Biography

Colin James Farrell (born May 31, 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and a nomination for an Academy Award. The Irish Times' named him Ireland's fifth-greatest film actor in 2020. Farrell began acting in the BBC drama series Ballykissangel (1998) and had his film debut in the drama The War Zone (1999). His first lead film role was in the war drama Tigerland (2000), and he had his breakthrough with Steven Spielberg's science fiction film Minority Report (2002). He took on high-profile roles as Bullseye in Daredevil (2003) and Alexander the Great in Alexander (2004), and further starring roles in Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006) and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007). Farrell earned acclaim for playing a rookie hitman in Martin McDonagh's comedy In Bruges (2008), winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He went on to play a variety of leading and character roles in the comedy Horrible Bosses (2011), the science fiction film Total Recall (2012), the black comedy Seven Psychopaths (2012), the drama Saving Mr. Banks (2013), the dark comedies The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), the gothic thriller The Beguiled (2017), and the fantasy film Dumbo (2019). He also starred in the second season of HBO's thriller series True Detective (2015). Farrell has also played Percival Graves in the fantasy film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Penguin in the superhero film The Batman (2022). Also in 2022, Farrell gained acclaim for his roles in the science fiction drama After Yang, the survival film Thirteen Lives, and McDonagh's drama The Banshees of Inisherin. For playing a naive Irishman in the lattermost, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and another Golden Globe, in addition to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.