Oscar-nominated actor Colin Farrell has just announced his new role: chairman of a charitable foundation.
The star of “Banshees of Inisherin” and “The Batman” has launched his Colin Farrell Foundation, named after him and seeking to benefit people living with intellectual disabilities and their families. At the heart of Farrell’s new organization and its mission is the actor’s 20-year-old son, James, who lives with Angelman syndrome.
“I want the world to be kind to James,” Farrell told People in an interview published Wednesday. “I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”
Angelman syndrome is an incurable disease caused by a change in a gene that causes “developmental delay, problems with speech and balance, mental disability and sometimes seizures,” according to the Mayo Clinic. The disease causes developmental delays but does not affect a person’s life expectancy.
James, who Farrell shares with former girlfriend and model Kim Bordenave, is nonverbal and will soon retire from support systems and programs that benefit people with special needs and their families, the actor said. James will celebrate his 21st birthday in September.
“You are left with a young adult who should be an integral part of our modern society and who is more often than not left behind,” added Farrell, 48.
The Colin Farrell Foundation seeks to remedy that transition by providing people in the intellectual disability community with “education, awareness, support and innovative programs,” the website says. Farrell told People he thinks his son would think starting the foundation is a “no-brainer.”
The Irish actor of “In Bruges” and “After Yang,” a longtime special needs advocate, also praised his son’s hard work in walking and feeding himself.
“When he first started feeding, his face looked like Jackson Pollock,” the actor said. “But he does it and he feeds beautifully. I’m proud of him every day, because I think it’s magical.”
In addition to James, Farrell has a 14-year-old son, Henry, with actress Alicja Bachleda-Curuś.
