Colin Farrell appeals for kindness towards son James

Colin Farrell has opened up for the first time about his life with his son James, who has Angelman syndrome.

Speaking with People magazine, the 48-year-old star announced that he is launching a foundation to support adult children who have an intellectual disability like his son.

“It’s exciting, it feels like the right time,” the actor told the outlet. "I want the world to be kind to my son. I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”

The Batman star continued, “James has had an extraordinary 20 years. He works incredibly hard to achieve the benchmarks that we all experience as typical human beings who don’t have any cognitive issues or developmental delays.”

"And he’s done incredible. He’s a really well-adjusted, happy young man. He’s extraordinary,” said Farrell.

“But looking toward the rest of his life my fear would be, God forbid, if and when something happens to James’s mother or me, that he would be 30 or 40 and have to go into some kind of institute or residential care, and there’d be nobody to call over and take him out to have lunch and all that," the star said.

"He has earned the right to have a greater degree of individuality and autonomy on his life, and a greater degree of community than even I can offer him," he added.

For those unversed, Colin shares James with an ex, model Kim Bordenave.