Colin Farrell Says This Movie Changed Everything for His Acting Career

Colin Farrell has often talked about what first drew him to acting, and he credits one movie in particular for inspiring him as a young boy growing up in Dublin.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he recalled seeing Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster ET the Extra-Terrestrial for the first time.

Farrell said, “I cried and I just loved it. I was taken away completely to another world. It inspired in me all sorts of thoughts, emotions, and it has stayed with me very much. ET really did it for me.”

Spielberg’s film, a story about a young boy who befriends an alien, was inspired by the director’s own imaginary friend from childhood.

The movie became a worldwide phenomenon, making a star of Drew Barrymore and winning an Oscar for John Williams’ unforgettable score. Farrell says it was this sense of wonder and emotion in the film that sparked his passion for acting.

After that early inspiration, Farrell began his career in television, appearing in shows like Ballykissangel and Falling for a Dancer in the late 1990s.

He made his feature film debut in Tim Roth’s The War Zone, a heavy drama about family trauma, before moving on to more mainstream roles. Films like Ordinary Decent Criminal and Tigerland helped establish him in Hollywood, with critics praising his charm and natural presence on screen.

Farrell’s career continued to grow with high-profile roles in films such as Thirteen Lives, which required him to perform intense underwater stunts, and Matt Reeves’ The Batman, where he played Oswald “Oz” Cobb, a role he reprised in the HBO spin-off series The Penguin.

His performance earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. He also won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for The Banshees of Inisherin and received an Academy Award nomination.

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