Today, the Playlist scribe sat down with Neil Jordan and Colin Farrell, the director and star of the upcoming romantic mermaid fairytale film, “Ondine,” that many of us here are big fans of (more on that later, and you can read our “Ondine” review from TIFF).
Earlier this week, you’ll recall that the too-candid Robert Duvall outed Farrell as being one of the stars that turned down the lead role in Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating take deux attempt at, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” (we all know how the first attempt went).
So being busy bodies, we had to ask Colin what he thought of this new age of transparency where the public knows the ins and outs of casting decisions, who slept on what casting couch and who mulled over a role for six minutes and forty five seconds before going to the Chateau Marmont to be seen out in public for a wine spritzer.
When we told him this news became public, Farrell said cagily, but with his trademark smiling charm, “Did it? Where? Show it to me,” he said of the article in question, before agreeing that yes, he did turn down the role, “Six months ago though,” before joking, “That wasn’t even me, that was another incarnation” (wait, we thought you were off the sauce much longer than that, Colin. Or did he mean another incarnation of the script? It was hard to tell).
When asked to comment about ‘Quixote,’ the Irish star refused. “I wouldn’t talk about other people’s work that I’m not [in] — that’s yet to come, that’s — you know what I mean.”
Farrell also confirmed — in an admittedly very round about way — what we’ve already heard when he was asked what project he was doing next: that’s he’s already dropped out of (and or was prematurely listed as part of the cast of) the romantic comedy “Something Borrowed” which he was just announced as part of.
“[I] don’t know [what’s next], that’s all I know is that I haven’t got anything lined up, I’m just reading a lot of stuff. It seems to be an interesting time for filmmakers that obviously even more and more and more importance is being placed on the big tentpole films and it’s kinda hard for the lower bracket, or the middle range, the $20 million dollar budget films to be made, it seems.”
Which lead us to the reason why we published this article and our quote of the day. Jordan quipped to Farrell’s comment, “Who was it that said ‘auteur’ is French for ‘unemployed?'” Genius. — additional reporting by Kimber Myers