Colin Farrell attends ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’ press conference.
‘Ballad Of A Small Player‘ follows a high-stakes gambler (Colin Farrell) whose luck starts to run out when his past and his debts start to catch up with him. While lying low in Macau, he encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Moviefone was in attendance at a press conference for the film, which featured Colin Farrell, Fala Chen, and director Edward Berger.
Release Date: Oct 15, 2025
Run Time: 1 hr 41 min
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1) Colin Farrell Says Macau Is More Family-Oriented Than Las Vegas & Loved Filming There
A scene from ‘Ballad of a Small Player’. Photo: Netflix. Netflix. © 2024.
When asked about filming in Macau, Colin Farrell explained how the city itself is a character in ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’ and reveals how much he enjoyed being there.
Colin Farrell: I’ve heard folks on our film talk about it being like Vegas on steroids. I found it to be a bit the other way around. The strip itself is brand new. It’s only less than 20 years. When I saw it, it’s really impressive. Don’t get me wrong. It’s so elaborate and ostentatious and it’s so bright and there’s fountains and Celine Dion is pumping through the speakers at all hours of the day. But it feels more family-oriented than Vegas does. There’s not a bunch of strip clubs. There’s no people walking around drinking hurricanes out of a straw. I didn’t see any drunkenness. They’re very, very focused on gambling. It’s really is, sounds obvious to say, but gambling-centric. I loved it. I found it really interesting. I found it to be a place of great contrast.
2) Fala Chen Shares A Trick She Used To Help Get In Character While Filming ‘Ballad Of A Small Player”
(L to R) Director Edward Berger, Fala Chen, and composer Volker Bertelmann attend ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’ press conference.
During the press conference, Fala Chen revealed something that was even a surprise to director Edward Berger about how she helped get into character.
Fala Chen: I had Coca-Cola cans, because I couldn’t find sand bags. Last minute, I was like, I need something to weigh down my feet. So I asked Costume to get me something. The temple scene, when we walk, I wanted some weight on my feet that’s not noticeable, but it just helps me, so we had two Coca-Cola cans on my feet. These are things that I played with for Dao Ming’s emotions. When she’s on the island, it’s like floating on the houseboat, so there are a lot of light things going on in her body. Weight was something that I leaned on playing her.
3) Colin Farrell Says Director Edward Berger Has A Rare Energy When It Comes To Making Art
Colin Farrell on the set of ‘Ballad of a Small Player’. Photo: Netflix. © 2024.
Colin Farrell speaks very highly of director Edward Berger, and his drive to create art.
Colin Farrell: I love to work with Edward. He’s an extraordinary storyteller and he has an attention to detail that is second to none. He’s got possibly the biggest engine. He’s got a huge engine. He can just go and go and go and doesn’t seem to let up. I mean, as is very clearly obvious by the amount of work that he’s doing now. He did ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ and that was coming out and he was shooting ‘Conclave’ and then we went to shoot ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’. While we shot ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’, he was flying on his own to promote ‘Conclave’ and then back to ‘Ballad’ and he’s just relentless. He’s like that on the set as well. His curiosity is something that I feel propels him forward, with that energy that I speak of, that engine that I speak of. He’s super kind, really bright. I just think he’s an extraordinary storyteller and I loved working with him.
4) Edward Berger Reveals Why He Is Drawn To Darker Films
(L to R) Director Edward Berger on the set of ‘Ballad of a Small Player’. Photo: Netflix. © 2024.
A lot of director Edward Berger’s films are on the darker side. Here, he reveals why he is drawn to stories like that.
Edward Berger: There’s nothing to hide, but there is, dark, descending into darkness and escaping from it or coming out of it alive, that makes for good films, I believe. When you throw characters into turmoil, just like we are thrown into turmoil sometimes and go through crises, but what makes us go on is that we get through those and have learned something and come out better in the end and learn to value life afterwards. So I want to do that with films, you know? I want to throw my characters, and they do that for me, so I don’t have to do it in life. They do it for us, for all of us.
5) Colin Farrell Recalls How Fun It Was To Work With Tilda Swinton
(L to R) Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton in ‘Ballad of a Small Player’. Photo: Netflix. Netflix. © 2024.
Tilda Swinton and Colin Farrell work very closely together in ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’. Here, Colin discusses how much he loves working with her and what a brilliant actress she is.
Colin Farrell: I had worked with Tilda in a very brief fashion many, many moons ago, like 25 years ago. So it was lovely to get in the sandbox with her and play around and have some more stuff to do this time. I had a blast working with Tilda. Let’s get that out of the way. She’s just magic. I mean, talk about just little micro changes, every take and she’s just so alive. And the dance. That was fun. Tilda was so up for it. She’s a great fun Tilda, she’s an amazing human being. That was fun for the third or fourth take. It was about 16 takes after that for start to finish. It was a lot of footage that day. I was banged up, but it was great. One loves getting banged up because then one has the illusion of doing a decent day’s work.
Colin Farrell in ‘Ballad of a Small Player’. Photo: Netflix. Netflix. © 2024.
What is the plot of ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’?
A high-stakes gambler decides to lay low in Macau after his past and debts catch up with him. Along the way he encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
Who is in the cast of ‘Ballad Of A Small Player’?
Colin Farrell attends the Headline Gala screening of Netflix’s ‘Ballad of a Small Player’ during the 69th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 9th, 2025 in London, England. Photo by StillMoving.Net for Netflix.
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