Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Colin Farrell Gets Emotional Talking About 'Terrifying' Reality Of Having A Disabled 21-Year-Old Son

Colin Farrell
People

The actor opened up to 'People' about how disabled young adults are basically 'cut off' from family services in the U.S. once they turn 21—and how it's impacting his son James, who has Angelman Syndrome.

Actor Colin Farrell got emotional opening up for the first time about his 21-year-old son James, who has been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that is characterized by delayed development, lack of speech, and problems with speech and balance.

Farrell, 48, told People magazine in an exclusive interview that when James was first born, he seemed like a "chill baby" who didn't coo or make any vocal noises at all.


By the time James was 18 months old and hadn't hit developmental benchmarks like crawling, being able to stand, or staying in a sitting position on his own, Colin thought something was off.

James was initially diagnosed as having cerebral palsy, a common misdiagnosis given the similar symptoms shared with Angelman syndrome.

A year later, he was properly diagnosed with Angelman syndrome by a pediatric neurologist who spent more time with James and noticed he exhibited a characteristic of the disorder medically known as “inappropriate outbreaks of laughter.”

Frequent seizures are also common with Angelman syndrome. Farrell said that James suffered many seizures at a younger age that resulted in ambulance rides, but hadn't suffered any since his last episode ten or eleven years ago.

Farrell, who fathered James with American model Kim Bordenave in 2003, also shares a second son, 14-year-old Henry, with his ex Alicja Bachleda-Curuś, a Polish actor.

The In Bruges actor decided to share his family story in the hopes of raising awareness through his new Colin Farrell Foundation, an organization dedicated to James that helps provide support to families and children with intellectual disabilities.

“Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own,” he told the media outlet, referring to the cut-off age in the US when special assistance programs and services are no longer offered to families and children with additional needs.

He explained:

“All the safeguards that are put in place, special ed classes, that all goes away, so you’re left with a young adult who should be an integrated part of our modern society and more often than not is left behind.”

Farrell was inspired to launch his foundation after having the unsettling realization that he and Bordenave would not be around forever to take care of James as his general life expectancy is not compromised by his condition.

“It’s a terrifying thought that I’d miss the last 40 years or 50 years of his life because I won’t be there to shepherd and to protect,” Colin said, adding that his hope for James would be “a life of connection” and that once his parents are gone, James will “be somewhere he feels like he belongs, where he feels safe.”

One particular moment that got Farrell emotional was when he recalled witnessing James' first steps two weeks before his fourth birthday.

It was a memory Farrell said was an "overwhelmingly beautiful" moment. The actor and his family had been previously warned that those with Angelman's syndrome are unlikely to walk.

"I’ll never forget just the face of determination on him as he walked toward me. He took, like, six steps, and I burst into tears,” he said, adding:

"I’m proud of him every day because I just think he’s magic."

Farrell expressed gratitude for having a successful career affording him a live-in caregiver, who has taken care of James for 18 years so Farrell can "move freely and work" when father and son aren't engaging in regular activities like watching movies, playing ball, swimming, and grabbing In-N-Out Burgers together.

"It's been great for James as it gives him that autonomy he knows I'm here. He goes to the beach, he goes to Universal Studios. He has a good life. He's a happy young man," observed Farrell.

He noted how James as an adult works harder than anyone he knows, including himself, because his son is very determined.

“It’ll take James 90 seconds to take a T-shirt off,” he said. “But he takes a T-shirt off; you sit it out with him.”

“If anything, he also gifts me with the ability to look at the human being and the human body and life as a marvel, because I see how much he struggles with things that I’d never have given a second thought to, that many of us take for granted."



However, when it comes to the future, Farrell has a deep concern about James being left on his own.

“My fear would be, God forbid, if and when something happens to James’s mother or me, James would be 30 or 40, and then he’d have to go in somewhere,” Colin said.

“Into some kind of institute or some kind of residential care at 30 or 40, and there’d be nobody there to call over and take him out and have lunch and all that.”

When asked what he is most grateful for, Farrell, who was known for his party boy past, borrowed from fellow actor Jamie Lee Curtis' answer of sobriety.

“James was about 2 when I got clean, when I got sober, and he was a big, big part of me putting the bottle down, a big part of it," he said.

“Because I was in no condition to be a friend, never mind the father of a child with such exacting needs.”
“If it wasn't for my sobriety, I wouldn't be able to be there for James and enjoy in the marvels of his life and support him in the way that I feel that I can."

You can watch the full interview with People here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Farrell said that for years he had endeavored “to do something in the realm of providing greater opportunities for families who have a child with special needs, to receive the support that they deserve, basically, the assistance in all areas of life, whether it's education, intervention, therapeutics, or social environments that their child can feel like they belong within” so that families and children with special needs can "find a world of meaning and a life of connection for their children."

According to the Colin Farrell Foundation's website, the organization "is committed to transforming the lives of individuals and families living with intellectual disability through advocacy, education, awareness, and innovative programs."

"People living with intellectual disability are facing multiple crises that have deleterious effects on their health and well-being."

You can help the Colin Farrell Foundation's mission to raise awareness "of the challenges and crises people living with intellectual disability face each and every day" by making a contribution here.

More from Entertainment/celebrities

Jeff Ross
Mike Coppola/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Jeff Ross Shares Photos Of Puffed Up Lip After Allergic Reaction To Ice Cream

Insult comic Jeff Ross revealed he had a medical emergency after a show Saturday night that resulted in a trip to the ER. However, he assured fans the show must go on despite "looking like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler."

Ross recounted the ordeal on Instagram, showing his swollen lip taking over his face from eating burrata ice cream after his Take a Banana for the Ride show in Mill Valley, California, near San Francisco.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Jesse Watters on Fox News
Fox News

Jesse Watters Offers Mind-Numbing New Claim About Masculinity—And Is Instantly Dragged

Problematic Fox News MAGA pundit Jesse Watters has made another bizarre claim about masculinity.

Having already taken exception with eating ice cream, drinking milkshakes, and taking bubble baths, Watters is now targeting tech jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump with the Dodgers
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Leaves Everyone Confused With Hilariously Bizarre Word Salad Tribute To The Dodgers

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he welcomed the 2024 World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House on Monday with a bizarre, tangential, and rambling speech.

The team arrived at the White House on Monday morning, where Trump, in his remarks, praised two-way star Shohei Ohtani and infielder Mookie Betts. The Dodgers had defeated the New York Yankees in five games to clinch their second World Series title in five seasons.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Giving Clunky New Nickname To People Criticizing His Tariffs

President Donald Trump was criticized after he pushed back against critics of his tariffs, coming up with a new nickname for the "weak and stupid" people who oppose them.

The Trump administration’s newly imposed tariffs on imports from various countries have unsettled consumers, triggered a trade war, disrupted global markets, and sparked widespread fears of a potential recession in the U.S. and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less

Childhood Experiences People Thought Were 'Normal' But Weren't At All

Content Warning: Child neglect, child abuse, narcissism, gaslighting, people-pleasing, and other traumatic childhood experiences

It's important for us to work on ourselves, to continue bettering ourselves throughout our limited time on this earth, and a key way of doing that is acknowledging what we do not know, and working on that.

Keep ReadingShow less