Colin Farrell Reveals His Alcoholism Affected Tom Cruise On Set Of ‘Minority Report’

Famous actor Colin Farrell admitted he showed up late to the set of Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” after a night of hard partying, much to fellow star Tom Cruise’s dismay.

Farrell admitted Cruise “was not happy” about his performance after a messy night, noting that he needed to do a whopping 46 takes for one scene before he could get it right.

“I had one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set,” Farrell said while speaking with Stephen Colbert on the Oct. 29 episode of “The Late Show.”

Farrell admitted he was in the midst of spiraling through substance abuse struggles during production of the movie, and was celebrating his birthday the night before filming day.

“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,” he recalled.

“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, shit.’”

The famous actor admitted he was so disheveled and flustered when he arrived on set that assistant director David H. Venghaus Jr. stopped him and said, “You can’t go to the set like this.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 29: Colin Farrell speaks onstage during Netflix’s Ballad of a Small Player Tastemaker Screening on October 29, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix)

Farrell responded by saying, “Just get me six Pacifico cervezas and a pack of 20 [Marlboro] Red.”

The actor explained to Colbert that he wasn’t bragging by retelling the story.

US actor Tom Cruise (R) waves as he shares a smile with director Steven Spielberg (L) during a press conference in a Tokyo hotel 26 October 2002 to promote their new movie “Minority Report” which will be shown all over Japan from 07 December. AFP PHOTO/Toru YAMANAKA (Photo by TORU YAMANAKA / AFP) (Photo by TORU YAMANAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

“Now, listen, it’s not cool because two years later I went to rehab, right? But it worked in the moment. All the holy people that we look to on how to live a life would say the present is all that counts.”

Farrell went on to say he “had a couple of beers,” and “it was terrible.”

“I will never forget the line I had that I couldn’t get out. It was, ‘I’m sure you’ve all grasped the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology.’ That was the line that started the scene. I remember [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.’”

Irish actor Colin Farrell poses to promote the film “Ballad of a Small Player” during the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival in the northern Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian on September 25, 2025. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images)

The impact of his error in judgement was visible.

“We did 46 takes,” Farrell revealed. “Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, who I love, was not very happy!”

“Minority Report” was loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novella, set in the future. The plot centers around police who utilize the help of psychics to tip them off about impending crime. Cruise plays a police chief framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Farrell plays a police agent tasked with bringing Cruise’s character in. (RELATED: Tom Cruise Thought He Had Something Here But Latest Stunt Proves To Be Big Dud)

The film was a box office hit, grossing $358 million worldwide.