Colin Farrell sits across from his BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER co-star Fala Chen, and when the conversation turns to career-defining gambles, he tells a story that still seems impossible. There was a moment, right at the beginning, when he had to choose between security and the dream, between a guaranteed paycheck on a hit television show and a one-in-a-million shot at making it in Hollywood. Everyone around him thought he’d lost his mind. His friends told him he was crazy. His family couldn’t understand it. Here was steady work, good money, the kind of opportunity most actors would kill for, and he was going to walk away from it to chase something with no guarantees whatsoever.
But Farrell did it anyway. He turned down the money, left the show, and took the leap. It’s the kind of decision that either launches a career or ends it before it really begins, and for years afterward, that choice has defined everything that came after. Looking at where he is now, fresh off his transformation in THE BATMAN and his revelatory work in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN that earned him an Oscar nomination, it’s easy to forget how easily it all could have gone the other way. One different choice, one moment of hesitation, and Colin Farrell as we know him might not exist at all.
In BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, which hit select UK and Ireland cinemas on October 17th before arriving on Netflix on October 29th, Farrell plays a man who’s betting everything on games of chance in Macau’s glittering casinos, a character who understands something about risk that most people never grasp. During the interview, he and Chen discuss the film’s striking costumes, their personal good luck charms, and the greatest plot twists in cinema history, but it all circles back to that original gamble, the one he made decades ago when he was nobody and had everything to lose. That decision reverberates through his entire career, through every bold choice and unexpected turn he’s taken since, from PHONE BOOTH to IN BRUGES to his recent renaissance playing Penguin in Matt Reeves’ Gotham and a grieving man on a remote Irish island in Martin McDonagh’s dark masterpiece.
Sometimes the craziest decisions are the only ones worth making, and sometimes betting on yourself when everyone else thinks you’ve lost the plot is exactly what separates the ones who make it from the ones who always wonder what might have been.
DERRY GIRLS darling @nicolacoughlan returns to our TVs in I AM HELEN.
This critically acclaimed BAFTA-winning anthology series pairs Coughlan with PEAKY BLINDERS star Joe Cole!
Watch new trailer now via 🔗︎ in bio!
BROOKLYN fans, this one is for you 🎬
Caitríona Balfe is back in a Colm Tóibín adaptation, and A LONG WINTER lands in cinemas this January 2027. Based on Tóibín’s 2006 short story, the film casts Caitríona as Louise, a mother at the heart of a stark, emotional drama.
More details via 🔗︎ in bio!
Mayo`s own @philippa.dunne is pure joy!
On this week`s @latelaterte, Philippa shares childhood memories of growing up in Mayo that shaped her, and what it’s really like to bring unforgettable characters to life on screen.
If you love Irish screen stories told by the people who live them, watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
Everyone`s favourite Andrew returns to the @britishfilminstitute London Film Festival with his new film ELSINORE.
Few actors of the stage and screen have attracted as much acclaim in recent years as Andrew Scott, both for the emotional depth of his performances and for the subtlety and nuance he brings to them.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
Like father, like son!
Aran Murphy is following in his father Cillian`s footsteps with a major role in the new @sharonhorgan show YOUTH.
The 19-year-old is relatively new to the acting world but has had a very busy few months as of late, stepping out on red carpets and giving plenty of interviews for his first roles.
Let`s hear it for Ireland`s next wave of amazing acting talent!
Colin Farrell hit the @thegrahamnortonshowofficial couch this weekend!
Farrell reveals a new haircut (!) and how he was initially reluctant to take accept his role in the classic IN BRUGES.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
One question that has haunted Ireland for decades ⚖️
In RE-CREATION, the new film from Jim Sheridan, the story is built on the real 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, and Colm Meaney never hands you a verdict. The veteran actor trusts you to argue it out yourself 🎬
More details via 🔗︎ in bio!
“This is the Ireland I always believed existed.”
July 13, 1985. Two stadiums. One mission. Queen, U2, Bowie, Elton John, Madonna, McCartney, all on one day to fight famine in Ethiopia. And five Irish women who wanted to donate their wedding rings!
More details of Bob Geldof`s LATE LATE SHOW appearance via 🔗︎ in bio!
Let’s hear it for Jamie Dornan 👏
He’s back as an American career criminal, always one step ahead, in 12 12 12 on Apple TV, going toe to toe with Anthony Mackie in a cat-and-mouse game across Europe. And this time he’s also an executive producer, helping shape the story as well as starring in it.
NEW trailer via 🔗︎ in bio!
