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Born in 1976 in Ireland, Colin Farrell is one of the most talented and popular actors of his generation. And that's despite the fact that Farrell doesn't always star in blockbuster movies. He doesn't seem to mind doing smaller roles that fail to draw as much attention to themselves.
Farrell started his professional acting career in the mid-1990s, and since then, went on to appear in many movies as well as several critically acclaimed TV shows, most notably True Detective. Most recently, Farrell's fans can see him in the new The Batman movie as the iconic Penguin, but even before this role, Farrell has already done his fair share of well-rated movies!
6 Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016)
The long-awaited sequel series to Harry Potter gave a lot of space to both established and starting actors. While the emphasis lies on Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, the movie ultimately works as an ensemble piece and even the supporting characters get their chance to shine. That includes Colin Farrell as Percival Graves, the Auror who's tasked with protecting the wizards.
Farrell often plays more serious characters who mean business and Graves is right there alongside them. Unfortunately for all fans of the actor, Graves didn't appear in the sequel but at least he played a part in this magical movie that introduced another corner of the Harry Potter world.
5 Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Some of the best movies are based on real events. In this case, Saving Mr. Banks focuses on how it happened that P. L. Travers sold the rights for her work, Mary Poppins, which led to the creation of the now-iconic 1964 movie with Julie Andrews in the titular role. The movie stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as P. L. Travers and every scene the two actors appear in side by side is a joy to watch for all of their fans.
However, the cast is strong overall, including Colin Farrell as Travers Goff, the man on whom the titular Mr. Banks is based, and P. L. Travers' father. If anybody loves Mary Poppins and wants to know more about how the movie came to be in the first place, Saving Mr. Banks is an ideal way how to do so.
4 Minority Report (2002)
Colin Farrell often comes across so sympathetic in his roles that even when he stands against the main hero, it's still difficult not to sympathize with him. In this movie, Farrell plays Danny Witwer, who clashes with the main hero, Tom Cruise's John Anderton, on more than one occasion. To be fair to Witwer, he's just doing his job. Minority Report is universally hailed as one of the best adaptations of Philip K. Dick's works.
The movie takes place in a world where committing a crime is almost impossible thanks to the department John Anderton works with. People know somebody is going to commit a crime even before they do it. However, no system is without errors, and as the story gets more complicated, the audience realizes there's something seriously wrong going on here. That makes them motivated to keep watching until the very end to discover how exactly John is going to be able to solve the problem if there's even any solution in the first place.
3 The Gentlemen (2019)
Guy Ritchie has become known for directing action-filled movies that are both clever and funny. With his recent work The Gentlemen, Ritchie returns to his roots and offers a catchy story about an American who's trying to sell the marijuana empire he built in London and gets into problems along the way.
Even though the story sounds pretty straightforward at first, it gets a lot more complicated as the movie progresses, but never so much that the audience would lose track of what's going on. Colin Farrell doesn't play a leading role in the movie, but he shines in every scene he appears in, alongside such talented actors as Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam.
2 In Bruges (2008)
In Bruges is an ideal movie for all people who love dark comedy and crime stories all mixed in one. The movie initially seems to lack a clear narrative, but it soon becomes obvious that trouble is brewing on the horizon when two criminals hide in Bruges after they botched their last job. One of them is enjoying the stay in the beautiful Belgian city while the other is suffering.
Colin Farrell plays the suffering one, Ray, who wants to get out of Bruges. The situation gets better for him when he meets a beautiful woman. It would be a mistake to think that In Bruges turns out to be a classic romantic story, though. The movie combines drama, action, comedy, and romance, and it offers more than one surprising plot twist. What's more, the cast is excellent, not just Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in the leading roles but the supporting actors as well.
1 The Batman (2022)
Every proper superhero needs his opponent. And the Penguin is one of the most iconic Batman villains. It's not the first time he appeared in a live-action movie as Danny DeVito unforgettably portrayed him in the 1992 classic superhero movie Batman Returns.
Incidentally, both Batman Returns and The Batman work with the characters of Catwoman and the Penguin. The difference is how they portray the well-known villains. Colin Farrell lends his own spin to the role, and it's easy to understand why his Penguin is a force to be reckoned with. All the viewers who enjoyed seeing Farrell in this role will no doubt be happy to hear that he's already set to reprise the part in an upcoming TV series.