Dog hair is not a miracle cure. Colin Farrell knows this from experience.
The Irish actor learned the limits of the folk remedy many moons ago while filming “Minority Report,” the tech noir film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick.
That fateful day on set, as Farrell recounted Tuesday on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” was perhaps even more disturbing than the surveillance state scenario in which the 2002 film takes place.
It all started the day before Farrell's birthday, he said. That night, he “did all kinds of stupid things” that led him back home in the early hours of the morning. At the time, Farrell was struggling to kick an old substance abuse habit.
“I remember getting into bed and as soon as I turned off the light, the phone rang,” the Academy Award winner said. He was 10 minutes late for his 6am pickup.
“I said, 'Oh, shit.'”
Farrell said he had barely managed to get out of his car when assistant director David H. Venghaus Jr. intercepted him, insisting, “You can't go on set like that.”
In response, the young actor ordered six Pacífico beers and a pack of Marlboro Reds.
“Now listen, it's not okay because two years later I went to rehab, right?” Farrell told Colbert. “But it worked in the moment.”
But did he do it?
In the end, Farrell said it took him 46 takes to deliver a single, albeit detailed, line: “I'm sure you've all understood the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology.”
“Tom wasn't very happy with me,” Farrell said. Luckily for Cruise, he got a consolation prize in the form of a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Plus, the $35.6 million domestic opening of “Minority Report” didn't hurt.
Farrell finally sobered up a few years later, shortly before filming “In Bruges” (2008), he said at the 2021 Dublin International Film Festival.
At first, the transition was difficult to handle, Farrell said: “After 15 or 20 years of partying like I did and drinking like I drank, the sober world is a pretty scary world.”
But “coming home and not having the support of a few drinks just to calm your nerves was really surprising,” he said.
