Copyright syracuse.com
An Oscar-nominated actor says he once made Tom Cruise angry after needing 46 takes to do a movie scene. Colin Farrell revealed in a new interview on “The Late Show Starring Stephen Colbert” that he got drunk the night before “one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set” during production on the 2002 sci-fi film “Minority Report.” “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,” Farrell told Stephen Colbert. “So of course my pickup was 6 a.m. 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, s--t.’” Farrell said he was warned not to go to the set by assistant director David H. Venghaus. But he insisted he could do it if he had a couple beers before filming a scene with Cruise. “I went, ‘Just get me six Pacifico Cervezas and a packet of 20 Red.’ Now, listen, it’s not cool because two years later I went to rehab, right? 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,” said Farrell, who has been sober since entering a treatment facility in 2006. Farrell played Danny Witwer opposite Cruise as John Anderton in the futuristic movie, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a Philip K. Dick story. Cruise, a Syracuse native, played a PreCrime police officer who attempts to stop crimes before they happen with the help of “PreCogs” who can foresee murders. The movie was a success, reportedly grossing $358 million worldwide ($689 million when adjusted for inflation) on a $102 million budget. However, Farrell admitted “it was terrible” as he struggled to do a key scene with Cruise. “I will never forget the line I had that I couldn’t get out,” Farrell said. “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.’ “We did 46 takes. Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, who I love, was not very happy!” Farrell, 49, was appearing on late-night TV to promote his new Netflix film, “Ballad of a Small Player.” The Irish actor is also known for roles in “The Batman,” “The Penguin,” “True Detective,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Miami Vice,” “S.W.A.T.” and an Oscar-nominated performance in “The Lobster.” Cruise, 63, is a Syracuse-born movie star whose credits include “Top Gun,” “Mission: Impossible,” “A Few Good Men,” “Risky Business,” “Jack Reacher” and “Tropic Thunder.” He has been nominated for four Academy Awards and won three Golden Globes for acting in “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Jerry Maguire” and “Magnolia.”
