Colin Farrell launches foundation in honor of son with Angelman syndrome

Colin Farrell is launching a foundation to honor his son, James.

The Irish actor, 48, has announced he is starting the Colin Farrell Foundation to provide support for people and families with intellectual disabilities through advocacy, education, and innovative programs. His 20-year-old son was born with Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder.

In an interview with People published on 7 August, the Banshees of Inisherin star opened up about his life with James, who is nonverbal. He explained that his son, who will be turning 21 in September, will soon age out of many of the affordable and accessible programs provided to families with children who have special needs.

“Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own,” Farrell said. “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 sat in the backyard with James and his live-in caregiver, as the Golden Globe winner told the outlet: “I want the world to be kind to James. I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”

He noted that it had marked the first time he was publicly speaking about his foundation, adding that “obviously the only reason I’m speaking is I can’t ask James if he wants to do this.”

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Farrell clarified: “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. 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.”

The Batman actor went on to praise his son, who he said “has worked so hard all his life.”

“Repetition, repetition, balance, his jerky gait,” Farrell continued. “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.”

Although he admitted that “getting his photograph” taken isn’t his “favorite thing to do,” Farrell chose to believe that James would consider it a “no-brainer” as long as they “could help families and other young adults who live with special needs.”

“This is all because of James,” he said. “It’s all in his honor.”

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Farrell has been a longtime advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. The In Bruges actor serves as president of the Colin Farrell Foundation, which aims to advocate for funding and changes to healthcare policies while also creating programs that emphasize affordable and accessible community-based housing.

He explained to People that he has always “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.”

Farrell emphasized that his son James and those like him have “earned the right to have a greater degree of individuality and autonomy on life, and a greater degree of community.”

Farrell and his then-girlfriend Kim Bordenave welcomed James, his first child, in 2003. The former couple filed for conservatorship of James in May 2021, when he was 17 years old.

Farrell has another son, 14-year-old Henry Tadeusz Farrell, with Alicja Bachleda-Curuś. Last year, the pair wore matching tuxedos as they attended the Academy Awards together, where Farrell was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Pádraic Súilleabháin in the Banshees of Inisherin.