"Sometimes, I get an almost ludicrous level of respect," he says ruefully. "But, if people expect me to be Mr Darcy, they are going to be disappointed."
And - another blow to his fans- "I don't think I'm an excessively romantic guy. Romantic clichés don't appeal to me and I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day. I think romance can be a bit facile......more
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Interview: Interview of the week: Firth and Everett, by Karen Butler (Original source: The Life & Mind Desk)
Despite their differences, both Firth and Everett professed a deep appreciation for Wilde's timeless wit and wisdom.
"I think its frothiness is extremely deceptive," warned Firth. "I think that its triviality is very defiant... This was his last play. It's generally considered his greatest and there is a paradox about him being his deepest when he is at his most trivial and I think that's the case with this. I think that it is so witty it can only come from a mind with a great deal of aggression... It's perverse and it's self-contradictory and I think that Oscar Wilde's point of view on things would still be considered extremely upsetting to people now......more
"I think its frothiness is extremely deceptive," warned Firth. "I think that its triviality is very defiant... This was his last play. It's generally considered his greatest and there is a paradox about him being his deepest when he is at his most trivial and I think that's the case with this. I think that it is so witty it can only come from a mind with a great deal of aggression... It's perverse and it's self-contradictory and I think that Oscar Wilde's point of view on things would still be considered extremely upsetting to people now......more
Thursday, May 23, 2002
Interview: "Hidden star - Brit actor content with anonymous success" by Liz Braun (Toronto Sun)
Archived completely due to unavailability on the internet
Brit actor content with anonymous success
Few adult women were surprised when Helen Fielding based the hero of her book, Bridget Jones' Diary, on British actor Colin Firth. If we have to explain the actor's appeal, then you must be a guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
ENSEMBLE OUTING
Firth, who went on to play Mark Darcy when the book became a very successful film, is currently starring in The Importance Of Being Earnest, an ensemble outing courtesy of Oscar Wilde with a cast that includes Dame Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon and Frances O'Connor.
He says of Earnest, "I do find light comedy is the hardest thing to do. There's nothing to fall back on. And the whole identity thing ..."
Well, yes, the identity thing. In Earnest, Firth plays Jack Worthing, a man who pretends to be one person when he's in the country and quite another person when he's in the city. In the country, what's more, he watches over his ward (Reese Witherspoon) and in the city he courts a woman (Frances O'Connor) whose mother forbids a marriage. The film is very funny and very much about language.
At 42, the actor and author ("It's a rare occurrence I get anything into print. I need a deadline and a threat") says he first became an actor at the age of 14. "Because everything else didn't seem to be going anywhere." His choice was moved along by a complete academic inability at math, chemistry or physics. On one chemistry test, he scored 3%.
"And the teacher did mention giving me two points for writing my name correctly. It was a dead end. My physics was 1%. I just wasn't getting off the ground in that area." As English and music were going well, however, a career in the arts was born.
"It wasn't a choice, really."
From the get-go -- his first West End stage role in Another Country -- Firth found success. He picked up his Another Country role when the play became a movie, and went from there to such films as Apartment Zero, Valmont, A Circle Of Friends, Pride And Prejudice, The English Patient, Shakespeare In Love and of course, Bridget Jones' Diary. (After Valmont, Firth lived for a time with co-star Meg Tilly. They have an adolescent son together; currently, he is married to Livia Giuggioli, and they have one infant.)
Success seems surprising to him still. That's because, says Firth, he's never had any expectations.
'BRILLIANT ACTORS'
The grandchild of missionaries and the son of a history teacher and religion professor, Firth says, "I didn't expect to be in a movie, I didn't expect to be in the West End, either. I didn't expect to be in movies because that was another profession completely, for movie stars."
In England, his movie star thoughts are not unusual. "Look at Stratford -- all those brilliant actors. Not a film role among them."
Firth points out that he's been almost 20 years in the business without any sort of real presence, thus far, in the American movie-goers consciousness. "So, if it does not embrace me -- I can keep working and it's fine."
Brit actor content with anonymous success
Few adult women were surprised when Helen Fielding based the hero of her book, Bridget Jones' Diary, on British actor Colin Firth. If we have to explain the actor's appeal, then you must be a guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
ENSEMBLE OUTING
Firth, who went on to play Mark Darcy when the book became a very successful film, is currently starring in The Importance Of Being Earnest, an ensemble outing courtesy of Oscar Wilde with a cast that includes Dame Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon and Frances O'Connor.
He says of Earnest, "I do find light comedy is the hardest thing to do. There's nothing to fall back on. And the whole identity thing ..."
Well, yes, the identity thing. In Earnest, Firth plays Jack Worthing, a man who pretends to be one person when he's in the country and quite another person when he's in the city. In the country, what's more, he watches over his ward (Reese Witherspoon) and in the city he courts a woman (Frances O'Connor) whose mother forbids a marriage. The film is very funny and very much about language.
