show, but whether you were a fan of the show or not, you couldn't help but be drawn in by Farrell's dead-eyed, heartbroken performance as Detective Ray Velcoro. Sharing an instant chemistry with Rachel McAdams, these two were the particular highlights in the insanely complicated, pessimistic follow up to the McConnaughey/Harrelson duo from the first season. While he may not get the McConaissance from the series that Matthew did, between The Lobster and the upcoming Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, it's not as if Colin is actually in need of the career resurgence.
Philip Molloy caught up with Colin Farrell to chat about his new movie recently, and you can listen to their conversation below:
