‘The world is so quick to pull the trigger of judgment’: Colin Farrell praises ‘discourse’ over cancel culture

Actor speaks ahead of Venice premiere of the Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites him with Martin McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson for first time since In Bruges

‘The world is so quick to pull the trigger of judgment’: Colin Farrell praises ‘discourse’ over cancel culture

Discourse and the exchange of ideas are a “gorgeous thing” in a world that’s “quick to pull the trigger of judgment” and cancel people, actor Colin Farrell has said.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the premiere of Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin in Venice, the actor spoke passionately about how the film could act as a counter to today’s “information age” that “takes us away from the intimacy that’s required and interests that are needed to exist”.

Added Farrell: “When push comes to shove we will always return to good chats. It’s like the people who don’t believe in God until they’ve overdosed on a drug.

“Conversation, sharing thoughts and feelings with each other. It’s a world that is so quick to pull the trigger of judgment on each other, we’re so quick to cancel now with cancel culture and all these things. But to actually have discourse, to have conversation and exchange ideas in a way that is as open to your opinion being changed as it is to being shared is a gorgeous thing.

“I don’t think that’ll ever die even if it’s been supplanted by a little technology.”

The film reunites Farrell with Brendan Gleeson, the first time the pair have worked together since McDonagh’s 2008 film In Bruges. Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, it follows lifelong friends Pádraic and Colm, who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship.

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A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán and troubled young islander Dominic, endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.

Gleeson said the film was an opportunity to explore the nature of male relationships. “I’m glad to see male friendship as something valuable at the moment when the readjustment of everyone’s relationships with everybody is under reconsideration,” he said. “The valuing of male friendship against a bromance to me is very deep and pertinent right now.”

The actor said he found working on In Bruges with McDonagh and Farrell “creative and personally invigorating” and had always hoped to recreate it on a second project.

The Banshees, also starring Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, is the first film McDonagh has produced in his parent’s home country, Ireland.

“To do something in Ireland was majestic, especially the west of Ireland was a dream of mine,” McDonagh said on Monday. “The whole area where we filmed was where I went back to when I was a kid to visit relatives. It’s where my dad’s from.”