Colin Farrell Shares About His ‘Breakup’ Smoking Letter And Single Life

Colin Farrell wrote a good-bye to smoking letter when he decided to quit the bad habit. That is just one of the new revelations shared by the actor in an interview in the new issue of Men’s Health, according to E! Online.

One might not think Farrell is best cover man for the magazine with his history of alcohol, drugs, and smoking. However, the actor has cleaned up his life. He has been sober for several years, and he managed to find a unique to kick the smoking habit that worked for him.

He shared his method with Men’s Health.

“I wrote a breakup letter to the Spirit of Tobacco. I got a frying pan and tossed the letter with a load of tobacco, put some paraffin over it, and lit a match that sent a big, wallowing cloud up into the sky. Then I didn’t have a cigarette for another two years.”

However, experts do not recommend this method to everyone. In fact, doctors are against this cold turkey way of quitting smoking because of its low success rate. Only five percent of people that quit cold turkey are successful.

What about Farrell’s letter approach? A previous Inquisitr report shared that the Mayo Clinic did not think that writing a letter was not the best way to quit the bad habit. However, their site did suggest a list.

“Consider what you don’t like about smoking, and why you want to quit smoking. Are you worried about health consequences, such as lung cancer and heart disease? Do you want to feel better? Set a good example for your kids? Rid yourself of that lingering smoke smell on your hair, skin and clothes? Write it all down and carry the list with you. Each time you pick up a cigarette or have the urge to do so, read your list and remind yourself why you want to quit smoking.”

This is not the first time Colin Farrell has managed to kick a bad habit. He has been sober for nine years, and he was only able to get sober when his mind and body were ready to do it. He spoke about his sobriety in a 2014 interview with the Telegraph, and he knows he is “lucky” to be sober when so many “struggle” with their sobriety on a daily basis.

“I don’t take it for granted and I don’t undermine how difficult my journey to getting sober was, but now I’m in a really different life and I don’t miss it. I’m very lucky in that respect because I know people who have had a longer period of sobriety than me and they still miss it every day and it’s a struggle for them. When I got sober, it was the right time for me to get sober… I could have done it earlier, for sure, and I would have saved a lot of money and a good deal of heartbreak, but I’m lucky enough to have made it anyway and I’m grateful for that. So better late than ever.”

What helped the actor get clean? He credits his sons with his new outlook in life. James is 11 and Henry is five. In recent years, he has focused on his sons and raising them. This focus has caused him a lot of lonely nights. He has been single for more than four years, but he doesn’t mind the single life.

He told Men’s Health that, “When you get home, the only thing that matters is your son is not eating his turkey sandwiches and he’s not into avocado anymore, so you have to find something new that he’ll eat for lunch.”

What is next for Colin Farrell? He has landed a role in the next Harry Potter film titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Entertainment Weekly reported that Farrell will play a wizard in the spin-off. Earlier this summer, he starred in True Detective Season 2 for HBO, and his character made quite a splash.

For his roles in True Detective and The Lobster, he gained 40 pounds, but it is clear from the cover of Men’s Health that he lost the weight.

Colin Farrell for Men’s Health US – September 2015 #colinfarrell pic.twitter.com/L17Di2Di6s

— Magazine Covers (@_MagazineCovers) August 4, 2015

Fans of the actor will not need to wait until December 2016 to see him on the big screen again. He has two films arriving in theaters in the days ahead. He stars in Solace alongside Anthony Hopkins. Farrell plays a serial killer with psychic ability in the film, and Hopkins is the psychic hired by the police to help find the killer.

As for Miss Julie, that film will arrive on UK film screens later this week. The period piece also stars Jessica Chastain.

What do you think of Farrell’s letter approach to quitting the smoking habit?

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]