SUNDANCE is teeming with Irish faces this year. Also making the scene last week was Colin Farrell, whose upcoming film In Bruges was selected to open the festival. "I didn't really get the magnitude of it opening the first night," said Farrell, making his first ever appearance at Sundance.

"Then I talked to a couple of people and they were like, 'That's really great!' Then I was like, 'You know what, f*** it, it is really great,' and there does seem to be a really wonderful energy here."

In Bruges, co-starring starring fellow Irishman Brendan Gleeson, Englishman Ralph Fiennes and written and directed by English/Irishman Martin McDonagh, is a caper involving mob hitmen and their hijinks.

"There's so much violence in it, yet there's nothing gratuitous about it," Farrell says. "There's always a price ... you may not see it on the surface. But underneath, there's an incredible amount of damage."

The film, given all the cussing and swearing and gore, also qualifies as a comedy, so they say, with Farrell's character the funniest of all.

"I've just been sharpening my funny bone for seven years now, and this was the coming out," he says. "What's it like to do a comedy? It was nice to hear the laughter last night (at the premiere). It's lovely. I've never experienced such a tangible reaction like that before, so it's nice."

Of course, it wasn't all work and no play at Sundance for Farrell, who's known for having a way with the ladies. He was photographed with one of those Olsen moguls, Mary-Kate, at a party, and reports say that the tiny twin maybe wasn't as into him as he was to her.

"Colin was clearly taken with Mary-Kate and snuggled up to her on the couch at the bar. I'm not sure if the feelings were mutual, though!" said a source to the Daily News in New York. We're sure there were plenty of other gals only dying to get cozy with the Irish charmer once dubbed the "lusty leprechaun!"