Colin Farrell is one of the most successful actors of the past few decades – but who is his sister? And why was he once arrested for attempted murder?
With 30 years in the business, Irish star Colin has remained booked and busy: from appearances on The Penguin to venturing into the Harry Potter franchise, starring in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Here, we’re taking a look inside Colin’s rise to fame – from his sweet bond with his sister to his “shocking” audition for Boyzone.
Colin Farrell auditioned for Boyzone
Famous for his acting chops and award-winning movies, it turns out Colin almost had an entirely different career.
His breakthrough role was in Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film Minority Report (2002) – and later found fame in flicks such as 2008’s dark comedy Bruges, bagging a Golden Globe for his role, and 2011’s comedy Horrible Bosses. More recently, he received critical acclaim for his role as Oz Cobb/The Penguin in the 2024 HBO series.
However, Colin nearly made it as a singer in a certain chart-topping boyband… In 2012, he revealed he was approached by Louis Walsh to audition for Boyzone.
They asked me to sing it again because they couldn’t believe how shocking I was!
Colin told Yahoo: “So I was on a dance floor in Dublin and I was 17, in leather trousers and a rubber T-shirt – I’ll spare no embarrassing details – when Louis Walsh came up to me and said: ‘I’m forming a band, they’re going to be huge, do you want to be in it?’
“I said: ‘Yeah,’ so I went to an audition the next day and there were 150 lads outside the door with various spray-tans, tight T-shirts, etc. I went in and sang Careless Whisper twice… they asked me to sing it again because they couldn’t believe how shocking I was!”
Meanwhile, in 2024, Louis confirmed the story was true, revealing on Celebrity Big Brother: “I know him [Colin] very well as he auditioned for Boyzone and he told me he wanted to be an actor, I knew him from Dublin.
“I said: ‘You can’t sing, I can’t give you the gig,’ because I knew him very well. And he said to me: ‘Oh I wanna be an actor’ and I said: ‘You’re wasting your [bleep]ing time.'”
Colin Farrell’s bond with sister
It’s clear that Colin has a super-close bond with his sister, producer Claudine Farrell.
I have to thank my sister who I have worked with for 22 years.
On Sunday (February 23) at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards as he accepted his award for Best Male Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie Award for his lead role in The Penguin, he gave a shout out to Claudine.
He dedicated part of his speech to his sister Claudine Farrell and said: “I have to thank my sister who I have worked with for 22 years. I never thank her publicly. She’s a producer and she’s not my assistant.”
Meanwhile, back in 2009, Colin angrily confronted a photographer after they started shouting at Claudine at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.
As MailOnline reports, the pap yelled at Claudine so they could get a solo shot of Colin – but he wasn’t having it.
Pouting his finger at the photographer, Colin then reportedly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck until he apologised.
Colin Farrell on attempted murder arrest
In 2015, Colin made a shocking revelation that he was once interrogated by Australian police for attempted murder.
“It was a long time ago and I was drunk. I saw a photo-fit of the guy that actually did the crime and it looked remarkably like me and for a second I – because I had had a blackout that night – I wondered, could I have done such a thing?” he recalled on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
He added: “They showed me a photo-fit, a pencil sketch of the guy that had attempted to murder, this other gentleman – had beat him up and left him in his own apartment, set the apartment on fire and split, thereby leaving him to burn to death – and it was me.”
Revealing he was panicked, Colin continued: “I went, I think I’m in trouble. It was terrifying.
“I was there for about six hours. And then thankfully a friend of mine had kept a journal of that particular night and that particular time we were at a party the other side of town doing ecstasy.”
Colin’s son’s rare disorder
Colin is a proud dad to two sons – James, 21 and Henry, 15. He shares James, 21, with his ex, Kim Bordenave.
James has a rare neurological condition called Angelman syndrome which affects the nervous system. It also causes developmental delays as well as other issues.
In 2024, Colin opened up for the first time about James, revealing to People: “I want the world to be kind to James. I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”
He also shared that he is starting the Colin Farrell Foundation, in a bid to help people and families with with intellectual disabilities.
What’s more, Colin opened up to the publication about the deeply emotional moment he saw his son walk for the first time.
“I knew they [James’s carers] were working on walking. And I stood over there, and she let him go, and he just came to [me]. It was so profound. It was magic,” he said.
Colin added: “I’ll never forget just the face of determination on him as he walked toward me. He took, like, six steps, and I burst into tears.”
Is the star married?
Colin has never been married. It was previously claimed that he tied the knot to English actress-singer Amelia Warner. They dated from July to November 2001 – but it was never confirmed.
Following the end of their romance, Colin went on to date a slew of different celebs, including Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.
He dated model Kim Bordenave from 2000 to 2003, during which the two welcomed a son, James.
Colin also shares son, Henry, 15, with Polish actress Alicja Bachleda. The pair were together for nearly two years, before breaking up in 2010.
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