In a shocking revelation on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, actor Colin Farrell admitted to having a platonic love affair with late megastar Elizabeth Taylor in the final years of her life, despite the 41-year age difference between them. Breaking free from the shackles that restrain older women from romancing younger men, the two shared what Farrell refers to the “last romantic relationship [he] had, which was never consummated” reports Vanity Fair.
The Saving Mr Banks actor spared no details of how he met and became fond of Tayor. The two met in a hospital, where his son was being born and she was being treated. After bumping into her manager, he asked for his regards to be extended to her and later, he had his publicist send her some flowers. What was a pleasant coincidence, Taylor had sent him some orchids just about the same time, according to The Guardian.
What followed were late night calls: “She wasn’t much of a sleeper at night like I’m not, so at two o’clock in the morning, I’d call her. . .and the nurse would answer the phone. I’d say, ‘Is she awake?’ I’d be on the phone and I’d hear, ‘Hello?’ And I’d go how’s it going and we’d talk for a half an hour an hour into the wee hours. Really cool’,” Vanity Fair reports. The actor told host DeGeneres, “I just adored her [Taylor]. She was a spectacular, spectacular woman.” He said, “I wanted to be [husband] number 8, but we ran out of road,” according to independent.co.uk.
Taylor, who starred in the likes of Love Is Better Than Ever, The Girl Who Had Everything and Cleopetra, was always upfront about her feelings: “I’ve always admitted that I’m ruled by my passions,” she once stated. Farrell’s revelation is testament to the fact that for her, compassion took precedence over a triviality like age. The actor died at the age of 79 in 2011.
At her funeral, Farrell read the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo, and shared later how much he missed her. The relationship they shared seemed more warm and meaningful, rather than a fling.
Kudos to Farrell for an open, uninhibited declaration.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2013.
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