At 42, the actor and author ("It's a rare occurrence I get anything into print. I need a deadline and a threat") says he first became an actor at the age of 14. "Because everything else didn't seem to be going anywhere." His choice was moved along by a complete academic inability at math, chemistry or physics. On one chemistry test, he scored 3%.
"And the teacher did mention giving me two points for writing my name correctly. It was a dead end. My physics was 1%. I just wasn't getting off the ground in that area." As English and music were going well, however, a career in the arts was born.
"It wasn't a choice, really."
From the get-go -- his first West End stage role in Another Country -- Firth found success. He picked up his Another Country role when the play became a movie, and went from there to such films as Apartment Zero, Valmont, A Circle Of Friends, Pride And Prejudice, The English Patient, Shakespeare In Love and of course, Bridget Jones' Diary. (After Valmont, Firth lived for a time with co-star Meg Tilly. They have an adolescent son together; currently, he is married to Livia Giuggioli, and they have one infant.)
Success seems surprising to him still. That's because, says Firth, he's never had any expectations.
'BRILLIANT ACTORS'
The grandchild of missionaries and the son of a history teacher and religion professor, Firth says, "I didn't expect to be in a movie, I didn't expect to be in the West End, either. I didn't expect to be in movies because that was another profession completely, for movie stars."
In England, his movie star thoughts are not unusual. "Look at Stratford -- all those brilliant actors. Not a film role among them."
Firth points out that he's been almost 20 years in the business without any sort of real presence, thus far, in the American movie-goers consciousness. "So, if it does not embrace me -- I can keep working and it's fine."
Tuesday, January 1, 2002
Interview: "Colin Firth: English Candy" by Tor Milde (Det Nye Norway)
With thanks to colinfirth.info - aFirthionado archives
He comes from a nicely furnished home, and his upbringing is thoroughly Victorian. His parents voted for Maggie Thatcher, and he is a supporter of the snobbish Arsenal football team. But we've found one fault: the very English heartthrob Colin Firth should have been Hugh Grant! You will soon be able to see Colin in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Colin Firth doesn't like to be reminded he's English, even if he's one of the most English actors you can imagine. Not only is he at times unbearably English in Bridget Jones's Diary: he's irresistibly English in Pride and Prejudice, football-English in Fever Pitch and snobbishly English in The Importance of Being Earnest. And if we add that two of his most successful films are The English Patient and Shakespeare In Love, the picture becomes complete. He's 42 and has recently become a father, but he doesn't consider that particularly "English".
"My wife is Italian," he tries. "And our son's called Luca. It's true: a genuine Italian name. With a 'c'!"
But his tweed jacket and a designer cap on his head make all the excuses really unnecessary. Women turn around to stare at Colin Firth. We've seen it for ourselves. They drop their coffee cups and walk into lamp posts when Colin's 183-centimetre
tall, slim figure strolls round Manhattan.
"I've put on weight," he tries again. He's on the defensive, and he doesn't like it. He corrects me when I suggest that The Importance of Being Earnest is one of Wilde's best plays. "It is THE best," he says without hesitation.
The story is as banal as it is elegantly funny: two men in pursuit of their respective girls lead double lives, each as the fictitious Ernest. Complications and misunderstandings follow, but it all ends perfectly well.
Colin is fabulous as the awkward snob Jack, but happily admits that his personal taste is not in costume drama and elegant English landscapes. He prefers a good comedy, with a rougher type of dialogue than that which the old Oscar came up with a hundred years ago. "But I would definitely watch this movie," he adds hastily. "This is the traditional British theatre and the setting and dialogue have not been modernized."
THE OBJECT OF BRIDGET'S DROOLING
Colin Firth is not the biggest name among British male film actors and he is glad about that. He claims that it makes choosing roles easier, because the risk of failure is smaller. But if he were number one...
"As the author J.B. Priestley once said: I've never been out of fashion, because I've never been in fashion. I think that's me."
Oh well, time for Colin to shake off his modesty once and for all. We mention Bridget Jones to him and watch what happens. Yes, he's smiling. And another woman drops her cup of coffee.
"All right, I've probably become a little bit better known after that movie and my earnings have gone up a bit."
"And will you appear in the sequel?"
"Well... maybe even as myself?"
Colin Firth, actor and heartthrob, was interviewed by a drooling Bridget in The Edge of Reason, Helen Fielding's second book about Bridget Jones.
When he's not working, he spends his time with his family, which includes his 18-month old son Luca, his wife Livia, and the elder son Will. Will's mother is the American actress Meg Tilly.
Colin says he's been fortunate in that he's never had to worry about his income. "I've never been out of work since drama school. So I've been lucky." And he knocks on the table. "But you should have played Will in 'About a Boy'. It would have been perfect for you." "Yes, it would have, wouldn't it? I'd have done anything for that part - and who wouldn't? But they needed a bigger star than me, and Hugh Grant does a fantastic job in that film."
Colin Firth. Very English. And far too polite.
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