Colin Farrell has revealed that at the start of his career he really felt that he was flying the flag for Ireland, and that this sometimes made him nervous on trips home.
The In Bruges star was speaking to the director of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, Gráinne Humphreys about his early career.
In particular, he mentioned his breakout role in Tigerland back in 2001, sharing that he “expected a couple of slaps, or a couple of digs” when he was back on Irish shores but this never happened.
Revealing why he felt this way he said; “I’ve said this before: I expected a couple of slaps, or a couple of digs at some stage in a pub – some night someone would just want to get one over on me!”
However, the star was instead welcomed home to Ireland; “everyone was always very decent and I always felt that there was a little bit of pride or something.”
“There was a sense of shared excitement, and I always felt that, to be honest with you. I don’t mean to play the nationalistic card, but I always felt that.”
Continuing, the 44-year-old said that acting always made him feel somewhat patriotic; “I always felt when I went away I was representing Ireland in some way. I mean, I wasn’t wearing the jersey and stuff and it wasn’t a competition, but I always felt people were really decent with me when I got home.”
However, despite his fame, Colin revealed that he has often got very homesick for Ireland over the years as he moved around a lot; “I was spending a lot of time away from home. I was missing a lot of home.”
“I was more homesick, I think, more than I realised, or I wanted to ‘fess up’ to because I was living this dream and I was having all these adventures.”
He added that when he did come back to Ireland he “experienced such sustenance” being back on home turf.
We think we can all agree that he’s welcome back here anytime!
