Colin Farrell a fan favorite with ‘Fright Night, ‘Total Recall’

Steven Spielberg may have received the standing "O" but it was Colin Farrell who caused a bunch of Twilight-level female screams. He starred in Comic-Con panels for two remakes in which Farrell has key roles: as malevolent vampire-next-door Jerry in next month's Fright Night and as Doug Quaid in a new Total Recall, out next year.

Marti Noxon, the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe who penned the Fright Night remake, said the Jerry from the original (played by Chris Sarandon, who narrated the panel) "missed a viciousness and sexuality that Colin Farrell has."

And later in the Total Recall panel, where Farrell talked about playing who realizes new truths about the world around him, he said he loved the Arnold Schwarzenegger original - the same thing he said about the first Fright Night earlier in the day.

"You can love two things, can't you?" Farrell asked. "I thought it was different enough and did not tread the same ground. I loved the idea of a man journeying from a deep, deep slumber to consciousness."

For fans, though, he was open and friendly. One girl asked Farrell for his Fright Night panel place card, and he got up from his chair to sign and give it to her, bending down to say hi. A camera guy went to capture the moment for the crowd, and ended up getting a shot of Farrell's slightly exposed backside.

Others asked about other projects and all things Farrell. Here's what he had to say:

Bad habits die hard: Farrell cracked jokes about his own past penchant for partying and alcohol. Talking about playing the next-door neighbor vampire Jerry, "he had to borrow a six-pack. Some reputations you just can't shake." And answering a question about putting on the fangs compared to having mojitos in Miami Vice: "I can certainly remember taking up fangs more than taking up mojitos. Miami Vice was a six-month blackout."

Reprising his supervillain Bullseye in anotherDaredevil movie: "Careful. I could kill you now with this Hershey's Kiss," he joked to a fan asking a question.

Tackling comedy in Horrible Bosses: "It was a case of, give me a bald cap and a belly. It was prop central," Farrell said before quipping, "It was just the first time I took my wig off."

Finding the right roles: "When I connect with the right script, my lips start moving to what I'm reading. It's kind of out of your control."

Accents: Farrell asked one fan to do her best Irish accent, and she complied. "It was like an America anccent but higher," he told her. "I grew up watching American television: A-Team,T.J. Hooker, Little House on the Prairie. I had the Amerian accent in my ear, and I think (an Irish accent is) harder for Americans: 'Get off of my Lucky Charms!' "

Doing a superhero movie: "I thought I was playing a superhero when I did Alexander. That didn't pan out. No more swords-and-sandals epics for me." (He agreed to do Bullseye again if Fright Night co-star Christopher Mintz-Plasse played Daredevil.)

Source: usatoday.com