Colin Farrell on Dubai, doctors and addiction

“I do not want to be a singer!” were the words Hollywood’s Colin Farrell repeated over and over again during the hour-long ‘In Conversation’ session that was the surprise addition to the Dubai International Film Festival, which concluded yesterday.

Farrell was referring to his long-forgotten audition for the band, Boyzone. The Irish actor, who is best known for his off-screen bad boy escapades that includes a stint in rehab and a sex tape with former girlfriend and “Playboy” bunny Nicole Narain, was a far cry from his wild ways that earned him enough column inches in the gossip rags.

Struggling with fever, which the Golden Globe-winning actor confessed had shot up to 103 degrees the moment he landed in Dubai, Farrell still playfully bantered with the audience and even sportingly agreed to meet a crazed fan backstage post session for a private photo op.

Read on to catch highlights of his chat, where Emirates 24|7 also managed to squeeze in a few questions with the star of acclaimed films such as “Phone Booth” and “The Way Back”.

The first thing you wanted to see in Dubai was…
A doctor.

Ok, the second thing you wanted to see in Dubai was…
I love Dubai, man. There are so many iconic places of architecture here such as Burj Al Arab, The Palm and the world’s tallest tower [Burj Khalifa].

How did you become an actor?
My sister Catherine went to theatre school and she said one day, why don’t I pursue acting.  I didn’t grow up in a culturally rich environment and we belonged a middle-income household where such pursuits weren’t easy to follow through.
But when I got into, I realised that not only was this my hobby but also some thing I could earn a living from. So I got me an agent in Ireland and got me a 103-degree fever in Dubai.

IN PICTURES: Tears and trophies at the closing ceremony of DIFF

How did the big move to Hollywood happen?
My agent set up three weeks' worth of meetings for me in Los Angeles. But I was going through that phase in life where I would usually be stoned or hungover and literally had no responsibility in life.
So I met a few people, had a few meetings and heard a few people say, ‘So, you’re Irish! How about that’.
I hopped on a plane back to Ireland and thought that was the end of it. But Josh [his agent] rang me a few weeks later saying Joel Schumacher was holding auditions in London and that’s how it took off and “Phone Booth” happened.

Working with the legendary Al Pacino in “The Recruit” was…
Al Pacino was a trip on its own, man. It was like going to Africa and seeing one of the Big Five.

Err, who are the other four?
Robert De Niro, the late Marlon Brando and others of that calibre. However, Al Pacino is a funny man, a gorgeous person and yet someone who is still fascinated by acting at this stage in his career.
I mean, Al still does Greek theatre in his living room on most weeknights in New York with a group of renowned actors.
I remember we had just shot a very inconsequential scene and I walked into his trailer to see Al in his underwear going: ‘I don’t think we got it kid’.
You know, I have worked with all kinds of actors through my film career, some of them quite demented. Yet, Al understands that he isn’t on his own when shooting a scene with other fellow actors and gives each one their space without trying to overshadow them.

And yet, right after acclaimed films such as “Phone Booth” and “The Recruit”, you do “Dare Devil”…
Yeah. “Dare Devil” is not one of my favourite films. Let’s leave it at that.

After a few inconsequential films came your Golden Globe-winning film, “In Bruges” in 2008. Is it true that you wanted to say no to the movie?
I didn’t want to say no to the movie; I actually did say no. Don’t get me wrong; I love the script and the character. However, I told director Martin McDonagh that such a role demanded an actor who commanded a wider audience that would come into cinemas and do justice to such films.
And I was at a stage in my life where my personality and my wild ways had overshadowed my work. But Martin insisted and I’m so glad he ignored me.

Well, you did overcome your addictions finally…
You know, I remember once seeing a Matt Damon interview where he said he likes avoiding the media because if all the details of his life were available to people why would they pay to see more of him in cinemas?
At the time, I was so resentful towards him for saying that. It seemed like he directed the statement at me. But it was later when I curbed my ways that I realised how meaningful his words really were.

“The Way Back” [one of the DIFF galas] sees you play a vicious character on screen. It seems a very difficult character to portray…
I play a Russian POW in this film and yes, it is a vicious character.
Would I say it was difficult to shoot? Well, certainly considering we were shooting in the dead of winter. But let me put it this way: I was fine between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ but I wasn’t fine between ‘cut’ and ‘action’. That’s when I was in no man’s land.

Do you regret doing any of your films?
Well, many of them may not have turned out as we had expected or hoped they would but no, everything to me is a positive learning experience.

So is it true that you desperately wanted to be a singer in Boyzone?
I never ever wanted to be a singer. Yes, I auditioned for Boyzone back in the day, but I really didn’t know what I was doing… People would’ve probably caught me singing “Careless Whisper” maybe twice in my life.
Louis Walsh (Boyzone manager) saw me hungover at an Irish pub once, in a rubber shirt and leather pants, and walked up to me and said, ‘You want to be in a boy band?’ So I go, ‘Yeah, sure’.
A few days later, he called me to say, ‘You are still in the band mate, but could you just pop over for an audition?’
After the audition, Louis called again to say, ‘Yeah mate, you aren’t in the band’. The rest is history.
But I got my revenge on Boyzone with “Crazy Heart”. [Farrell belted out a few numbers in the film to mass acclaim]

IN PICTURES: Tears and trophies at the closing ceremony of DIFF

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.