Former bad boy Colin Farrell has a lot of eyebrows raised in his direction over his recent extreme weight loss. He says that he did it for his role in the upcoming film Triage, and even had a passage at the ready to explain his gaunt look to reporters.

Why is Colin Farrell looking so thin? At a recent press conference in Spain, the usually fit actor stunned reporters with his appearance – not to mention what he said. “I lost weight because my role demanded it,” Farrell told reporters simply of his upcoming film, Triage. “It was all very healthy.”

The actor also referred to the Scott Anderson novel on which Triage is based, reading the sentences that inspired his dramatic weight loss: “He went to the bathroom to shave. Once his beard was gone he saw that his face had become drawn. He pressed at the hollows beneath his eyes, the pronounced nubs of his cheekbones.”

“Amen,” director Danis Tanovic followed, breaking the tension. Everyone – including Farrell – laughed. Farrell spent five weeks in Alicante, Spain, filming Triage, in which he plays a war reporter in Bosnia in the early 1990s. The actor also spoke of his great respect for war reporters “spending time in war zones to tell stories that capture the imagination – as well as for their wives and girlfriends.”

[From People]

I suppose that’s an acceptable reason for an actor, but holy cow. Talk about method acting. Farrell really took it to an extreme – his face is more than drawn. It’s gaunt. He’s also been demonstrating a bit more bizarre behavior, at least according to Page Six.

Colin Farrell may be taking his war-photographer role in “Triage” too far. The lusty leprechaun has lost so much weight for the part, he’s almost unrecognizable, and he was spotted Tuesday in New York acting loopy. “He was looking at ties in Bloomingdale’s and faking a Spanish accent to the cashier,” said our spy. “He was rail thin. One customer asked ‘Are you Colin?’ And he said, ‘Who’s that?’ in a weird fake voice and stormed off.” Farrell’s rep said “he’s in Spain shooting a film.”

[From Page Six]

Thank you so much, ever helpful Colin Farrell rep. We’re well aware he’s shooting a film in Spain. However due to a wonderful little invention called the airplane, that doesn’t mean that he can’t be in New York for a day or two. So just saying that he’s in Spain is certainly not a denial or an explanation. It’s just a wussy way of giving a “no comment.” I am totally going to spend the rest of today sitting outside of Bloomingdale’s in an attempt to spot Colin Farrell. Or a homeless drug addict. Because I could easily mistake one for the other at this point.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Header image is from Mr. Paparazzi via The Sun.