IRL, Colin Farrell is a superhero.
The Irish actor held back tears while giving insight into his life with his 20-year-old son, James, and opening up about the Colin Farrell Foundation, which aims to provide support for adult children with intellectual disabilities. Farrell created the foundation in honor of James, whom he shares with his ex, Kim Bordenave.
James was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder that causes delayed development and problems with movement, balance, and speech, per the Mayo Clinic.
“I want the world to be kind to James,” Farrell told People in the interview published on Wednesday. “I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”
Taking a moment to gush over his son, the 48-year-old shared that James “has worked so hard all his life, so hard.”
“Repetition, repetition, balance, his jerky gait,” Farrell reflected. “When he started feeding himself for the first time, his face looks like a Jackson Pollock by the end of it. But he gets it in, he feeds himself beautifully. I’m proud of him every day, because I just think he’s magic.”
James turns 21 in September, which was a driving force behind the “Miss Julie” star’s decision to take matters into his own hands.
“Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own,” Farrell 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.”
Meanwhile, the “Banshees of Inisherin” actor is looking to change that aspect and help young adults with intellectual disabilities receive the care they need through advocacy, education, and innovative programs.
“This is the first time I’ve spoken about it, and obviously the only reason I’m speaking is I can’t ask James if he wants to do this,” Farrell confessed.
Giving insight into his communications with his son, the Golden Globe winner continued, “I mean, I can. I speak to James as if he’s 20 and has perfect fluency with the English language and age-appropriate cognitive ability.”
However, when it comes to getting James’ blessing on the project, Farrell, who is also dad to 14-year-old son Henry with ex Alicja Bachleda-Curús, is turning to his gut for the answer.
He added, “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’s spirit and what kind of young man he is and the goodness that he has in his heart.”
In order to promote his non-profit, Farrell and the young adult participated in a photo shoot for the outlet, which led the actor to ponder: “If James knew getting his photograph in the back garden with me, which is not my favorite thing to do, if us doing this could help families and other young adults who live with special needs, he would say, ‘Dad, what are you talking about? Why are you even asking me? It’s a no-brainer.’”
“So that’s why we’re doing it,” he noted. “This is all because of James — it’s all in his honor.”
But the star’s idea to start a foundation didn’t come out of left field.
Farrell admitted that for years, he has “wanted 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.”
As the Academy Award nominee put it, his eldest child and those similar to him have “earned the right to have a greater degree of individuality and autonomy on life, and a greater degree of community.”
In 2021, Farrell and Bordenave filed for James’ conservatorship to legally manage his needs once he turned 18.
The documents obtained by Page Six noted that James is “nonverbal, has issues with his fine motor skills and cannot provide for his own health and well-being.”
The paperwork also stated that while their child “lacks the capacity to express his preference over who he would want to serve as his conservator(s),” it is said that “he would choose [his parents] as co-conservators.”
In 2017, Farrell shared a rare insight into being a parent to James.
“The struggles of a child with special needs can be so brutal that they can tear at the very fabric of your heart” he told Today at the time, “but the love shared and the pure strength and heroism observed is the needle and thread that mends all tears.”
