Showing posts with label Love Actually. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love Actually. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2004
Interview:"Colin Firth" by Carlo Cavagna (Aboutfilm.com)
And then I tend to pick [something] a little too close to the top of the pile and go for it. Sometimes it's about a relationship. You can think, “Nah, it's not really what I want to do next,” and then you find you're working with the producer of that thing, and he's a wonderful guy, and the director's irresistible, and it's going to be great, and your friends are all in it, and it shoots down the road, and why not, and it's over by April, you know? Sometimes it's apparently frivolous as that, to get you involved. Sometimes you're in before you realize it, with these things. They tend to have a life of their own....more
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Interview: "An interview with Colin Firth, star of Love Actually" by Jan Janssen (Handbag.com)
Everyone likes to be flattered but it is weird because there is no one way that you feel about that. You do wonder, I suppose, especially as your career has to continue, what it is going to mean and yet I don't think it has meant that much except that I have talked about it in most interviews.
It's utterly bizarre to hear people discussing me in sexual terms. It's not something I'm used to. As an actor, I'm far more used to experiencing failure, rejection and failed expectations. I'm just glad that I didn't achieve my so-called hunk status until I was 35. I know it would have been very difficult to deal with if it had happened in my first film.....more
It's utterly bizarre to hear people discussing me in sexual terms. It's not something I'm used to. As an actor, I'm far more used to experiencing failure, rejection and failed expectations. I'm just glad that I didn't achieve my so-called hunk status until I was 35. I know it would have been very difficult to deal with if it had happened in my first film.....more
Saturday, November 1, 2003
Interview: "Colin Firth...about Love Actually and Girl With A Pearl Earring" (This Is Lancaster)
Archived completely due to unavailability on the internet
Actor Colin Firth shot to fame playing the suave, debonair and ice cool Mr Darcy in the smash hit TV adaptation of Pride And Prejudice.
But he admits he was far from cool about his latest role. In fact the star says he suffered full blown panic attacks as he was about to start filming the eagerly awaited new movie Love Actually.
The 43-year-old actor admits he was terrified Richard Curtis wouldn't be able to pull off his daunting task as a first-time director.
"I actually had a panic attack on his behalf and woke up in the middle of the night," he says smiling at the thought now. "I thought, How is he going to do this? How will he cope? He's got 10 or 15 stories, some very famous actors and he is going to jump in for the first time in his life and orchestrate all that'.
"It seemed to be an absolutely overwhelming task and the read through seemed like a premiere or a night at the Groucho Club. I was expecting bodyguards, with ear pierces," he adds laughing.
Firth is only half joking because Love Actually boasts a jaw-dropping line up of A-list, British and Hollywood talent, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy and Martine McCutcheon in a part specially written for her.
Not surprisingly expectations surrounding the movie are riding high but early reviews have been glowing and Firth now says he needn't have spent sleepless nights worrying about his director.
"I think the film works fantastically well," he smiles.
`Richard has something like a 100% strike rate with everything he has done and you just can't believe he has pulled it off again with such an ambitious project."
It's not the first time the pair have worked together. Curtis wrote the screenplay for the Oscar nominated Bridget Jones, which starred Firth as Mark Darcy, suitor to the eternally single Bridget.
His role was another in a long line of tongue-tied, romantic leads in films such as Hope Springs, Fever Pitch and The Importance Of Being Earnest and one which continues with Love Actually.
In the star-studded movie, which interweaves 15 stories of love and heartbreak, Firth plays Jamie, a lovelorn writer who flees to France after being dumped and ends up falling for his young Portuguese housekeeper.
Although his winning portrayal will do no harm to his reputation as a romantic hero, Firth insists in real life he's much more cynical.
"I'm not nearly as nice as that guy," he says of his endearing on-screen character, "I don't feel like him at all. I wouldn't be as patient and I'm only sporadically romantic. I don't have a permanent romantic view of life. I'm not necessarily an optimist in terms of romantic love."
