Movies - TV
Colin Farrell Tried To Talk His Way Out Of Martin McDonagh's In Bruges
By DEVIN MEENAN
In writer-director Martin McDonagh’s 2008 film “In Bruges,” Colin Farrell plays a fledgling hitman hiding out in Belgium after a job gone wrong, and Farrell helps deliver one of the funniest movies ever made about Catholic guilt and suicidal ideation. Farrell thought McDonagh's script was brilliant — so brilliant, in fact, he tried to talk McDonagh out of casting him.
“You don't want anyone coming in with the baggage that I have,” Farrell told McDonagh, referring to his career's rocky start, first with his campy performance as Bullseye in “Daredevil” and then as Alexander the Great in Oliver Stone’s eponymous epic. It was the latter film’s brutal reviews that caused Farrell to question himself. “I felt so much shame,” the actor said.
McDonagh noted Farrell’s concerns but didn't change his mind. Farrell, of course, accepted the role for “In Bruges,” which according to him marked his “big turning point.” He has since had great performances in “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” and won his second Golden Globe for McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” after winning his first for “In Bruges.”