Amid addiction rehab, Colin finds love and peace in his son
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Amid addiction rehab, Colin finds love and peace in his son
By Ruben V. Nepales
Inquirer
Published on Page A2-4 of the July 28, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
LOS ANGELES -- AFTER begging off from press conferences for his last two films, Colin Farrell finally faced reporters for his latest -- a movie version of “Miami Vice.”
Late last year, the Irish actor had very little -- almost none -- press exposure for his Terrence Malick-directed epic drama, “The New World.” The official explanation was that Colin, known for his partying and drinking ways, had checked himself into a treatment center for exhaustion and dependency on prescription medication.
Early this year, the heartthrob again failed to participate actively in the media promotion of “Ask the Dust,” a Depression era drama with Salma Hayek.
Explaining that a recent time off allowed him “to take a kind of metaphorical deep breath,” Colin, looking several pounds heavier, made it to his first press con with our group since “Alexander” in 2004. “It was good and I needed it,” he said of his hiatus.
Although there were two ash trays in front of him (“I’m a Gemini,” he quipped upon noticing the pair), the dark-haired hunk did not light up as he did in previous press cons. There was no beer in front of him, either.
But he was his usual charming self, addressing my female colleagues in his Irish accent with “Hey, love (pronounced ‘luv’),” “How are you, baby?” “Hello, sweetheart” and “Hi, darling.” No one objected or screamed, “Sexist!” I suspect that many women would fight to have the privilege of hearing Colin call them, “Luv.”
And the male reporters? We got “Hey, brother,” or “Hey, man.”
Colin and Jamie Foxx’s “Miami Vice” is not the pastel-drenched TV series that we watched in the 1980s. With Michael Mann directing, the stylish, grainy, gritty look he achieved in the Tom Cruise-starrer “Collateral” is carried over here. The predominant hue is black, not the pink, blue and white that original stars Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas popularized in fashion.
Colin has Don’s Sonny Crockett role, of course, while Jamie essays Philip’s Ricardo Tubbs. Esteemed Chinese actress Gong Li had the double challenge of learning to speak in English -- with a Cuban accent. Colin falls for her character, the Chinese-Cuban wife of an arms and drugs trafficker.
Right after the press con, Colin made news when a woman, Dessarae Bradford, confronted him on stage when he guested on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Access Hollywood reported that Bradford shouted “I’ll see you in court” to Colin who answered, “You’re insane.”
Last Monday, she announced her $10 million lawsuit against the actor for allegedly stalking and harassing her. In turn, Colin has obtained a restraining order against Dessarae pending an Aug. 16 hearing before a judge.
News stories have reported that Dessarae has filed two sexual harassment suits against the star, in 2004 and 2005. Both suits were dismissed. She has self-published a book, “Colin Farrell: A Dark Twisted Puppy.” The former sex chat-line worker’s first book is titled “My S/M Romp with Alec Baldwin.” Alec has reportedly denied even knowing her.
Last April, Colin and an ex-girlfriend, Playboy Playmate Nicole Narain, settled a legal battle over a sex video they made. While Colin is currently linked to Lake Bell (rumors are that they have gotten married), his co-star in an upcoming movie, “Pride and Glory,” he sounded ecstatic about his love for James, his 3-year-old son with Kim Bordenave.
When Colin dropped lines like “I have found a love that I never thought I’d find through my son,” you’d just wish the actor, who turned 30 this year, would henceforth run into less trouble. He was in a good mood as he fielded our questions.
Where are you at this time of your life? Is it a good time?
The last two years have been a blur and the last six or seven years since I first met you for “Tigerland” have been nebulous as well. It has been quite a journey and it doesn’t seem to have an end. I got to work with some amazing people. I’ve seen some amazing places in the world, especially when I did “Alexander.” We went to the Dominican Republic.
What are your priorities now?
My first priority is my son. I have a newfound appreciation for life. I wasn’t suicidal but I never had that much of a will to live a long time. I was enjoying life as I went through it but I never really had much of a reason to look beyond the next step. Now, I want to be alive to watch my son grow, be his friend and his father and hang around with him.
