Former TVB star Fala Chen lands another key role in Hollywood

Fala Chen will be starring in 'The Ballad Of A Small Player' with Irish actor Colin Farrell and British actress Tilda Swinton. Photo: Fala Chen/Instagram

Chinese-American actress Fala Chen, 42, has more good news to share, two months after announcing the arrival of her second child.

The former TVB actress posted on social media on May 14 that she will be starring in The Ballad Of A Small Player with Irish actor Colin Farrell and British actress Tilda Swinton.

The Netflix movie will be directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger, best known for All Quiet On The Western Front (2022). The anti-war epic won four awards, including for Best International Feature Film, at the Oscars in 2023.

“So thrilled to share this news with you all,” Chen wrote, sharing a screenshot of a Deadline article with the headline: Shang-Chi Star Fala Chen Joins Colin Farrell & Tilda Swinton In The Ballad Of A Small Player.

“It has been already an incredible collaboration with @eeedwardberger from day one – from our initial conversations to the callback auditions. I can’t wait to join this incredible team of artistes.”

The Ballad Of A Small Player is adapted from the 2014 novel of the same name by British writer Lawrence Osborne. According to Deadline, the story follows a gambler who decides to lie low in Macau after his past and debts catch up with him. He then encounters a kindred spirit who may just hold the key to his salvation.

Production of the film is due to begin in Asia later in 2024.

It will be Chen’s third overseas film and her first leading role, according to some Hong Kong media, after she crossed over to Hollywood a few years ago.

She recently acted in the monster film, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024), playing the queen of a tribe. She also acted in Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021), in which she played the mother of the titular superhero.

Chen was previously known for roles in Hong Kong series such as No Regrets (2010), Lives Of Omission (2011) and Triumph In The Skies II (2013).

The actress, who is married to French entrepreneur Emmanuel Straschnov, announced in March that she had given birth to a son nicknamed Little Mickey. The couple also have a three-year-old daughter, nicknamed Little Minnie. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network