Colin Farrell is continuing to use his platform to raise awareness about the complexities children with disabilities and their parents face.
In a 2024 video interview with People, the Banshees Of Inisherin actor spoke at length about his 21-year-old son, James, who has Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic condition that also affects his mobility.
Speaking to Candis magazine for its May issue, Colin shared that he and his ex, Kim Bordenave, are planning to have James settled 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,” he told the outlet, via Parade. “But 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?
“Then he’s a ward of the state and he goes where? We’d have no say in it.”
Ultimately, Colin said, he and Kim hope to “find somewhere we like where he can go now, 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,” Colin continued. “He needs a bigger life than we can afford him, by having a sense of community that he feels connected to, 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.”
Last year, the Irish actor announced the launch of the Colin Farrell Foundation, which is “committed to transforming the lives of individuals and families living with intellectual disability through education, awareness, advocacy, and innovative programs”.
Colin said he was inspired by the late Hollywood legend Paul Newman, who in 1988 built Connecticut’s Hole In The Wall Gang camp for kids with serious illnesses.
“I obviously have a certain amount of means, having had a career in film for 20-plus years now,” he told People last year. “And we still struggle in finding the support that James deserves and should rightfully have.”
In his Candis chat, the three-time Golden Globe winner acknowledged that the foundation was “still on baby steps”, but said he expects to commit more time to it now that his children are “up and running”.
In addition to James, Colin shares a 15-year-old son, Henry, with his ex Alicja Bachleda-Curús.
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