Colin Farrell wants "the world to be kind" to his son James.
The Irish actor has opened up about his 20-year-old son, who has Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder.
"I want the world to be kind to James," Colin, 48, told People in a new interview. "I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect."
The Batman actor shares James, who is non-verbal, with his ex-girlfriend, model Kim Bordenave.
In the interview, Colin announced the launch of the Colin Farrell Foundation, which will support adult children with intellectual disabilities.
"Once your child turns 21, they're kind of on their own," the actor explained. "All the safeguards that are put in place, special ed classes, that all goes away, so you're left with a young adult who should be an integrated part of our modern society and more often than not is left behind."
In the past, Colin has kept his family life private, but now he wants to share James' story to help other young adults living with special needs.
"This is the first time I've spoken about it, and obviously the only reason I'm speaking is I can't ask James if he wants to do this," he said.
"I mean, I can. I speak to James as if he's 20 and has perfect fluency with the English language and age-appropriate cognitive ability," Colin continued. "But I can't discern a particular answer from him as to whether he's comfortable with all this or not, so I have to make a call based on knowing James's spirit and what kind of young man he is and the goodness that he has in his heart."
The Gentlemen star shared that his son "has worked so hard all his life, so hard."
Colin added that he is "proud" to see James learning new things.
"When he started feeding himself for the first time, his face looks like a Jackson Pollock by the end of it," he said. "But he gets it in, he feeds himself beautifully. I'm proud of him every day, because I just think he's magic."
