Colin James Farrell -born 31 May 1976- is an Irish actor. After TV and film work in the UK, he was discovered by Joel Schumacher auditioning for Tigerland. The string of American thrillers that followed, Phone Booth, S.W.A.T., and The Recruit established his international box office bankability.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Colin Farrell began turning heads in Hollywood when he starred in Joel Schumacher’s Tigerland (2000), the story of American soldiers taken to the backwoods of Louisiana in 1971 to play war games in preparation for their first tour of duty in Vietnam. He garnered a Best Actor Award from the Boston Society of Film Critics for his portrayal of Bozz, a roughneck Texan recruit who helps his boot-camp buddies avoid Vietnam combat. Farrell also starred alongside Kevin Spacey in Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Dublin gangster movie Criminal y decente (2000). It was Spacey who suggested him for the part after catching Farrell’s riveting performance in the play “In a Little World of Our Own” at the Donmar Warehouse in London.
Born on May 31, 1976, Farrell studied acting at the Gaiety School of Drama in Dublin and had established himself as a recognizable talent back home with a starring role in the BBC series “Ballykissangel” (1996) and Deirdre Purcell’s miniseries Falling for a Dancer (1998) (TV), in addition to a featured role in Tim Roth’s directorial debut, The War Zone (1999). After “Tigerland”, Farrell took on the role of Jesse James in American Outlaws (2001). Farrell then had a starring role in Última llamada (2002), reuniting him with director Schumacher. He also co-starred with Bruce Willis in La guerra de Hart (2002), which was shot on location in Prague, Czech Republic. Along the way Farrell has managed to work with legendary directors such as Steven Spielberg in Minority Report (2002). All this has happened for Colin by the age of 25, making him one of Hollywood’s A-list young actors.