Interviews With "Ballad Of A Small Player" Stars Colin Farrell, Fala Chen & Director Edward Berger

The Next Best Picture Podcast

Tv & Film

4.2 • 542 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Ballad Of A Small Player" is a British psychological thriller directed by Edward Berger and written by Rowan Joffé, adapted from Lawrence Osborne's 2014 novel of the same name. The film stars Academy Award-nominee Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau, where he spends his nights playing baccarat. As his debts spiral out of control, Doyle finds an unlikely lifeline in Dao Ming (Fala Chen), a casino hostess who holds secrets of her own. The film had its world premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival before continuing its run at TIFF, where it received strong acclaim for its flashy direction, bombastic score, and Farrell's high-wire committed performance. Farrell, Chen, and Berger were all kind enough to spend time speaking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now available to stream on Netflix. Thank you, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	At Betway, you have the power to take a break whenever you like.
0:03.5	Stay on top of your game with Betway's safer gambling tools.
0:06.6	Betway offers a range of safer gambling tools to help you out,
0:09.6	and always bet the responsible way.
0:11.5	18 plus gamblerware.org.
0:14.9	You are listening to The Next Best Picture Podcast,
0:17.9	and these are Will Mavity's interviews
0:19.6	with the director for Ballad of a Small Player
0:21.9	Edward Berger and the film stars Colin Farrell and Bala Chen. Macau, gambling capital of the universe.
0:31.2	Here, card games can change your life in an instant.
0:38.3	My name is Doyle.
0:39.3	Lord Doyle.
0:42.3	Mr. Riley.
0:47.3	You stole a considerable sum of money from a client.
0:53.3	I've made some mistakes. Right, who hasn't?
0:58.0	You have 24 hours.
1:01.0	I'm not a criminal.
1:04.0	You stole that money from a helpless old woman.
1:08.0	No more credit.
1:11.6	Look, look.
1:12.6	I'll find myself in a bit of a bind.
1:15.6	You're just a nice working class Irish boy.
	...

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