guns were pulled and I nearly had an accident in my pants
Colin Farrell has raced up the Hollywood A-list faster than Sonny Crockett's power boat, in films such as Tigerland, Minority Report, SWAT and The New World. Along the way he's developed an outspoken reputation and a way with the ladies. But while there seems no one better suited to portraying the fast lifestyle of a Miami Vice undercover detective, even Colin admits to being a little taken aback by the intensity of some of his preparation work...
Is it true that you got conned by the undercover cops who were supposed to be training you? How embarrassing was it to be stitched up?
I'll never forget it. Michael [Mann] arranged for us to spend a lot of time with some undercover cops doing research. We had a week of running scenarios that had been set up and I thought I'd formulated a lot of trust with these guys. But there was one particular day when they were buying 40 kilos of cocaine from a bunch of Columbians who they'd established a relationship with. These were working undercover cops and after the week had gone so swimmingly they said that I could come along and have a look if I wanted. They added that nothing bad would happen because they had formed a relationship with these guys. So I went along and to cut a long story short, the shit hit the fan - guns were pulled and I nearly had an accident in my pants because I was so scared.
But I did get the real sensation and the real emotional effect of what it would be like to be in that environment when something goes awry. I thought it was real and found out the next day that it was a set-up and I felt like a plonker. But it was probably more useful than I maybe give it credit for.
How comfortable were you with the weapons you were using by the end of the film? Were you proficient with them?
We had a lot of trigger time. We spent hours and hours on the range, using live ammo, which helped us all as actors because you begin to trust each other really quick when you're shooting live rounds and you're crossing behind each other with your gun fully loaded, ready to go. By the time we got to the final shoot-out at the end we were really pretty comfortable.
But it's also another avenue into the character. Anything that's different from your own realm of experience as a human being, whether it's driving a car or a boat, or using guns, anything that separates you from yourself and leads you more towards this character's existence is a big help.
Did you have to squeeze in a few dance lessons inbetween all the gun training? And was the hair choice a nod to Don Johnson in the original?
Did he have a mullet? I missed that. They organised a dancing instructor for myself and Gong Li in Los Angeles and in Miami. But it's pretty tragic seeing an Irishman trying to salsa dance! We did it for two or three months a few times a week and finally got whatever we needed.
Were you surprised by the amount of technology that's available to both the police and the drugs traffickers when you were doing your research?
Absolutely. There's that one scene where Jamie and myself are driving towards a meeting and our signals are blocked and Tubbs says: "This is the kind of stuff that happens over the sky in Baghdad, what's it doing on a dope deal?" It's amazing the amount of surveillance and counter-surveillance that they have - anything that's available for law enforcement is there for the bad guys as well, for the right price. It's a constant uphill battle.
It was reported that some of your crew members were so annoyed at the amount of press attention you were getting that they started wearing "leave Colin alone" T-shirts. How difficult is it to do your job when you're faced with that kind of media scrutiny and would you support any legislation that might stop people doing that?
You're scrutinized all through your life - you're scrutinized by your family, by yourself, by society, and your friends in a certain way, shape, or form. But with that side of it, the pros far outweigh the cons. Yes, it's a pain in the arse and have I wanted to punch a paparazzi out? Sure! But the environment we were working in was very secure and safe. There was a lot of trust going around and we had each other's backs big time. But yes, a girl from the office, who's mental, did get one of those T-shirts and she wanted me to wear one.
Miami Vice is released in UK cinemas on Friday 4th August 2006.
