Colin Farrell cringes at "terrible" Boyzone audition where he almost joined the band

10 February 2025, 15:28

Colin Farrell has had an incredible acting career, but his life may have been different if he once sang a George Michael song in tune.

Boyzone ended up being one of the biggest boybands of all time when they debuted back in 1994.

But the Irish group almost included a certain Mr Farrell, with the future Oscar-nominated actor attempting to join them back in the day.

With the recent Boyzone documentary No Matter What lifting the lid on some of the band's biggest and explosive stories, Farrell's involvement has begun doing the rounds.

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Imagine Colin Farrell trading in his Hollywood scripts for matching boyband outfits - it nearly happened, and we have Louis Walsh to thank (or not) for this sliding doors moment.

Picture this: a young Colin Farrell, strutting his stuff on the dance floor of The Pod nightclub, decked out in what can only be described as peak 90s fashion - a rubber t-shirt and leather trousers, no less. It's there that Louis Walsh, Ireland's answer to Simon Cowell, spotted our future Hollywood star and thought he'd found his next pop sensation.

An unearthed clip from the Late Late Show got this gem of a story from Farrell himself, who was refreshingly ready to poke fun at his almost-boyband past.

"I'm not slagging the lads," he assured everyone, before adding that he was also a former line dancer - because apparently, the leather trousers weren't enough of a 90s throwback!

Colin Farrell was almost in Boyzone! | The Late Late Show | RTÉ One

When Walsh invited him to the "open" auditions, Farrell showed up full of confidence, sporting a bandana and posing with Shane Lynch and brief member Mark Walton. Then came the moment of truth - his rendition of 'Careless Whisper'. Let's just say George Michael's legacy was... not enhanced that day.

In fact, it was so memorable that they asked him to sing it twice - though perhaps not for the reasons young Colin might have hoped.

“I was on the dance floor showing a bit a leg back in the day, I was on the dance floor of The Pod nightclub. I was giving it socks on the dance floor and I went into the bar next door afterwards and I was told this fella wants to talk to you and it was Louis Walsh.“

"He said: 'I’m getting this band together and it’s gonna be great, and you’d be wonderful.’“I was wearing a tight rubber t-shirt and leather pants, so I was ready to come on and impress Gay [Byrne].”

“I went up and I got my picture taken with a couple of the boys, with Shane Lynch and Mark Walton, who was one of the original members. I got my picture with the two of them boys, wearing a bandana, full of the joys of life, talking shit didn’t stink and I sang ‘Careless Whisper’.

“Terrible tune coming out of this mouth, murdered it. It was so bad that they asked me, ‘Could you do that a sec… could you do that again?’ And I sang it a second time and I didn’t feel great about myself  afterwards and I went home afterwards… and the phone rang and my mother said Louis Walsh was on the phone for me.“

It was at the bottom of the stairs so I took the phone and he went, ‘Look, eh Colin listen, today eh you know, it’s not really… it’s not going to work, you know”.

Looking back, it's probably worked out for the best. While Boyzone went on to dominate the charts, Farrell's done alright for himself in Hollywood.

Though we can't help but wonder what In Bruges would've been like if he'd broken into 'Love Me For a Reason' halfway through...