It seems that Farrell, for only one line, required 36 takes. One can imagine Spielberg was very patient with his actor, and Farrell doesn’t seem too proud that he kept stumbling over the line. Farrell recalled:
“[The line was] ‘I’m sure you all understand the fundamental paradox of Pre-Crime methodology.’ I just couldn’t. And it was the morning after my birthday. And I got worse as we went along.”
The “morning after my birthday” comment may be an allusion to Farrell’s admitted substance addictions at the time. Farrell has been very frank about his addictions, his stint in rehab, and his continued sobriety, so he may have been admitting that he overindulged on his birthday. He doesn’t comment in the IGN interview if he was hungover, but that’s the implication. Whatever the circumstances, though, Farrell was devoted to the scene and continued to do it until he got it right.
Spielberg seemingly bore no ill will toward his actor, and Farrell even once admitted that he and the director shared a sardine sandwich, a sign of professional closeness indeed. Farrell noted that he and Spielberg shared a sandwich prior to his landing the role of Witwer, and he figured that even if he didn’t get the part, he got to have lunch with one of Hollywood’s preeminent hitmakers. As far as he was concerned, it was a win-win scenario.
“Minority Report” was called the best film of the year by Roger Ebert, although it wasn’t highly decorated by the Academy, earning only one Oscar nomination. It inspired a short-lived TV series in 2015 and was more closely tied to the Pre-Cogs than to John Anderton. The movie is better remembered.
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