Work is still a big priority. I haven’t really slowed down although some people suggested it. I’m enjoying it too much. I’ve been so lucky. I thought a while ago, oh, maybe I’ll just take a little bit of time off... and then the phone rang. Woody Allen wanted to see me. Boom! End of plan to take time off (laughter).
I’m going to try and ask two questions that some people are scared to ask you directly.
Now I should leave.
How did you manage to get rid of your reported addiction to prescription medication? And what do you love about Lake Bell?
I won’t answer the first one. I won’t answer the second one because she’s not here. And this has nothing to do with her.
What did you get out of that time off after “Miami Vice”?
For the first time in six or seven years, I got to step back. That’s all. I was able to look at what I had been through, what I was going through, the life that I had created or maybe the life that I allowed to create itself... and the balance between those two things. I got to think of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I got to take a kind of metaphorical deep breath. It was good; I needed it.
So have you modified your lifestyle?
Not really. I mean, I haven’t had a drink in six months. It just caught up with me. I am not going out on a leash. I am still working my arse off. I mean, I’m doing the film with Woody. I’ll be doing that for six or seven weeks and, as I said, my priority now is the little fellow. It’s incredible. I mean, you talk about falling in love. The greatest thing about him is, it’s just bizarre to fall in love and know that it’s going to last.
Where you are now, do you think you can have it all?
Oh, Lord. Trust you to go existential on me (laughter). Why can’t we have it all? Because priorities shift. That’s why sometimes I just try and count my blessings. I find myself whining sometimes about the negative things that success brings. I try and constantly remind myself how fortunate I am.
What exactly do you whine about?
Sometimes you’re not in the mood, you’re in your own space, and people get on top of you, sometimes aggressively. An extreme example is, I’ve been in hospitals and people have come up and asked for photographs and autographs. Usually if you’re in a hospital, it’s not for a good reason (laughter).
I don’t know if life would be easier. I could be less aggressive if the paparazzi didn’t exist or weren’t everywhere. All you need to do now these days is buy a digital camera for $200. Kids are going out and buying cameras and all of a sudden they’re paparazzi. They’re pretty aggressive as well. And the things they say to you. They’ve been very aggressive when I’m in a car with my boy to the point where they put his life in danger. But, I mean, the pros of my life far outweigh the cons, man.
Have you found love?
I have found a love that I never thought I’d find -- through my son. I have a lot of love in my life but I have not found a better half.
Tell us about working with the great actress, Gong Li.
She’s just incredible. I met her for the first time in Michael Mann’s production office. She didn’t really have a lick of English at all when I met her, which was very endearing but it didn’t promote the idea that it would be great to be working alongside with her in an English speaking film for six months. But she is obviously an incredibly special woman, highly intelligent. She’s got an incredible amount of compassion in her, which is one of the factors that makes her such a good artist. I didn’t know much of her work so I watched some of her films after I met her. I got very scared (laughter) because she was phenomenal.
“Raise the Red Lantern” was the one that really struck me. I just couldn’t believe what I was watching. I was bewitched by her. As I’ve said, she didn’t really speak much English but she went off, hit the books and studied. She had the hardest job out of anyone because not only was she trying to learn English; Michael was also convinced that she should be speaking English with something of a Cuban accent. It was just a nightmare (laughter).
How true are the reports that there is animosity between you and Jamie?
I swear to God, there are reports about everything. That I was getting married or that I got married. I would have loved to have been at my wedding, you know. That would have been nice (laughter).
But none of that happened. I mean, there was some creative (issues) stuff that went around the set and there was stuff that happened in the Dominican Republic. Obviously, the storms hit but they didn’t hit us too hard in Miami. But you read that stuff and it’s just unfortunate. They had to write something. I don’t know if what happened was someone was disgruntled on the set, decided to make a phone call and got $500. Because there was certainly no animosity between the two of us.
How much did you enjoy salsa in this movie and how much effort did it take to learn the steps?
I enjoy dancing as the next Irishman (laughter) which means, yeah, I enjoy a good dance. Salsa? We did about two months of lessons in a dance studio so there were mirrors everywhere to remind me of how much I looked like a prick and not just because I felt like one (laughter).
It was fun up to a point and then after about eight hours of doing it on the set, it got a bit old (laughter).
source:Showbizandstyle.inquirer.net