We’ve all had bad days at work, but recently The Penguin star, Colin Farrell, recounted the movie-making moment that plays in his mind when he can’t sleep at night. The best part is, after you read on for Farrell’s excruciatingly relatable experience, you can head over to Tubi to stream the movie in question — Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report — on January 1, where the unforgettable sci-fi film will be streaming completely free of charge. Boasting a leading performance by the unstoppable movie-loving stunt fanatic, Tom Cruise, it’s no surprise how and why the title appeared on The New York Times’ 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century list earlier this year.
Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novella of the same name, the futuristic film takes place near and around Washington in the not-so far away year of 2054. It’s there that audiences learn of a new police force called Precrime, which uses technology to crack down on crime before it happens thanks to three psychics known as precogs. After he’s accused of committing a future murder on a man who he’s never met, Cruise’s Precrime chief, John Anderton, goes on a race to prove his innocence and make it out alive.
Falling decently early in his career, Minority Report saw Farrell appear alongside Cruise in the role of Danny Witwer. Back in October, during a spot on The Late Show, the actor admitted that he had “one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set” during production on the Spielberg-helmed flick thanks to too vigorous a birthday celebration the night before. Revealing that he needed to do a staggering and unforgettable 46 takes to get one of his sequences with Cruise right after an evening of revelry, Farrell said, “I also had one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set [on Minority Report]. It was my birthday on May 31, and we were shooting, and I begged production — who did I think I was? — of a $120 million film if they [could] not have me working on my birthday.”
While he didn’t reveal what the folks who he “begged” for the time off said to him, he obviously was still expected to show up for work the next morning — for better or worse, explaining:
“So of course my pickup was 6 a.m. on May 31, and I got up to all sorts of nonsense the night before. And I remember getting into bed, and as soon as I turned off the light the phone rang and it was the driver, [who] said, ‘It’s 10 past 6.’ And I went, ‘Oh, s—.'”
Upon his arrival on set, Farrell ran into second assistant director, David H. Venghaus Jr., who could see that one of his leading stars was much worse for the wear. “I just got out of the car and he went, ‘You can’t go to the set like this.’ And I went, ‘Just get me six Pacifico Cervezas and a packet of 20 [Marlboro] Red.”
The Line That Colin Farrell Will Never Forget
At the time, Farrell admits to not being able to remember the line “I’m sure you’ve all grasped the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology,” although during his appearance on the Stephen Colbert-hosted talk show — and likely in his nightmares — it rolled right off his tongue. Reminiscing on what sounds like a torturous time, he added,
“I remember one of [the crew] coming up and saying, ‘Do you want to go out and take a breath of fresh air?’ And I remember thinking, ‘If I go out and take a breath of fresh air, then I’ll be under more pressure when I come back in to be better.’ And I went, ‘No, we’ll just go through it.’”
In all, Farrell said, “We did 46 takes,” adding, “Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, who I love, was not very happy!”
Head over to Tubi on January 1 to see the line that could have ended Farrell’s career when Minority Report arrives on the free streamer. Watch his full interview on The Late Show above.
Release Date
June 21, 2002
Runtime
145 minutes
Writers
Scott Frank, Jon Cohen
Franchise(s)
Minority Report
