Why Tom Cruise was ‘not very happy’ with Colin Farrell during ‘one of the worst days’ on ‘Minority Report’ set

Tom Cruise was “not very happy” with Colin Farrell while filming their 2002 movie, “Minority Report.”

Farrell, 49, recalled what it was like to work with the “Mission Impossible” actor on the blockbuster film during Wednesday’s episode of the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“It was a total headf–k, because I grew up watching those lads. I grew up watching Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun’ and […] ‘Risky Business,’” he told Stephen Colbert, also referring to director Steven Spielberg.

However, his experience with Cruise soured during “one of the worst days” of his career.

Farrell told Colbert that he had “begged” production not to make him work the day after his birthday, because he “got up to all sorts of nonsense” the night before. Despite saying they would “see what [they could] do,” they made him show up to set at 6 a.m.

“I got to the trailer and, God bless them, and the third assistant director … said ‘You can’t go to set like this,’” he said.

To get through his hangover, he asked for a Hare of the Dog — a tactic he warned the audience against — and a 20-pack of cigarettes.

“It worked in the moment,” he laughed. However, it still took him “46 takes” to get through one line.

“Tom wasn’t very happy with me,” Farrell noted.

The “Penguin” star — who has been sober for 18 years — previously spoke about this experience, explaining that his sister was also on set visiting him.

He recalled in a 2019 interview with the UK Mirror that she left the set because watching him act like a drunken “disaster” upset her.

Three years after the film’s release, Farrell admitted that he’d “basically been drunk or high” since he was 14 and checked himself into rehab. His most recent stint was in 2018 for a “tune-up and a reset.”

The Irish actor credits his 22-year-old son, James, who has Angelman syndrome, for inspiring him to get sober.

“James was 2 when I got sober,” Farrell told Daily Mail in October 2024. “Part of the fuel that I used to get off alcohol and drugs and all that stuff was knowing he had health issues. All children need their parents — or a parent or grandparent or somebody — to care for them.

“One of the things James taught me was to access within myself a desire to live, even if it was initially more about me thinking I wanted to live to be around for him.”

Farrell, who is also the father of 16-year-old son Henry, also made it clear that he wants to stop “what has been a generational issue in [his] biological family” and that his sobriety is his “legacy.”

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).