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By Angela Dawson
Entertainment News Wire
HOLLYWOOD -- For actor Colin Farrell, putting on the dusty boots of Alexander the Great, the ancient warrior-king, was easier than removing them.
The enigmatic Alexander got so far under Farrell's skin that the actor simply couldn't shake the character, even when the cameras stopped rolling.
So last Christmas, during a break in shooting, Farrell embarked on a weeklong pilgrimage to discover the man he was portraying in Oliver Stone's $150 million epic, "Alexander."
Posing as a college student, the Irish actor traveled to Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in northern Greece where Alexander was born in 356 B.C. He also visited the tomb of Alexander's father, Phillip II, at Vergina.
Having already researched his role, Farrell went on to engage the locals in Greek bars in conversations about their renowned forefather, who conquered much of the known world more than 2,300 years ago. (In a nation fiercely proud of its heritage, talking about Alexander is surprisingly more common in Greece than, say, a barroom debate on George Washington in the United States.)
"It was an emotionally self-indulgent time," Farrell recalls, unwinding in a hotel suite with a bottle of Merlot after a full day of interviews. His toddler son, James, and the boy's mother, model Kim Bordenave, are in an adjoining room where little squeals and giggles can occasionally be heard.
The 28-year-old Irishman appears tired yet talkative. Between puffs on a cigarette, he says he was surprised by how warmly the Greeks regarded the ancient leader. He expected "a bourgeois condescendence" but found a measure of deep respect, something he shared after portraying the man for six months.
Months after wrapping the epic, it is obvious that something of Alexander has stayed with Farrell. He easily recounts the film's dialogue, though he has shot two other movies (Robert Towne's "Ask the Dust" and Terrence Malick's "The New World") since.
"I poured myself into this; it demanded it of me," he explains earnestly. "This was a situation that was highly intense and a character that was incredibly complex and of a different time. He had been through so much in his life at a very young age. Then it got thicker and denser and the stakes got higher. The paranoia got more prevalent and intense. You try to wrap your head around it. I've never been in that situation before."
Farrell is the first to admit that the character is not completely commendable. Alexander massacred thousands and forced others into slavery over the course of his eight-year march of conquest. But Alexander also had admirable qualities of leadership, idealism and a desire to preserve local cultures and customs in the lands he conquered.
Like Alexander, Farrell has always had a sense of wanderlust and curiosity about different peoples and cultures. He believes in living life to the fullest. The tattoo on his left wrist sums up his outlook: "Carpe Diem" -- seize the day. His drinking binges, colorful language and romantic conquests are legendary. Divorced, he has an amicable relationship with the ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his child but has no intention of getting married again. And he makes no apologies for his behavior.
"I like life, I really do," he says in a Dublin-tinged staccato. "I always
have, with all the ---- that it throws your way and through all the laughter and
the tears. After a long day's work, I can't go home, get into bed, flip on
'Friends,' order a pizza and get a good night's sleep. That doesn't work for me.
I don't sleep much. It's just the way I've always been."
Farrell found something of a soul mate in his "Alexander" director, Oliver Stone. "He's very intense, articulate and highly driven," he says of the controversial filmmaker, whose long list of credits includes "JFK," "Wall Street," "Natural Born Killers" and "Any Given Sunday."
Farrell discovered some lesser-known qualities about the maverick filmmaker during their six-months making "Alexander" together. "He has a gentle and compassionate side," Farrell says. "That's why he questions the things he does. It's why he questions what we do to each other."
Stone's other depictions of misunderstood individualists include "Nixon" and the war-related dramas "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Platoon." The director, who served in the U.S. Army Infantry in Vietnam, was long fascinated with Alexander's unrivaled military accomplishments. Alexander conquered 90 percent of the known world by age 25 and continues to influence and inspire leaders.
Stone says he cast Farrell because he saw in the versatile young actor "a spirit of a rebel and the confidence of a warrior and leader."
Medium-built and naturally slim, Farrell bulked up for the role, mastered the horse and sword and did about 95 percent of his own stunts. "Leading an 80-man cavalry into 400 extras that are kicking and screaming and stabbing with blades, there's nothing like it," the actor says, recalling the epic battle sequences.
Farrell relates how his horse got spooked while shooting a battle scene, reared up and nearly threw him. "That was dangerous as ----," he says, smiling.
So why not let a stuntman take the risk?
"What am I going to do, sit in my trailer and watch someone ride a horse for me?" he retorts. "It's fun. Plus, it's nice for the camera to zoom in and see that it's actually me there on the horse. You take your chances and have a good time doing it."
As exciting as it was, Farrell describes his overall experience making "Alexander" as physically and emotionally draining. "I was a ----ing wreck by the end of it," he says. "I broke my heel and my wrist. I was limping around on crutches. But that's the way it should be. It's a huge story and he is an incredible character."
Incredibly, Farrell only had a five-week break between wrapping "Alexander" (shot mostly in Morocco, Thailand and England) and starting production on "Ask the Dust" (shot in South Africa). He finished shooting "The New World" less than a week before this interview. He is now embarking on a worldwide promotional tour, including hosting "Saturday Night Live" in December.
After he wraps up his promotional duties, he likely will begin preparations for Michael Mann's big-screen adaptation of "Miami Vice." Farrell is slated to play James Crocket; Jamie Foxx is signed to star as Ricardo Tubbs. But don't expect this '80s TV cop drama to be tongue-in-cheek like the Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson "Starsky & Hutch." "This is Michael Mann," Farrell exclaims. "It'll be a drama with a lot of action, of course."
One role that Farrell is not likely to take is that of James Bond. Though fellow Irishman Pierce Brosnan recently tossed out Farrell's name as a potential successor, Farrell is not interested in portraying the iconic British spy. "I wouldn't want to demystify him," he says. "I've always loved going to see the Bond movies, but leave it for someone else to do." (He suggests the producers hire an unknown.)
Though not yet 30, Farrell has worked with a number of top performers in a variety of film genres since his breakthrough in Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland" in 2000. He has worked with Kevin Spacey in "Ordinary Decent Criminal," Tom Cruise in "Minority Report" and Bruce Willis in "Hart's War."
Unafraid to take risks, Farrell has done his share of independent films. Earlier this fall, he portrayed a gay man caught in a love triangle in the drama "A Home at the End of the World." Coincidentally, in "Alexander" he shares tender dramatic scenes with Jared Leto, who portrays Alexander's childhood friend and right-hand man, Hephaistion. He admits, though, that he's not keen about kissing men.
As the interview starts to wind down, Farrell yawns and stretches. "Are we finished?" he eagerly queries a newly arrived publicist.
Informed that he has a TV interview plus an appearance at a special screening ahead, a look of disappointment quickly flashes over his face. But he soldiers on. After all, this is only the start of what promises to be a lengthy publicity tour. Like Alexander, he's got thousands of miles to traverse.
Farrell likens his career to that of a traveling salesman. "For the past year and a half I've lived in hotels," he says. "I'm still living in a hotel. I'm sure there will be a time when that will get old. But right now I'm very restless."
The one constant in Farrell's life these days is his 14-month-old son. "I never saw anything really as a reason to stay alive for long," he says. "It wasn't like I wanted to die or anything. But now I actually literally say, I want to be around until I'm a ----in' old man so I can see him grow up and see him experience his life."
