Thief, 86, is caught again
DORIS Payne, 86, a serial US jewel thief whose crimes date back to the 50s, has been charged with theft again.
She was arrested at a Georgia Walmart store with £66 worth of items. GOING without a hair wash for days on end seems to be about as gritty as life gets these days for a remarkably zen-sounding Colin Farrell.
For his latest part as an American Civil War soldier in new period movie The Beguiled, his hairstylist suggested rinsing with just “a little conditioner” to keep his dark locks looking authentically filthy.
Bar that small sacrifice, the actor, who once had a reputation which hinged around being one of Hollywood’s hellraisers – even nicknamed “Lusty Leprechaun” because of his string of celebrity girlfriends – lives a squeakily clean-sounding life.
Irish-born Colin, 41, now swears by yoga. “It’s made a big difference in my life,” he says. And noticeably, the mass of tattoos across his body are succumbing to the laser, too.
He admits he struggles to recognise the bad boy he used to be.
“It’s hard for me to relate to that chapter of my life,” he says. The chapter of course where he spiralled so hard into a frenzy of drinking and drug-taking that, at one stage, he has admitted his life was in danger. “It all happened so fast. “And success can be dangerous, especially when you’re young,” he adds. “It creates this false reality and you lose touch with things that really matter.”
The things that really mattered to Colin when he first made his name in Hollywood seemed to be partying – even if alone. He’s admitted having spent months at a time going down a rabbit hole of booze and drugs – and if a party finished early, he was known to buy himself “a bag of powder” and party alone with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s until 5.30am.
It got so bad, he was even packed off to rehab minutes after wrapping one film.
Then, of course, were the women. Like any Hollywood bad boy, he had his own sex tape scandal and was linked with a string of top names from Britney Spears, and Carmen Electra to Lindsay Lohan (making her infamous leaked list of lovers in 2014). There was also the bizarre relationship with queen of the golden age of Hollywood, Elizabeth Taylor.
For a man who now extols the benefits of the downward dog and the lotus position, it’s quite a change.
Speaking of his early career, he now admits: “I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have.”
It is his two young sons, James, 13, and Henry, eight, who are the ones to have helped him quit the destructive lifestyle.
“I’m very happy where I am now with everything,” he says. “I’m enjoying life more now, too. I have a much more stable and serene life.
“My children keep me grounded and I’m devoted to being the best possible father to them.
“A lot of my attitudes in life have changed and I’ve learned that your family and your children are the emotional ties that matter most to you.”
Growing up in Castleknock, Dublin, Colin had always been a rebel.
He’s admitted he began drinking and drug-taking in his early teens and by 19, he had sought counselling for feeling “sad”.
He had grown up wanting to be a professional football player like his father Eamonn and uncle Tommy, who both played for Shamrock Rovers – but he didn’t make the grade.
The tendency to spiral out of control
I’m happy where I am now with everything. I’m also enjoying life more COLIN FARRELL
was “already something that was in me,” he has explained.
Acting was a second choice, but one he excelled at. In 1997, he had his first film role in Drinking Crude and then landed a regular role as Danny Byrne in the television series Ballykissangel.
His break came when he was spotted in a play at the Donmar Warehouse in London by Kevin Spacey, who recommended him for a role in Ordinary Decent Criminals.
Next, he was cast as a young soldier in Tigerland, followed by American Outlaws and Hart’s War, before becoming the new darling of Hollywood with star turns in two big 2003 thrillers, The Recruit and Phone Booth.
Hollywood and money only made drink