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Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar.’ Apple TV

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News North America

<div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Js0VfnY6eo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>If John Sugar is television’s most empathetic detective, Colin Farrell might be its most unexpectedly philosophical leading man. Sitting down to discuss Season 2 of “Sugar,” Farrell bounced effortlessly between subjects as varied as boxing legends, Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis, horse riding, and the peculiar actor’s art of convincing yourself you’ve become someone else. What emerged in our brief conversation mirrored the series itself: thoughtful, compassionate, and not without lighthearted moments.</p><p>Whether he was admiring the raw honesty of fighters stepping into the ring, reflecting on the responsibility of portraying homelessness with dignity, or laughing about the “useless” skills he’s accumulated over decades of acting, Farrell approached every topic with the same curiosity and sincerity that make John Sugar such a compelling hero. We spoke about empathy, addiction, boxing, and why learning a few lines in another language can feel like opening a door into a completely different life.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Yong Chavez: I was talking with Jin Ha and Raymond Lee about boxing in the show. What do you like about boxing?</strong></div><p>Colin Farrell: I don&#x27;t box, but God, I have a love for the sport, massive respect for it, and for anyone who makes the walk, you know. As has been said before, boxing, martial arts, mixed martial arts, combat sports, they&#x27;re incredibly honest. And you do get to see at times, if the fight goes long enough, and if the styles are well matched enough, you get to see the fighter spirit. You get to see the soul of these two men or two women, and you know, it can be painful. And then I&#x27;m a sucker for the magnanimity that sometimes you see at the end of a fight, the connection that you see between two fighters when they come together, and they&#x27;ve shared something that only they understand, you know. I just have such an admiration for them. I remember seeing Barry McGuigan’s fight against Pedroza, when Barry McGuigan won the world championship, and then he lost some years later to Steve Cruz in Las Vegas in what was an ill-orchestrated afternoon fight in the desert heat for a lad from Clones. Yeah, I do appreciate it. And Jin Ha did amazing work getting ready for this, and he didn&#x27;t have long, he didn&#x27;t have long at all. But he got the head down, he got into it.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781918613496Sugar_Photo_020106.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar.’ <em>Apple TV</em></span></span></span></div><div><strong>The show has a realistic but very sensitive depiction of addiction and homelessness in Los Angeles. As a person who lives in Los Angeles myself, it really feels like it is done with care. As both its star and executive producer, how do you feel about the show&#x27;s depiction of those subjects?</strong></div><p>I was very scared about us using the reality of homelessness for our own advantage. Of course, everything in the show should be to the show&#x27;s advantage, right? Everything in the show, every bit of dialogue, every performance, every set should be to the show&#x27;s advantage. But it being such a fact of life globally, but very particularly in this city, I just wanted us to treat it as respectfully as possible. There were a couple of moments, I remember, there were a couple of things that were set up that felt heavy-handed to me and felt like they were patronizing to me, and on the day we got in and we re-orchestrated those moments or talked to that background artist, whatever needed to happen. And so I hope that it&#x27;s not patronizing, and I hope that it&#x27;s not, in any way, a paternal treatment of what is a very serious social problem, and one that needs to be addressed ever more in this world that we all live in, you know? The homeless community is very big in Los Angeles, high population, and so to not address it… But it became a significant part as a result of some of the scenes this year, and yeah, hopefully we handled it with some dignity, hopefully.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Empathy is such a huge part of John Sugar&#x27;s identity, I felt like it&#x27;s the kind of hero that we need these days. As an actor who gets to play different people, what skills have you picked up from playing them?</strong></div><p>From playing different people over the years? Oh, I don&#x27;t know, I&#x27;ve done a lot of horse riding, it&#x27;s been a while, but I wouldn&#x27;t say I&#x27;d be a skilled rider, but I’ll get up on any single horse in the world and give it a shot. And I love horse riding. I spent a lot of time with Jack Lilley, Lord rest him, and his son Clay and all those cowboys back in the day. A lot of time drinking Coors Light and riding horses and watching them rope. Never fully learned to rope myself. But yeah, I shot more guns than I&#x27;d ever care to, driven some fast cars, messed around with decks of cards, that kind of pointless shit. Useless stuff. (Laughs)</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781918704554Colin Farrell in _Sugar.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar.’ <em>Apple TV</em></span></span></span></div><div><strong>You learned languages for ‘Sugar’ too.</strong></div><p>I didn’t even learn languages, of course. (Laughs) I learned the few lines I had to say. But it&#x27;s always fun, you know what I mean? Anything that you get to explore that you don&#x27;t explore in your daily life, it just hypnotizes you into believing that you&#x27;re getting closer to something else that&#x27;s not you. So even if you don&#x27;t get it on-screen, it all has a bit of value, you know.</p>

<p>Colin Farrell reflects on boxing, empathy, and the challenges of portraying complex social issues in ‘Sugar,’ where he plays the thoughtful detective John Sugar in the show’s second season.</p>

Colin Farrell reflects on boxing, empathy, and the challenges of portraying complex social issues in ‘Sugar,’ where he plays the thoughtful detective John Sugar in the show’s second season.

Q&A with Colin Farrell: Boxing, empathy, and life inside ‘Sugar’

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Q&A with Colin Farrell: Boxing, empathy, and life inside ‘Sugar’

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News North America

Published June 20, 2026 05:00 PM PHT

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Colin Farrell

Sugar

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