Even so, he'll still be remembered for creating one of the sexiest moments in TV history when, as Mr Darcy, he emerged complete with wet shirt and clinging jodhpurs from a lake. It wasn't just Miss Elizabeth Bennet who swooned, overnight that scene turned Firth into a major heartthrob.
Eight years on, he admits he's baffled by the continuing interest in his Pride And Prejudice success.
"I'm very surprised it's still so present and I'm surprised it was a success at all at the beginning," he shrugs. "It doesn't go away.''
Firth is also clearly uncomfortable at his sex symbol image saying. "It's just weird because there is no one way you can feel about that and you do wonder what it is going to mean as your career has to continue."
It doesn't seem to have done him any harm so far. As well as Love Actually, he's also starring in two of the other biggest movies of 2004 - Girl With A Pearl Earring and the Bridget Jones sequel.
Girl With A Pearl Earring, a sombre period drama in which he plays renowned Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, marks a change of pace for Firth and it's clear he couldn't wait to do something a little darker.
"I was just really ready to do a bit of drama, since there had been quite a lot of light stuff," he smiles.
Not that filming the Bridget Jones sequel was a barrel of laughs, either as Firth reveals an on-screen brawl with Hugh Grant's character left him lost for words, literally.
"I ended up losing my voice," he says. It was because I was freezing cold -we ended up in the water during our fight. I spent a couple of days in a very, very cold pond with Hugh Grant which left me a little worse for wear."
Despite the incredible success of the last Bridget Jones movie, Firth admits he was initially reluctant to reprise his role as Mark Darcy.
"A sequel is fraught with dangers. I think most of us were sceptical about it, but my fears were allayed the minute Renee (Zellweger) opened her mouth. I thought, she's great and we're going to want to see a lot more of this'."
The path of true love might not exactly run smoothly for Darcy and Jones, but off-screen Firth is happily married to the Italian documentary maker Livia Giuggioli.
The couple have two young children and Firth has another son Will, 12, from his relationship with American actress Meg Tilly.
And despite his flourishing workload Firth admits, there's only one thing that's really important to him - love, actually.
"They're the best thing and the main thing," he says of his children.
"My life revolves around them, everything else matters less."
Actor Colin Firth shot to fame playing the suave, debonair and ice cool Mr Darcy in the smash hit TV adaptation of Pride And Prejudice.
But he admits he was far from cool about his latest role. In fact the star says he suffered full blown panic attacks as he was about to start filming the eagerly awaited new movie Love Actually.
The 43-year-old actor admits he was terrified Richard Curtis wouldn't be able to pull off his daunting task as a first-time director.
"I actually had a panic attack on his behalf and woke up in the middle of the night," he says smiling at the thought now. "I thought, How is he going to do this? How will he cope? He's got 10 or 15 stories, some very famous actors and he is going to jump in for the first time in his life and orchestrate all that'.
"It seemed to be an absolutely overwhelming task and the read through seemed like a premiere or a night at the Groucho Club. I was expecting bodyguards, with ear pierces," he adds laughing.
Firth is only half joking because Love Actually boasts a jaw-dropping line up of A-list, British and Hollywood talent, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy and Martine McCutcheon in a part specially written for her.
Not surprisingly expectations surrounding the movie are riding high but early reviews have been glowing and Firth now says he needn't have spent sleepless nights worrying about his director.
"I think the film works fantastically well," he smiles.
`Richard has something like a 100% strike rate with everything he has done and you just can't believe he has pulled it off again with such an ambitious project."
It's not the first time the pair have worked together. Curtis wrote the screenplay for the Oscar nominated Bridget Jones, which starred Firth as Mark Darcy, suitor to the eternally single Bridget.
His role was another in a long line of tongue-tied, romantic leads in films such as Hope Springs, Fever Pitch and The Importance Of Being Earnest and one which continues with Love Actually.
In the star-studded movie, which interweaves 15 stories of love and heartbreak, Firth plays Jamie, a lovelorn writer who flees to France after being dumped and ends up falling for his young Portuguese housekeeper.
