Here are some photos from the London premiere of A Winter’s Tale, that awful-looking schmaltz-fest “romance” starring Colin Farrell and Lady Sybil Crawley, otherwise known as Jessica Brown Findlay. First, Lady Sybil: she wore Christian Dior (a 2012 dress) for the premiere. Thoughts? I don’t hate it or love it. I like she went for Dior for her first MAJOR film premiere in London, but since the dress is two years old, I suspect the House of Dior really didn’t want to dress a (spoiler) dead Crawley sister. Jessica is such a pretty woman, but her styling isn’t doing her any favors here. In fact, she’s looking rather corpsey.

As for Colin… I don’t know. Double-breasted jackets aren’t really the style he should go for and his styling is kind of “off” as well. He looks sick? Kind of puffy and like he’s on the tail end of a bad flu. But Colin is promoting the hell out of this film, and that included yet another brutally honest and candid interview, this time with ELLE:

ELLE: If I asked all the women you’ve ever dated to agree on something about you, what would they say?
CF: That the exit is a lot more turbulent than the arrival, unfortunately. Building is always a gentler process than tearing down, it seems.

‘Winter’s Tale’ is a romantic epic. What movie do you find romantic?
The Bridges of Madison County is a fairly moving film: the idea of choosing history over fate, the life that could be lived. Part of her wants to go. And yet you understand she’s married to a good man and she has a family that she adores. There’s no right answer.

What’s the most over-the-top thing you’ve ever done for a woman?
This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but sometimes the more money spent, the more it diminishes the true essence of romance.

Okay, then. What’s the smallest, most intimate gesture?
I’m just trying to weed out the gold-diggers. [Laughs] I once spent a night with somebody in a ruin of a building in a very faraway land. There was no heat. It was dilapidated—about as unromantic as you could imagine. But we lit a fire and had sleeping bags and wine and a shitty old portable DVD player. The battery died halfway through It’s a Wonderful Life. That didn’t really matter. It wasn’t about getting to the end.

Did you have any memorable nights at the Playboy mansion when you first came to L.A.?
I think I was there twice in my life. For a 23-year-old from Ireland it was a rite of passage. I got to tell the lads and had moments of great boasting. But it kind of came back to haunt me.

Yes, the sex tape. You were offered $5 million for it.
It certainly wasn’t a validation of my prowess.

The offer suggests otherwise.
The whole thing was horrifying. You know, Press Record. Taboo. Isn’t this interesting. You should have taken the tape with you. I was deposed for four hours explaining why I didn’t want it to be released. God forbid it’s an On Demand movie in a hotel room and my mother says, “Oh, I haven’t seen this work of my son’s,” and hits purchase.

Once you got sober, were you worried you wouldn’t be able to talk to women?
I worried I wouldn’t be able to talk, full stop. I hadn’t uttered a word sober in about 15 years.

Did you find it difficult to sleep with a woman sober?
I made love to a woman about two and a half years after I got clean, and it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. It was in the afternoon. The windows and the curtains were open. It was lovely, and, to be crass, it wasn’t f–king. She was very gentle. But it was terrifying. Because I was just used to drunkenness and dark rooms and clubs and toilets and wherever.

Do you believe in monogamy?
I do. Very much. And I’ve had arguments with friends about this. For me, I don’t know if it’s possible. I’m not saying it’s not possible. I have been monogamous in relationships. But I’m not in a relationship now. So they haven’t worked. So it wouldn’t stand up in court.

But you believe in the value of it.
We’ve all seen people who are 70, 80, 90, who have held each other’s hands throughout their lives. But is there a part of man that does want to sow his seed? Absolutely. Does that mean it has to be followed through on? Or does it allow us to ask why and dig a little deeper? I don’t know. But I certainly do believe in monogamy. I don’t believe that it’s for everyone. I don’t believe that marriage is for everyone. So much of life is begging to be chosen how it wants to be lived. Much more than most of us realize.

Could you ever fall in love with a woman who didn’t like your movies?
Yeah. For sure! I needed to learn to love myself while not loving my movies. I would never hold that against anyone.

[From ELLE]

I always forget how much I enjoy Colin until I read one of his interviews. He’s consistently a great interview, even if it’s just a short piece like this ELLE thing. Did you notice that he’s the one to make an oblique reference to the sex tape first and then he talks about openly? I respect him for talking about the mistakes he made and everyday awkwardness of working in an industry before and after he got sober. The having-sober-sex story killed me a little.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.