Farrell feared quitting drink would hit acting

Colin Farrell feared he’d lose his ability to act when he quit drinking.

The Miami Vice star has been off the drink for seven years, but told US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres he was “cooked” for much of his Hollywood breakthrough, but he worried that booze gave him the edge he needed for demanding roles — and that he’d be lost without it.

“I was terrified that whatever my capacity as an actor was... however little or large it was, it would completely disappear and that I wouldn’t be able to [act]... I ascribe to the notion that to be able to express yourself in an artistic form in life you have to live in perpetual pain — and it’s nonsense.