Colin Farrell: 'Where the government may fall short, civilians usually step up to the plate'

Between filming in Macau and running the Dublin City Marathon, Colin Farrell found time to launch a foundation inspired by his son. He talks to Esther McCarthy about friendship, acting and his drive to make a difference

Colin Farrell attends Netflix's "Ballad Of A Small Player" Canadian premiere on September 09, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Netflix)

During days off from filming his movie Ballad of a Small Player in Macau last year, Colin Farrell was putting the finishing touches to two other projects close to his heart.

One of them — a marathon run with his friend Emma Fogarty — proved to be one of the most joyous weeks of his life. 

The other — the establishment of a charitable foundation to coincide with the 21st birthday of his son James — enabled him to witness firsthand the power of community.

As the cameras finished rolling on the film — in which he plays a high-stakes gambler in Macau whose luck is rapidly running out — the Irish actor flew home to take part in the Dublin City Marathon with Emma. 

Their goal? To raise funding for and awareness of Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare and excruciatingly painful condition which Emma has, which makes the skin of those who have it as fragile as butterfly wings. 

Farrell says he was deeply heartened by how the Irish people got behind his friend. “It was one of the best weeks of my life, and I’ve had some good weeks,” he says.

“Three weeks after we finished shooting this — there was the whole lead-up, going on the radio and The Late Late with her, and then going to see her family. On the day itself, seeing her there on Nutley Lane (the point where the two met to complete the marathon) — I’ll never forget it as long as I live. It was extraordinary to see how the country came out and supported her. It was tangible, and it was economically visible as well, in the amount of funds, the amount of donations that people made. Over one million raised.”

Colin Farrell with friend Emma Fogarty, Ireland’s longest-surviving person battling Butterfly Skin, on ‘The Late Late Show’. Picture: Andres Poveda

Coming home proved to be the perfect palate cleanser following an intense summer shoot for Ballad of a Small Player on location in Macau.

Set among the gambling casinos in an industry seven times greater than that of Las Vegas, Farrell is exceptional as the central character — a fidgety, highly stressed, high-stakes gambler who has hit a ruthlessly bad streak. 

His debts are mounting, credit waning, and a private detective is on his tail in the neon-soaked thriller from director Edward Berger ( Conclave) for streaming giant Netflix.

Berger wanted to make something intense and was inspired by an artist who said he wanted to make work that felt like being hit by a baseball bat.

“Mission accomplished, I would say!” smiles the Irish actor. “The film is very much an attack on the senses. I’ve heard it referred to as a fever dream, bombastic, operatic — all those things.

“The feeling of the film, the tone and the energy of the film — what was experienced while you were making it — it’s not always the way, but in this, there was complete simpatico between what an assault on the senses the final film is and the actual process of bringing it to life every day.

“Part of that was because we were surrounded by all this very high energy, loud and assailing lights, fountains, the ding, ding, ding of the casino floor. It was all there every day, apart from the few scenes that are shot away from the gambling strip, which I was very grateful for when they arrived, because it was a sense of peace that was allowed into the process that wasn’t there beforehand.”

EMPATHY

Colin Farrell and friend Emma Fogarty completing a mammoth fundraising drive for Debra, the national charity supporting the 300 people living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) in Ireland. Picture: Alejandra Livschitz/Debra.

Farrell, who brings characteristic empathy to the gambler he plays, found the location fed into the frenetic atmosphere of the film. 

“You lean into it because it helped the story. It was all very hurried at times, not in a counterproductive way — quite the opposite.” 

On his days off, the Irish actor would explore the quieter corners of the place that was his home for the summer. 

“Macau was formerly two old islands, and then they dredged the sea floor and filled in the space between those two islands, and that’s where they built a gambling strip. It’s only 19 years old. But the other parts of Macau were really quiet — there was Coloane, which is this small fishing village that was really beautiful. I’d go there on my weekends and walk around the sleepy little winding streets and find a little coffee shop that was filled with Macanese people.”

As well as a cast including Fala Chen and Deanie Ip, Farrell works with top British actress Tilda Swinton, who plays a private investigator on his trail. 

Reteaming with Swinton must have felt like a full-circle moment — the Irish actor was just a young man when he was cast opposite her in one of his first-ever films, Tim Roth’s dark drama The War Zone.

What would younger him have made of the career that he’s had since? 

