Colin James Farrell (born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards and a nomination for an Academy Award. The Irish Times named him Ireland's fifth-greatest film actor in 2020, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. Farrell began acting in the BBC drama series Ballykissangel (1998) and made his film debut in the drama The War Zone (1999). His first lead film role was in the war drama Tigerland (2000), and he made his breakthrough in Steven Spielberg's science fiction film Minority Report (2002). He took on high-profile roles such as Bullseye in Daredevil (2003) and as Alexander the Great in Alexander (2004), with further starring roles in Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006) and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007). Farrell earned acclaim for playing a novice hitman in his first film with frequent collaborator Martin McDonagh, the dark comedy In Bruges (2008), winning a Golden Globe Award. He went on to play a variety of leading and character roles in the comedy Horrible Bosses (2011), the science fiction film Total Recall (2012), the drama Saving Mr. Banks (2013), the dark comedies Seven Psychopaths (2012) and The Lobster (2015), the thrillers The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), The Beguiled (2017), and Widows (2018), and the fantasy films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Dumbo (2019). He also starred in the second season of HBO's thriller series True Detective (2015). Farrell played Oz Cobb/Penguin in the superhero film The Batman (2022) and the HBO series The Penguin (2024), winning a Golden Globe award for the latter. In 2022, he gained acclaim for his roles in the science fiction drama After Yang, the survival film Thirteen Lives, and McDonagh's drama The Banshees of Inisherin. For playing a naïve Irishman in the lattermost, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and another Golden Globe, in addition to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Filmography

• 2028The Batman: Part II — Oz / The Penguin
• 2026Bloodline — Producer
• 2026Patient Zero
• 2026Patient Zero — Dakota's boyfriend / Taylor's ex
• 2026The Slightest Touch — Self, Producer
• 2025A Big Bold Beautiful Journey — David
• 2025Ballad of a Small Player — Lord Doyle
• 2025From that Small Island — Narrator
• From that Small Island — Narrator
• Sugar — John Sugar, Executive Producer
• 2024The Beautiful Game — Producer
• The Penguin — Oz 'The Penguin' Cobb, Executive Producer
• 2023Room Taken — Executive Producer
• 2022After Yang — Jake
• 2022The Banshees of Inisherin — Pádraic Súilleabháin
• 2022The Batman — Oz / The Penguin
• 2022Thirteen Lives — John Volanthen
• The North Water — Henry Drax
• 2021Voyagers — Richard
• 2020Artemis Fowl — Artemis Fowl I
• 2020Ava — Simon
• 2020Street Leagues — Narrator
• 2020The Gentlemen — Coach
• 2019Dumbo — Holt Farrier
• 2018Widows — Jack Mulligan
• 2017Roman J. Israel, Esq. — George Pierce
• 2017The Beguiled — Corporal McBurney
• 2017The Killing of a Sacred Deer — Steven Murphy
• 2016Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Graves
• 2016It's Not Yet Dark — Narrator (Voice)
• 2015Solace — Charles Ambrose
• 2015The Lobster — David
• 2014Miss Julie — John
• True Detective — Ray Velcoro
• 2014Winter's Tale — Peter Lake
• 2013Dead Man Down — Victor
• 2013Epic — Ronin (voice)
• 2013Saving Mr. Banks — Travers Robert Goff
• 2012Seven Psychopaths — Marty Faranan
• 2012Total Recall — Douglas Quaid / Hauser
• 2011Fright Night — Jerry Dandrige
• 2011Horrible Bosses — Bobby Pellitt
• 2010Burma Soldier — Narrator (Voice)
• 2010London Boulevard — Harry Mitchel
• 2010Ondine — Syracuse
• 2010The Way Back — Valka
• 2009Crazy Heart — Tommy Sweet
• 2009The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — Imaginarium Tony 3
• 2009Triage — Mark Walsh, Executive Producer
• 2008In Bruges — Ray
• 2008Kicking It — Narrator (voice), Executive Producer
• 2008Pride and Glory — Jimmy Eagan
• 2007Cassandra's Dream — Terry Blaine
• 2006Ask the Dust — Arturo Bandini
• 2006Miami Vice — Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett
• 2005The New World — Captain Smith
• 2004A Home at the End of the World — Bobby Morrow (1982)
• 2004Alexander — Alexander
• 2003Daredevil — Bullseye
• 2003Intermission — Lehiff
• 2003Phone Booth — Stu Shepard
• 2003S.W.A.T. — Jim Street
• 2003The Recruit — James Clayton
• 2003Veronica Guerin — Tattooed Boy
• 2002Hart's War — Lt. Thomas W. Hart
• 2002Minority Report — Danny Witwer
• 2001American Outlaws — Jesse James
• Scrubs — Billy
• 2000Ordinary Decent Criminal — Alec
• 2000Tigerland — Pvt. Roland Bozz
• Love in the 21st Century — Mattie
• 1999The War Zone — Nick
• Falling for a Dancer — Daniel McCarthey
• 1997Drinking Crude — Click
• 1997The Disappearance of Finbar — Simon
• Ballykissangel — Danny Byrne
• 1995Frankie Starlight — Young Man In Cinema No. 2 (uncredited)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Art — Yvan
• Bad Bridgets
• Belly of the Beast — Jack Henry Abbott, Producer
• Ordained — Father Roy Craig, Producer

Appearances as themselves (39)

• After Hours with James Corden — Self
• 2025The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards — Self
• Variety & CNN Actors on Actors — Self
• 2023On the Red Carpet Presents: The Banshees of Inisherin — Self
• 2022The Batman: Unpacking the Icons — Himself
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self - Guest
• 2018An Impossible Conundrum — Self
• Hot Ones — Self
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self - Guest
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• 2011Muide Éire — Self
• Conan — Self - Guest
• Live from Studio Five — Self
• The Meaning of Life — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• 2005Becoming Alexander — Self
• 2005Nos Bastidores de Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
• Sarah Kuttner – Die Show — self - segment
• Celebrities Uncensored — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self, Self - Guest
• 2003Making of Phone Booth — Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• The View — Self
• The Daily Show — Self
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• HBO First Look — Self
• MTV Movie & TV Awards — Self - Presenter
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self, Self - Guest
• Goldene Kamera — Self
• Wetten, dass..? — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host, Self - Cameo (uncredited)
• The Late Late Show — Self
• The Oscars — Self
• The Emmy Awards — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee / Presenter