Although his winning portrayal will do no harm to his reputation as a romantic hero, Firth insists in real life he's much more cynical.
"I'm not nearly as nice as that guy," he says of his endearing on-screen character, "I don't feel like him at all. I wouldn't be as patient and I'm only sporadically romantic. I don't have a permanent romantic view of life. I'm not necessarily an optimist in terms of romantic love."
Even so, he'll still be remembered for creating one of the sexiest moments in TV history when, as Mr Darcy, he emerged complete with wet shirt and clinging jodhpurs from a lake. It wasn't just Miss Elizabeth Bennet who swooned, overnight that scene turned Firth into a major heartthrob.
Eight years on, he admits he's baffled by the continuing interest in his Pride And Prejudice success.
"I'm very surprised it's still so present and I'm surprised it was a success at all at the beginning," he shrugs. "It doesn't go away.''
Firth is also clearly uncomfortable at his sex symbol image saying. "It's just weird because there is no one way you can feel about that and you do wonder what it is going to mean as your career has to continue."
It doesn't seem to have done him any harm so far. As well as Love Actually, he's also starring in two of the other biggest movies of 2004 - Girl With A Pearl Earring and the Bridget Jones sequel.
Girl With A Pearl Earring, a sombre period drama in which he plays renowned Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, marks a change of pace for Firth and it's clear he couldn't wait to do something a little darker.
"I was just really ready to do a bit of drama, since there had been quite a lot of light stuff," he smiles.
Not that filming the Bridget Jones sequel was a barrel of laughs, either as Firth reveals an on-screen brawl with Hugh Grant's character left him lost for words, literally.
"I ended up losing my voice," he says. It was because I was freezing cold -we ended up in the water during our fight. I spent a couple of days in a very, very cold pond with Hugh Grant which left me a little worse for wear."
Despite the incredible success of the last Bridget Jones movie, Firth admits he was initially reluctant to reprise his role as Mark Darcy.
"A sequel is fraught with dangers. I think most of us were sceptical about it, but my fears were allayed the minute Renee (Zellweger) opened her mouth. I thought, she's great and we're going to want to see a lot more of this'."
The path of true love might not exactly run smoothly for Darcy and Jones, but off-screen Firth is happily married to the Italian documentary maker Livia Giuggioli.
The couple have two young children and Firth has another son Will, 12, from his relationship with American actress Meg Tilly.
And despite his flourishing workload Firth admits, there's only one thing that's really important to him - love, actually.
"They're the best thing and the main thing," he says of his children.
"My life revolves around them, everything else matters less."
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Interview: "Q&A With Colin Firth" by Martyn Palmer (Phase 9...3 pages)
There were rumours about it before it became definite. I remember by January (2002) hearing about this thing because there was a reading of the script which I had been invited to participate in but I wasn’t able to be there. There was quite a buzz about the existence of this thing for a long time and you know a lot of talk about it, who may or may not be in it, and who may or may not play which part. I think there were quite a lot of musical chairs in casting as there often is. I knew they were umming and aahing about me and whether I was right for this or right for that. And I think it was ‘well if Hugh is going to be the prime minister then perhaps I’m not right for the Prime Minister’s brother-in-law or something. And it wasn’t until the summer sometime that they offered it to me.....more
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Interview: "Colin Firth's Double Challenges" by Paul Fischer (Filmmonthly.com)
Firth prefers not to give his sex symbol image much thought. He is married to the Italian documentary maker Livia Giuggioli, whom he met in 1995 in Columbia while making Nostromo. Giuggioli gave birth to the couple's second son last month. Another long-term relationship with American actress Meg Tilly produced son Will, now 12, whom he visits frequently in Los Angeles. "Hey, I have a great life. I've got a nice home, great kids and a wife I love. So I feel blessed. But I consider myself a jobbing actor. I have to pay the bills. So I choose roles that interest me and allow me to get on with it.....more
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