Colin Farrell‘s Hollywood breakthrough came in 2002 in Steven Spielberg‘s “Minority Report.” But as the actor recalls, he was not the most responsible cast member on-set, so much so that he severely annoyed his A-lister co-star Tom Cruise with his hungover antics.
Deadline reports that Farrell provided an anecdote about “one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set” while making the blockbuster. As the actor tells it, he got drunk the night before shooting an important scene because it was his 26th birthday, and was so out of it the next day, he had to do 46 takes of a particular line. 46 takes! No wonder perfectionist Cruise was livid with Farrell.
Farrell supplied the story to Stephen Colbert on an interview on “The Late Show” earlier this week. “It was my birthday on May 31, and we were shooting, and I begged production — who did I think I was? — of a $120 million film if they [could] not have me working on my birthday,” remembered the actor. “So, of course, my pickup was 6am on May 31, and I got up to all sorts of nonsense the night before. And I remember getting into bed, and as soon as I turned off the light, the phone rang and it was the driver, he said, ‘It’s 10 past 6.’ And I went, ‘Oh, shit.’”
When Farrell arrived on set, assistant director David H. Venghaus noticed he was completely out it and told the actor, “‘You can’t go on to the set like this.'” But Farrell, in the throes of his younger binge-drinking days, only replied, “‘Just get me six Pacifico Cervezas and a pocket of 20 Red.'” “Now, listen, it’s not cool because two years later I went to rehab, right?,” the actor continued. “But it worked in the moment. All the holy people that we look to on how to live a life would say the present is all that counts.”
Farrell, whose been sober since entering rehab, “had a couple of beers” before he started filming, but “it was terrible,” and everyone, including Cruise, could tell he was in poor form. “I will never forget the line I had that I couldn’t get out,” the actor went on. “It was, ‘I’m sure you’ve all grasped the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology.’ That was the line that started the scene. I remember [the crew] coming up and saying, ‘Do you want to go out and take a breath of fresh air?’ And I remember thinking, ‘If I go out and take a breath of fresh air, then I’ll be under more pressure when I come back in to be better.’ And I went, ‘No, we’ll just go through it.’
Eventually, the cast and crew did get through it, but only after nearly four dozen takes. “We did 46 takes. Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, who I love, was not very happy!” Farrell laughed. But on rewatch of “Minority Report,” is it noticeable that Farrell is incredibly hungover? Maybe readers should judge for themselves. The film, an adaptation of an early Philip K. Dick short story, is a strong and often overlooked part of Spielberg’s mid-career catalog, and more than worthy of a rewatch. As for Farrell, he stars in Edward Berger‘s “The Ballad Of A Small Player,” streaming on Netflix now.
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