Colin Farrell explained the difficult decision of putting his 21-year-old son James Farrell in a long-term care facility.
“It’s tricky — some parents will say, ‘I want to take care of my child myself,’ and I respect that,” Colin, 48, said in an interview with Candis Magazine published in April, via The Independent.
The Penguin actor has spoken in the past about son James — whom he shares with former partner Kim Bordenave — having Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder that impacts the nervous system and can cause developmental disability as well as issues with speech and balance.
Since James turned 21 in September 2024, Colin has worked with Bordenave to find a facility where their son will always be well taken care of.
“My horror would be, what if I have a heart attack tomorrow, and, God forbid, James’ mother, Kim, has a car crash and she’s taken too — and then James is on his own?” the actor noted. “[He’d be] a ward of the state. And he goes where? We’d have no say in it.”
Colin said he feels it’s best for James to get his son situated in a healthy environment “while we’re still alive and healthy, that we can go and visit, and we can take him out sometimes.”
“We want him to find somewhere where he can have a full and happy life, where he feels connected,” he added. “By going out in the van every day and going to the supermarket and doing the shopping together. By going to the beach, museums, movies, all that stuff. Just a connected life.”
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The Academy Award-nominated actor first spoke publicly about James having Angelman syndrome in 2007. In September 2024, Colin opened up James being nonverbal and requiring specific care.
“I speak to James as if he’s 20 and has perfect fluency with the English language and age-appropriate cognitive ability,” he told People “But I can’t discern a particular answer from him as to whether he’s comfortable with all this or not, so I have to make a call based on knowing James’ spirit and what kind of young man he is and the goodness that he has in his heart.”
Colin said at the time that he was speaking out about James’ journey in order to convince “the world to be kind” to people who are nonverbal, like his son.
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“I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect,” he said. “Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own. 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.”
Colin is also a father to 15-year-old son Henry Tadeusz Farrell, whom he shares with his Ondine costar Alicja Bachleda-Curuś. In April 2024, Colin joked that he had a “Rotten Tomatoes committee at home” because his sons were his “toughest” critics.
“They’re both at this stage in life where they can see pretty much whatever they want,” Colin explained. “A lot of the stuff I’ve done, particularly with the ages that they were, they could never have a look at [before now].”
