Colin Farrell revealed to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that Tom Cruise was “not happy” with him during the production of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. Farrell was in the midst of a battle with substance abuse during production, and went out to a party the night before his birthday, which happened to be a filming day.
“I had the worst day ever on the set[of Minority Report],” Farrell admitted. “That day, May 31st, was my birthday and we were filming, so I begged them to make a $120 million movie if they wouldn’t let me work on my birthday. Of course, my pick-up was at 6 a.m. on May 31st, and I was thinking all kinds of nonsense the night before. And I remember going to bed. As soon as I turned off the light, my phone rang and it was my driver.[Who]said, “It’s 6:10.” And I was like, “Oh, shit.” ”
When Farrell arrived on the set of Minority Report, he looked disheveled and assistant director David H. Benhouse Jr. stopped him and told him, “You can’t go on set like this.”
“And I said, ‘Give me six bottles of Pacifico Cervezas and a packet of 20 (Marlboro) reds,'” Farrell said. “Now, listen, it’s not cool because you went to rehab two years later, right? But it worked in that moment. All the holy people we look at in the way we live our lives will say that now is the moment.”
Farrell said he “had a couple beers” and went to the set, but “it was horrible.” “I’ll never forget my line that I couldn’t get out of. It was, ‘I think you all understand the basic inconsistency of pre-crime methodology.'” That was the beginning of the scene. I remember[a crew member]coming up to me and saying, “Do you want to come out and get some fresh air?” And I remember thinking, “If I go out and get some fresh air, there’s going to be more pressure to be better when I come back.” So I said, ‘No, let’s just keep doing it.’ ”
“We did 46 takes,” Farrell revealed. “Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, my dear, wasn’t too happy either!”
Loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novel, Minority Report is set in a future where police use psychics who can predict impending crimes to arrest criminals. Cruz’s police chief is accused of a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to go on the run. Farrell plays a police investigator tasked with bringing in Cruise’s character. The film was extremely popular, grossing $358 million worldwide.
Watch Pharrell’s full interview on “The Late Show” in the video below.
