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Cillian and Colin: "chalk and cheese" + Barley slips to ninth place
02 August 2006 at 11:21 AM | by Melty_Girl
[Note: This was originally published by cillianONLINE, which has been inactive since September 2006.]
"Chalk and cheese" is an old British expression used "to suggest that two things, superficially alike, are really very different in their qualities." Today, Irish web portal Unison.ie has an intriguing article about Colin Farrell's career which includes media scholars weighing in on Colin's press strategy, and it includes a Colin-Cillian compare-and-contrast portion.
No matter which woman [Farrell]'s romancing, or what jape he's involved in, the press always seem to get wind of it, suggesting some ingenious media manipulation.
"It is one of the reasons why he's up there," agrees Dr Pat Brereton of DCU's School of Communications. "He has got a great publicity team and there is a connection between the mediation of his persona and his on-screen success."
Where once Farrell cut a lone Irish figure on the A-list, now he's been joined by Corkonian Cillian Murphy. But in terms of style and personality, it seems that there could not be more of a chasm between the two.
"They are chalk and cheese," adds Brereton. "They are the two polarities of actors who can both make it in Hollywood. But Cillian's star will rise and rise. He is an archetypal stage actor, driven by angst and always very unsure of himself; Colin has none of that. People see Colin Farrell as a kind of Joe Bloggs they could go for a pint with. And who wouldn't want to go for a pint with Colin Farrell?"
Sam Toy of Empire agrees that the disparity between Colin and Cillian is worth noting: "Colin doesn't seem to mind the constant press and the intrusion into his private life. He actually doesn't seem to care. Cillian is a very different kettle of fish—he's a very, very shy man. And yet he gets the big roles. He's done Red Eye and the Batman film and he's rumoured to return as the Scarecrow, but he's just as happy doing indie films. But then, I'm sure if you asked Colin Farrell to work with Ken Loach he'd jump at the chance, as would Cillian Murphy to work with (Miami Vice director) Michael Mann."
A quick box office note: The Wind That Shakes the Barley is still in the UK/Ireland top ten, but it's slipped down to ninth place. (Source: ITV News).
Thanks to WorldWideWords.org for providing the "chalk and cheese" definition.
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