Angelina Jolie Once Spit in Colin Farrell’s Face out of Anger in the Film ‘Alexander’
Angelina Jolie once teamed up with Colin Farrell for the critically panned Oliver Stone feature Alexander. While working with Farrell, Jolie experienced an intense and unexpected reaction to her co-star during a harrowing moment between the two.
Angelina Jolie originally thought being cast in ‘Alexander’ was ‘ridiculous’
Jolie’s casting in Stone’s 2004 feature raised more than a few eyebrows. As the movie’s title suggests, Alexander was Stone’s interpretation of the story of legendary conqueror Alexander the Great. Farrell was cast as the titular character, and Jolie was offered the part of his mother Queen Olympias.
The age difference between the two co-stars, however, led to some questioning the casting choice since Jolie was only 10 months older than Farrell. Jolie also found the notion of playing Farrell’s mother peculiar. Still, she was eventually persuaded to be in the feature.
“At first, I thought [playing Colin Farrell’s mother at 29] was as ridiculous as everybody else did,” she once said according to Campus Circle. “I think, [only after] meeting with Colin and Oliver, and really talking about it – I [then] identified with her.”
Jolie asserted that Stone felt she was too ideal for the character of Queen Olympias for age to be a factor.
“Oliver cast people who he felt [best] represented the characters. I think he felt that I understood Olympias,” she continued. “He didn’t get stuck on the [chronologies]. I mean, you meet her when [Alexander’s] 6. When Colin and I are seen together, he’s playing 19 and I’m playing 35. There maybe wasn’t a perfect age for her because she had to be [consistently aged] across the board.
Angelina Jolie lost her temper and spit in Colin Farrell’s face out of anger in ‘Alexander’
When it came to playing the ancient conqueror, Jolie felt Farrell was the only actor capable of pulling off the role. This was because Farrell had a common man quality that she believed was essential to portraying Alexander.
“Because he is the everyman, he supports other people, he loves the guys he worked with, he was their best buddy, they would have followed him into battle, and they would follow him anywhere now if he asked them. He comes from a very good place,” Jolie once said according to Black Film. “He doesn’t need to be the centre. He’s not arrogant, he’s not selfish. He’s a really hardworking, wild free-spirited person. It looks like when he gives the speeches as Alexander you just kind of feel he can inspire a group of people.”
Working with Farrell on the project also managed to stir some very real feelings in Jolie. There’s a scene in Alexander where Jolie’s character ends up spitting at Farrell during a heated argument. But the Oscar-winner shared the spit wasn’t scripted, and it was Jolie’s genuine response to Farrell.
“That was improvised. That just happened. And me spitting on him just happened. It was when they were fighting and it actually came out of him disrespecting her. In fact, it was a crass thing and it angered me,” she revealed.
The improvisation would remain in the film.
What Colin Farrell thought about working with Angelina Jolie
Farrell understood the concerns of Jolie playing his mother in Alexander. But he believed that her performance would overshadow the real-life age difference between the two. According to Farrell, the Salt star was more than a pleasure to watch and learn from.
“Once you get over the initial hurdle of the irony of it all it’s fine. She’s such a f***ing brilliant actor; such a powerhouse. She created such a definitive character and put such an incredible and individual seal on it. To look in her eyes and see the way she looked and the way she held herself, with such regality, it was easy. I didn’t find it a stretch,” Farrell said in a 2004 interview with IGN.
