Colin Farrell

His next film was 2005's Academy Award-nominated The New World, also a historical epic that was met with mixed reviews.^[7] Farrell played the leading role of captain John Smith, the founder of 17th century colonial Jamestown, Virginia who falls in love with a beautiful American Indian maiden, Pocahontas, played by actress Q'Orianka Kilcher. The film achieved success, despite being released on 811 theatres worldwide and having a relatively low box office gross. ^{[8] [9]}

The New World was followed by Ask the Dust, a romance film set in period Los Angeles co-starring Salma Hayek. It received a very limited theatrical release and was not a financial success. ^[10] 2006 brought more success in Farrell's career, as he appeared opposite Jamie Foxx in Michael Mann's action-crime film Miami Vice. The film received box office status grossing a total of US$ 163,557,986.00 in its worldwide revenues; Universal Pictures released it in over 3,000 theatres worldwide and it captured the top spot at the box office, grossing more than US$ 25.7 million in its opening weekend. ^{[11] [12]}

Farrell married English actress Amelia Warner in July 2001 and divorced her four months later. He has a son, James, (born on September 12, 2003), with American model Kim Bordenave, from whom he is now estranged. ^[13]

In December 2005, Farrell voluntarily checked into a rehabilitation treatment center for addictions to recreational drugs and painkillers. ^[14] His publicist commented that Farrell had started taking painkillers due to a back injury. He was released on January 2006. In May 2006, Farrell started attending rehabilitation meetings.

In July 2005, Farrell filed a lawsuit suing his former girlfriend, Playboy model Nicole Narain, the Internet Commerce Group (ICG) and adult entertainment producer David Hans Schmidt over the distribution of an illegal fifteen minute sex tape that Farrell had made with Narain in 2003. The tape is believed to have been made at Narain's apartment. Farrell claims he understood the tape as being "strictly private and confidential and will take legal court actions to anyone who tries to distribute it", ^[15] but it was leaked to Schmidt and ICG who tried to release it publicly. A Los Angeles judge issued an injunction barring the sale, distribution, or display of the tape.

Narain claimed that she did not give the tape to anyone and was not sure if or how copies were taken from her. She originally said that she would work with Farrell to ensure that it remained private, but Farrell said Narain was trying to release it along with Schmidt in order to damage his career and " make money out of it", which Narain denies. ^{[16] [17]}

In January 2006, the tape surfaced on website named dirtycolin.com. The site was shut down on the same day because of server overload, but re-opened a week later. The tape was then pirated through BitTorrent and other file sharing systems. Both Farrell's and Narain's lawyers denounced the site, which was shut down again a few days later for unknown reasons. Farrell's legal team said it would take legal action against sites that hosted the tape. A trial date for the Narain lawsuit was set for July 17, 2006, but the judge allowed Farrell and Narain to mediate until April 20. On April 16, the two reached a settlement with confidential terms. However, Farrell's lawsuit against ICG continued with a trial date set for July 21, 2006. ^[18]

Farrell has been sued twice for alleged harassment and sending foul messages to telephone sex worker Dessarae Bradford. The lawsuits were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence provided by Bradford. ^[19][20] Bradford, who has announced that she is "waging War on Colin Farrell", ^[21] has recorded a song entitled "Colin Farrell is My Bitch" and has self-published a book called "Colin Farrell: A Dark Twisted Puppy". ^[22]

Bradford took a lie detector test on an i TV program in an attempt to support her claims and stories. she failed the test. ^[23]

On July 20, 2006, Bradford confronted Farrell on the set of The Tonight show with Jay Leno and was escorted out by police while shouting "I'll see you in court". Farrell's response was, "You're insane" ^[20]. Farrell requested a restraining order in court against Bradford; Farrell said Bradford "accosted me during the taping of a network television show on July 20, 2006. I am concerned that her harassing behaviour has escalated and May pose an immediate threat to my well-being and the well-being of my family." The request also asked for Bradford to keep away from Farrell, his son James and James' mother, Kim Bordenave. ^[24]

The temporary restraining order was granted and will remain in effect until August, 2009. The restraining order was upheld during a later appeal.