Jamie Lee Curtis and Colin Farrell are two of Hollywood’s most charismatic figures — and for both actors, magnetism can sometimes disguise contemplative depths. Curtis, who played an unforgiving IRS inspector opposite Michelle Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and Farrell, who performs an acting duet as an Irish farmer who has a falling out with his best friend (Brendan Gleeson) in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” spoke about the complex roles they took on this year. In both cases, deep introspection, and lessons learned in recovery, informed their work.
Jamie Lee Curtis: Ireland is an incredibly friendly country.
Colin Farrell: It’s amazing. I’ve lived here in Los Angeles for 16, 17 years now. I’m raising my two sons here. L.A. means more to me than I thought this city ever would. But when I go home, it makes sense to me in a way that no other place would have the business making sense to me. If I’m in Los Angeles and I say, “I’m going home,” I drop it about two octaves. That place is deeper in me.
Curtis: And you dropped it in this movie. You got to go home.
Farrell: Yeah, I did. I’ve gone home once every three years to do a film over there. Where were you born?
Curtis: Born and raised right here in the City of Angels. I went to boarding school once. Connecticut. One year. Mistake.
Read the full conversation here as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios.
