Colin Farrell on how addiction shaped his ‘Ballad of a Small Player’ role

Hollywood star Colin Farrell is shedding light on the path he undertook to play gambling addict Lord Doyle in his upcoming filmThe actor is at the San Sebastiaacuten Film Festival with Edward Bergerrsquos lsquoBallad of a Small Playerrsquo reports lsquoVarietyrsquoHe spoke at the filmrsquos press conference about the fastpaced thriller as he said ldquoItrsquos pretty wellchronicled now my history with addiction but I donrsquot think you have to be an addict to play an addict I found Doylersquos internal push and pull to be a lovely place to startrdquoHe further mentioned ldquoHe is somebody who doesnrsquot believe in his own worth who is very selfcentered to the point of being despicable I still donrsquot have answers to anything in the script I just have the experience of being in front of the camera with my fellow actors As far as preparations go I suppose I have some form of OCD that is given good life in regard to acting because you get to obsess about the characters and maybe imagine their history their own personal kind of origin storyrdquoAs per lsquoVarietyrsquo lsquoBallad of a Small Playerrsquo is playing in official selection at the Basque festival just a year after Bergerrsquosrsquo lsquoConclaversquo bowed at the same event Adapted from Lawrence Osbornersquos novel the film finds Lord Doyle adrift in the Eastern gambling mecca of Macau as his past and debts catch up with him Close to breaking point the man encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvationSpeaking about the practicalities of playing a gambler Farrell recalled spending time within Macaursquos sprawling casinos and learning about an addiction he is ldquothankfulrdquo to not have experiencedldquoGambling is one affliction that never really came near me Irsquom glad to say I only damaged my body and my brain not my bank accountrdquo he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever