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Early Show Interview - June 21, 2002 SHOW: The Early Show (7:00 AM ET) - CBS
June 21, 2002 Friday
TYPE: Interview
LENGTH: 771 words
HEADLINE: Colin Farrell discusses his new movie, "Minority Report"
ANCHORS: JOHN ROBERTS
REPORTERS: LAURIE HIBBERD
BODY:JOHN ROBERTS, co-host: Fifteen minutes now after the hour. Up and coming Irish actor Colin Farrell plays opposite Tom Cruise in the new film "Minority Report." He told our Laurie Hibberd that he got the part at the very last minute. Mr. COLIN FARRELL ("Minority Report"): Matt Damon was supposed to do the part originally, but--I think because this guy's--his work on "Bourne Identity," he couldn't make it, I believe. And then--and so I was lucky enough to get the call from Spielberg. He'd seen a film I did. And I--I went over and spent some time--20 minutes talking with him and had--shared a sardine sandwich with him and I got offered the part. LAURIE HIBBERD reporting: Does it blow your mind that you didn't have to audition for a Steven Spielberg movie? Mr. FARRELL: Yeah. It blows my mind that I--I would ever have--get a part having not auditioned for it, yeah, absolutely, 'cause I had looked at the trailer and he had said to me, 'I'd really like you to do it.' And I looked at the trailer and I go, 'What does that mean? Does that mean I'm doing it? Does he really want me there?' Or... Mr. STEVEN SPIELBERG (Director, "Minority Report): I wanted to find somebody that could hold the floor with Tom. I wanted to find an actor that you would actually look at and listen to and be compelled to listen to. I didn't want Tom to suck all the air out of the room. So I tried to find somebody very, very strong to play all of the scenes with him. Colin was able to stand up and hold his own with Tom, which is a credit to Colin. Mr. FARRELL: Cruise was cool. It was--from day one, it was dead on. And then--and you just, you know, pick your head up and just go for it, you know? You get over the--the nerves pretty quick and just get into it, you know? I enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for a challenge anyway. (Excerpt from "Minority Report" courtesy 20th Century Fox) HIBBERD: In "Minority Report," Farrell's challenge was to play Danny Witwer, a Justice Department official who audits Tom Cruise's character's pre-crime unit and becomes his nemesis. Mr. FARRELL: Not a bad guy. Not--all right, annoying--annoying and kind of self-centered and all that kind of stuff, very sleazy, but on--but on the side of good, I suppose. Yeah. He think he's doing--he's--all the things he--he does in the film, he's doing for the right reasons.
(Excerpt from "Minority Report") HIBBERD: For the film, the Irish-born Farrell had to don an American accent, something he'd been training for since he was a kid. Mr. FARRELL: I grew up with American television, you know? I grew up with "The A-Team" and "CHiPs" and "Incredible Hulk" and... HIBBERD: Oh, all our great shows. Mr. FARRELL: All your classy, classy, classy American, intelligent--no, no. Yeah, that's what I grew up with as a kid. So, I mean, it's in my head, always, all my life, tho--those sounds--those American sounds. So I think it's much easier for an actor to go from that side of the Atlantic over to America than to do it the other way around because, I mean, what Americans grow up with is, 'You're not stealing me Lucky Charms,' you know? (Excerpt from "Tigerland" courtesy Fox Home Video) HIBBERD: Since making his American film debut in Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland" in 2000, Farrell has been dubbed Hollywood's next big thing. It's a title he takes in stride. Mr. FARRELL: I don't really live in that world, you know? I don't--I don't really think about it too much. I have been asked yesterday, 'So you're on the cover of Vanity Fair. How does that make you feel?' and I was like, I don't really feel for Vanity Fair. You know what I mean? I don't, you know, have a--a love-hate or any--doesn't--doesn't promote feeling or so to me. It's cool. It's deadly, you know? HIBBERD: It's that carefree attitude that helps Farrell appreciate just how lucky he is. Mr. FARRELL: What? There's--there's not a thousand actors in the world who could play all the parts I've done as well if not better? It's just luck. It's--it's luck. It's me having the avenue to--to stumble into a workshop in drama school in Dublin one day, and then, you know, me meeting Joel Schumacher in London, me getting an agent through a play I was doing in London that Kevin Spacey saw because he was doing a play in London and he got on to the agency in LA, who decided then to sign me based on Spacey seeing me in this play. And he saw me. Come on. Give me a (censored) break. Luck? Yeah, man. HIBBERD: Laurie Hibberd for THE EARLY SHOW. ROBERTS: Colin Farrell. You're watching THE EARLY SHOW on CBS.
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