Biography of Colin Farrell

Colin James Farrell (born 31 May 1976) is a Golden Globe-, IFTA- and Satellite Award-winning Irish actor, who has appeared in Hollywood films including Tigerland, Daredevil, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander, In Bruges.
Farrell was born in Dublin, the son of Rita, a housewife, and Eamon Farrell, a soccer-player who played for Shamrock Rovers FC and owned a company importing and exporting canned goods in Dublin City. He was raised Roman Catholic. His uncle Tommy Farrell also played for Rovers. Farrell has three siblings: two sisters, Claudine (who is his personal assistant) and Catherine; and a brother, Eamon Jr. When he was ten, the Farrells moved to Castleknock, a Dublin suburb. Farrell was educated at St. Brigid's National School Castleknock followed by Castleknock College and Gormanston College. Farrell auditioned for the Irish group Boyzone when he was still unknown, but was unsuccessful. Farrell attended The Gaiety School of Acting, but dropped out and was cast in the part of Danny Byrne on Ballykissangel, a BBC television drama. Farrell appeared on the show 7 times from 1998 to 1999.
Farrell appeared in the title role of Alexander the Great in Oliver Stone's 2004 biopic Alexander, which, while receiving some favorable reviews internationally, received mostly mediocre and negative reviews in the United States. It was marked by controversy for portraying the ancient conqueror as bisexual, and received criticism from some historians for its portrayal of the ancient Persians, though others praised it for its accuracy in these regards as well. The movie grossed a total of $167 million worldwide, despite its poor showing within the United States, just exceeding its budget of $155 million.
Farrell's next film was 2005's Academy Award-nominated The New World, also a historical epic that was met with mixed reviews.[20] Farrell played the leading role of captain John Smith, the founder of 17th century colonial Jamestown, Virginia who falls in love with a beautiful Native American princess, Pocahontas, played by Q'Orianka Kilcher. The film received positive reviews, despite being released in only 811 theaters worldwide and having a relatively low box office gross.
The New World was followed by Ask the Dust, a romance film set in period Los Angeles and co-starring Salma Hayek. It received a very limited theatrical release and was not a financial success. 2006 brought more success in Farrell's career, as he appeared opposite Jamie Foxx in Michael Mann's action-crime film Miami Vice.
On 11 January 2009, he won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor: Musical or Comedy for his role in In Bruges, in which he co-starred with Brendan Gleeson. The same year, he starred in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, alongside Heath Ledger and Christopher Plummer and Crazy Heart, alongside Jeff Bridges.
2010 will see the release of Ondine (film), a fantasy-drama directed by Neil Jordan, which stars Farrell as a fisherman. Farrell's next project will be in a film adaptation of Flann O'Brien's metafictional novel At Swim-Two-Birds alongside Cillian Murphy and Gabriel Byrne. Actor Brendan Gleeson will be directing the film, which will be released in 2010. In October 2009, however, Gleeson expressed fear that, should the Irish Film Board be abolished as planned by the Irish State, the production may fall through.
Farrell has a son, James Padraig (born 12 September 2003), with US model Kim Bordenave. In October 2007, Farrell revealed that his son has Angelman Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental delay, speech impediment, sleep disturbance, seizures, hand flapping movements, and frequent laughter/smiling.
In December 2005, Farrell voluntarily checked into a rehabilitation treatment center for addictions to recreational drugs and painkillers. His publicist commented that Farrell had started taking painkillers due to a back injury. He was released in January 2006. In May 2006, Farrell started attending rehabilitation meetings.
It was announced on 14 September 2009, that Farrell and his current partner, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś were expecting their first child together. Their son, Henry Tadeusz Farrell, was born on 7 October 2009 and was baptized in the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Krakow, Poland.