NUMBER ONE DAD: ‘FATHERHOOD CHANGED ME COMPLETELY'

WITH HIS WILD PARTYING DAYS LONG BEHIND HIM ACTOR COLIN FARRELL REVEALS HOW HIS SONS HAVE MADE HIM A BETTER MAN AND WHY HE LOVES BEING IN HIS FORTIES

- ADAM TANSWELL

There was a time when Colin Farrell was regarded as the bad boy of Hollywood. He was known as much for his partying and womanising as his promising film career.

In the early noughties, following a brief non-legally binding ‘marriage’ to actress Amelia Warner [now Fifty Shades star Jamie Dornan’s wife], he notched up a number of high-profile romances. Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore were all rumoured flings, while his alleged hook up with Britney Spears marked the moment she shed her squeaky clean Pop Princess image.

Now single and 13 years sober having swapped drink and drug addiction for chocolate, Colin regards his past behaviour with “utter shame”. Having vowed to “become a better person”, he’s fully focused on his two sons who he’s been homeschooling during lockdown in Los Angeles.

Henry, 10, is from Colin’s relationship with his Ondine co-star Alicja BachledaCurus, while he shares James, 16, with model Kim Bordenave. James has a genetic disorder called Angelman syndrome, which affects the nervous system, and Colin describes “the struggles” of a child with special needs as, “So brutal that they tear at the very fabric of your heart.”

Since unsuccessfully auditioning for Boyzone back in the 90s, the Dublinborn star has racked up over 40 films including The Recruit, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and his Golden Globe-winning turn with In Bruges.