Fala Chen has discussed her experience working on Netflix’s latest thriller, Ballad of a Small Player, revealing her creative synergy with co-star Colin Farrell.
Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) and based on Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel, the film follows Lord Doyle (Farrell), a high-stakes gambler entangled in debt and despair, and Dao Ming (Chen), a casino worker whose calm resolve hides her own emotional turbulence. Set in the shimmering, uneasy world of Macao’s gambling halls, Ballad of a Small Player is as much about the city’s glittering surfaces as it is about the brokenness beneath them.
For Chen, the chemistry between her and Farrell came naturally — a connection that Berger immediately recognised during casting. “I think the chemistry between Fala and Colin really came to light in the audition,” the director says. “Dao Ming is just as lost as Doyle, but she still has an inner determination and an inner peace that Doyle lacks.”
The Chengdu-born actress echoes that sense of harmony, describing Farrell as both deeply grounded and intensely committed. “Colin is the most professional, giving, charming acting partner I’ve ever worked with,” she says. “He’s so down-to-earth, but at the same time, he’s so dead serious about his craft. I remember one day I was going over our scripts, and I went to his room and found stacks of poetry books. In preparation for my character, I brought a lot of poetry books as well. It’s just coincidental that how we think of our characters and how we prepared was so similar.”
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Their shared approach helped shape the film’s emotional centre. “There is one line in the script where Doyle asks Dao Ming, ‘Why are you helping me?’ Dao Ming answers, ‘Because you and I are the same,’” Chen recalls. “I think it’s very true for us as actors, too. We are so similar in so many ways in which we work — we want to help each other, and we love what we do, and we share this passion for our work. It’s just a dream to work with him.”
For Chen, who has transitioned from Hong Kong television (Turning Point, 2009) to Hollywood prestige drama (The Undoing, 2020) and blockbuster success with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), the collaboration with Farrell marked a continuation of her exploration of complex emotional terrain. As Dao Ming, she channels both toughness and vulnerability — a duality that mirrors Farrell’s portrayal of Doyle.
The result is a portrait of two lost souls — bound by circumstance, divided by background, yet connected by the quiet recognition of one another’s pain.
“I hope the audience will visually enjoy the culture and history of Macao and Hong Kong,” Chen says. “By experiencing Doyle and Dao Ming’s journey together through the story, the audience will emotionally understand and appreciate the beauty of life and humanity that outweighs our negativity as humans, our greed, and our inability to forgive ourselves. And to find hope that people can move on in life.”
Ballad of a Small Player is now streaming on Netflix.
