Believe it or not, it's now been 19 years since Alexander was released, but it's a movie that clearly remains fresh in the mind of star Colin Farrell. Envisioned as a historical epic akin to Gladiator, filmmaker Oliver Stone had grand ambitions for his passion project, but it didn't go at all well.
For starters, it was riddled with historical inaccuracies, while accusations of xenophobia - due to the depiction of the Persian empire - were rife.
Throw in criticisms about everything from the costumes to the work delivered by the undeniably impressive cast, and Alexander bombing with a mere $167.3 million at the worldwide box office on a $155 million budget was no great surprise. While Farrell has found great success since, it was a huge setback for The Batman star in 2004, and one he hasn't soon forgotten.
"Expectation is a dangerous thing. There was a load of things that went on with Alexander," the Irish actor tells The Hollywood Reporter. "The most significant thing to be a part of was two or three hundred people who travelled the world over six months to tell this story and bring it to life, and it was a story that Oliver Stone had dreamed of since he was in college"
"As grand as it was, as global as it was, as political as it was, and as thrilling as it was and as violent as it was and essential as it was - it was really personal. It was really personal, and it was really personal to me."
"When I say 'expectations,' we all had our tuxedos ready. I’m not even joking. There were some of the lads who were like 'Right, lads, we’re off to the Oscars. This is a sure thing,' because we had Oliver Stone. We had a story of that magnitude. We had a script that was really moving and really just brilliant and so muscular, and then it came out."
"I was in Toronto, and I think I was due a bit foot in the a*s, to be honest, which is not the same as saying I deserved it. The reviews came out and I remember my sister Claudine going 'Oh god. It’s not good,'" Farell continues. "And Danica, who’s here today, going 'It’s really not good.' As I go 'What do you mean, not good?'
"There wasn’t any shortcut, Rotten Tomatoes. 'What percentage are we talking here?' It wasn’t that. It was "What do you mean?' and they had all the printed reviews, and it was one after another: Alexander the Dull, Alexander the Boring, Alexander the Inarticulate, Alexander the Weak...I was like ‘Holy sh*t.’ And I thought 'What can I do?' I felt so much shame."
It's fascinating to get these insights directly from Farrell and interesting to see what sort of impact negative reviews can have on a young actor. His work in Alexander wasn't particularly good, if we're being honest, and he's fortunate that he followed the movie with so many other impressive performances (calling the project a "career-killer" would be an understatement).
Alexander the Great has yet to be brought back to the big screen, though we'd say it's a story that's probably worth revisiting at some point in the not too distant future.