“I wouldn’t have believed it. I still don’t sometimes.  To be doing it 25 years later… I remember the first time meeting her and she was so warm. I was a nervous wreck. Ray Winstone was in that film, and I had seen Scum a couple of years beforehand, so I was really nervous meeting Ray because I just thought he was phenomenal — a force of nature. I got to work with Tilda very closely here, and she’s just a joy — she’s the smartest, funniest, kindest, boldest person in the room.”

In the decades since, Farrell has become one of Ireland’s most in-demand screen actors, winning Golden Globes for his roles in In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin and, earlier this year, The Penguin. 

His role in Banshees as Pádraic, a man left devastated when he is rejected by his closest friend (Brendan Gleeson) in Martin McDonagh’s Civil War-set drama, saw both actors among the film’s nine Oscar nominees.

Yet you get the sense he never takes his career for granted and counts every project he works on as a ‘break’.

“ Ballykissangel was a huge break. Being accepted to drama school when I was 17 was a huge break. Tigerland is a very obvious one because it was the first time I did an American film, and I hadn’t got a big body of work behind me at that stage, and then Joel Schumacher threw me in the centre of his project.” 

He feels a sense of pride in the many Irish actors including Cillian Murphy, Jessie Buckley, Saoirse Ronan, Andrew Scott, and Paul Mescal who are equally enjoying success. 

“We’re only a country of five and a half million people, but we’re very present on the world stage of film and other things like literature and music. What do I attribute it to? I don’t know. Whatever is in the Irish heart as expressed through the medium of performance art is notable, you know?

“Within our communities we had seanchaí — literally, their cultural and emotional purpose was to go from village to village and share stories. 

"So I think that’s a part of it as well, even though it’s in some version of the distant past.” 

INSPIRATION

Colin Farrell during filming for the Graham Norton Show, at BBC Studioworks 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane, London, to be aired on BBC One on Friday evening. Picture date: Thursday October 9, 2025. Picture credit: Matt Crossick/PA Media Assignments

Throughout his career, Farrell has supported charitable causes including the Special Olympics. 

Last year, he decided to establish The Colin Farrell Foundation, which empowers individuals and families living with intellectual disabilities through education, advocacy and innovative programmes.

He did so to coincide with the 21st birthday of his son James, who was born with Angelman syndrome — a rare condition characterised by developmental delay, problems with speech and balance and, in some cases, seizures. 

Meeting the many workers and advocates he has through the foundation, he says, has been inspirational.

“I’ve been given more access than I ever had before to the extraordinary work that people are doing in their communities,” he says of the foundation’s first year. 

“We have just been going through our inaugural grant-giving process, and that’s been extraordinary and kind of frustrating in a way, because we’ve got all these grant applications from these foundations and organisations that are doing extraordinary work.

“There are so many people that are struggling to make a difference within their communities, but they’re struggling valiantly, and it’s extraordinary to see. We couldn’t give grants to everyone, and that’s the frustrating part. 

"But it was also very heartening to see all these applications come in at the same time and see the work. Where the government may fall short, of course, civilians usually step up to the plate, and that’s been amazing and deeply humbling. 

"Hopefully, we’ll get to keep going and build throughout the years.”

• Ballad of a Small Player debuts on Netflix on October 29

A LETTER FROM ANNMARIE O'CONNOR - GUEST EDITOR OF THIS SATURDAY'S WEEKEND

Annmarie O'Connor. Picture: Miki Barlok

Three years ago, I came out of the medical closet and shared my diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s disease with the Irish Examiner. 

I didn’t know just how big this moment was or how it would alter my life, but I knew it was bigger than me. 

It was more than an article on how I navigate life with Parkinson’s. It was a way of changing something that happened to me to being the change I wanted to see.

In this Saturday's issue, I sit down with bestselling author, award-winning academic, and activist, Professor Katriona O’Sullivan to talk about Poor, her powerful memoir of growing up in poverty, the turning points that reshaped her future and what it means to live ‘on the beam’.

Gemma Fullam explores the world of universal design and meets the innovators making everyday living more accessible, and Sarah Finnan reflects on loneliness in the age of social media and asks how we can all play our part in building community.

In travel, Jillian Bolger reviews Ireland’s most accessible escape, while Aishling Moore and Darina Allen, offer nourishing, brain-healthy recipes to inspire your table.

Life brings us moments that shake us to rubble and moments that invite us to rebuild. 

The choice is ours: to conceal the cracks or let them become a source of inspiration. 

As Leonard Cohen reminds us, “There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in.” 

I hope you find something in these pages that lights a spark for you.

Annmarie x