Colin Farrell recalls filming the big battle scene in Alexander, saying it’s a miracle nobody died while making it
Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie embark on a life-affirming trip in the new film A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. While the film is sure to move some people, our Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bumbray, didn’t seem to feel the movie budged him as much as he hoped, as he said in his review, “My hunch is that A Big Bold Beautiful Journey falters because Kogonada, a superb filmmaker, works best when directing his own scripts. He has a very particular aesthetic, and here it doesn’t mesh with Seth Reiss’s screenplay, which probably needed a lighter, more playful touch. The movie lacks momentum or energy, though it is gorgeous to look at thanks to Benjamin Loeb’s sumptuous cinematography.”
While doing press for A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, People reports that the two stars took part in a conversation at Collider, where they reflected on their own lives and times. When recalling their most challenging moments during their careers, Farrell would recall filming an epic battle sequence for 2004’s Alexander, which was directed by Oliver Stone. Farrell explained, “The hardest sequence I’ve ever been a part of was there was a battle scene shot for Alexander in the desert of Morocco way back when. We were four weeks doing the Battle of Gaugamela, and so it was four weeks coming in every day…” At this point, Robbie interjected to ask if this was a sequence with the elephants. Farrell then pivoted to saying, “Actually, that was the most dangerous thing. Let’s go with the most dangerous thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
Farrell recalled,
They would say action, and there was eight head of elephant, 200 head of horse, and 800 background, 800 foreground, 800 x, 800 Thai men who would move. Eight elephants, 200 horses and 800 men would go on action. One guy broke his leg on horseback. That was it. Nobody died. It was a miracle. They wouldn’t do it now.”
Back in 2004, Farrell would give Oliver Stone his flowers as he rallied the troops during the chaotic production. Farrell said, “Oliver is an amazing director and an incredible man. He is somebody who suffers from an affliction that is not that common in today’s society, especially in respect to people that are as fortunate, as wealthy and as successful as he is; he suffers from pure honesty and complete integrity.”
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