Phone Booth (2003) is a thriller film that almost starred A-list actors Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, and even the late Robin Williams. It was supposed to launch in the 1960s when screenwriter Larry Cohen first thought of the idea. He told Alfred Hitchcock the gist of the story, a man trapped inside a phone booth, though he could not come up with a reason why he could not leave.
He finally found the answer around the late 1990s, though Hitchcock passed away in 1980. The premise would follow a man held hostage by a sniper inside a phone booth, and that was enough to arrest the public viewers’ attention.
After Tom Cruise And Mel Gibson, Phone Booth Movie Found Its Lead Star
Phone Booth starred Colin Farrell, also known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Though he gave an exemplary performance in the movie, he was not the first actor considered for the part. Other prolific stars such as Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Williams, Mel Gibson, and Nicolas Cage were on the lineup. Farrell told Yahoo Entertainment:
“People were trying to crack this Larry Cohen script and see how it could be done, and how it could be done without being an exercise of cinematic tedium because it was all set in one place.”
Joel Schumacher was hired to direct the project, and he wanted Colin Farrell on board, but the studio was not thrilled to see an “unknown” actor, so they contacted Jim Carrey instead.
The director told SPLICEDwire that he spoke with Carrey several times and he was up for the role:
“I had many meetings with Jim, and he was gonna do it. I had always thought it was odd that he wanted to do it. And then he got cold feet and I understood — I really did. He was uncomfortable with the role.”
Farrell revealed that he eventually got the call from Schumacher to read the script:
“And then Joel called me because we’d worked on Tigerland together and he said, ‘Listen, I have this script. Will you have a look at it?’ And I read it and loved it, and just saw it as the challenge that it became.”
The 47-year-old Irish actor shared how the filming production went:
“Phone Booth was a lot of fun. Phone Booth was a challenge. [I spent] nine days in the booth. We shot one day in Times Square. To do a feature film in 10 days, it just never happens.”
Farrell played Stuart Shepherd in Phone Booth, a publicist who cheats on his wife and picks up a call in a New York City phone booth only to hear a mysterious voice on the other end of the line. The sniper demands he comes clean to his wife, or he will be shot if he hangs up.
Colin Farrell Wasn’t Favored By Studio Because He Was An “Unknown” Actor
Joel Schumacher admitted in the same interview that he tried to pitch Colin Farrell to the executives, but they rejected the idea because the actor was not popular. He told the outlet that studios would usually opt for Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts-level of fame for big projects:
“Jim was a big name, that’s all it really means. Not to take away from his talent, [but] a studio would rather pay $20 million-plus for a star than they would get a great newcomer for nothing because they can just sleep better at night… If you have a failure with an unknown, it looks like you took a bad risk.”
Yet destiny had a way of turning things around and bringing the favor to Colin Farrell. The role was definitely meant for him, and it could not have been more perfectly timed.
Phone Booth is available on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Vudu.
Sources: Yahoo Entertainment, SPLICEDwire
