King Firth Post
Firth longs to play Darcy as a daddy in 'Bridget Jones 3'
Bridget Jones might have to give up the ciggies and put down that pint.
Golden Globe winner Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) tells Glare that he’s interested in making “Bridget Jones 3” and seeing his character father a little Bridget Jr. He’s talked to the studio behind the earlier movies, “and there is definitely enthusiasm about making another ‘Bridget Jones’ happen.”
Firth admits that his second “Bridget” with Renee Zellweger wasn’t on the level of the beloved first movie. “But I’m excited about a third film because now Bridget and Mr. Darcy are a bit older,” he says. “They’re different people from the second film, and the plot would most likely revolve around them being married and having kids.”
As for his involvement, Firth says, “There’s not any reason not to do it.”
With Vulnerability and Fortitude
Actors strive to make us feel things we ordinarily would not, to convey on a visceral level a character's anxiety and heartbreak, excitement and perseverance. And though the English actor Colin Firth isn't always given scripts that foster such lofty aims, he has recently been doing the best work of his career. In late 2009 he starred as an enigmatic gay academic in Tom Ford's "A Single Man," for which he earned his first Oscar nomination and won a Bafta film award. Now his widely hailed portrayal of Britain's King George VI in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" is garnering similar accolades. And a win at the Golden Globes on Sunday only increased his status as a front-runner in this year's Oscar race; the nominations will be announced Tuesday.
Yet Mr. Firth, a young- looking 50, insists that he is not distancing himself from the broadly mainstream roles for which he remains best known, in films like "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001), "Love Actually" (2003) and "Mamma Mia!" (2008). "I love 'Mamma Mia!'" Mr. Firth said earlier this month over a light lunch at a Westside hotel favored by celebrities. "It's one of the best things I've ever done, I think."
The merits of his part in that musical comedy are debatable, but his tender defense reveals an admirably egalitarian view of his oeuvre. And one is inclined to believe him when he suggests that his recent critical success does not represent a strategic shift toward weightier parts. "It's just the roles I got," said Mr. Firth, dressed in stylish but understated dark clothes. "I suppose everything I've done is just another role. It's up to other people to decide whether they like it or don't like it. I'd love for everything I do to get seen and accepted and loved. Believe me, if I could control this, I'd have done it years ago."
In "The King's Speech" Mr. Firth uses a touching combination of vulnerability and fortitude to play Albert, Duke of York-George VI once he ascends the throne after the abdication of his older brother, Edward VIII. But Mr. Hooper's film is not about royal politics. It instead concentrates on the future monarch's attempts to conquer a longstanding stutter, which threatens his ability to inspire Britons after the 1936 abdication crisis, as tensions mount over German aggression on the Continent.
As always when Hollywood deals with history, liberties are taken. But the challenge for Mr. Firth was how to make hoi polloi feel sympathy for a man (the father of Britain's current queen) who reigned over a quarter of the world's population and nearly as much of its land mass. "It's not really focused on the man born to be king," the actor explained. "There's nothing privileged about him; no one would change places with him for anything."
The connection between Bertie (as he was known to intimates) and viewers turns out to be fundamental: the act of speaking. "There's something very striking about seeing someone summon enormous courage to do what the rest of us do everyday and take for granted," Mr. Firth said. "The film is not a study of disability, but rather of how someone negotiates a disability. You discover a person or a character by how they handle obstacles. Do they fight or flee? Are they cool-headed or hysterical? Violent? Dignified? Seeing how people manage things, this is what drama is made of."
Limned by Mr. Firth, Bertie is at first a prisoner of his affliction-an especially unfortunate situation given the gifts obscured by it. "He should have been a fluent and an eloquent man," the actor said. "His letters suggest that he had wit and was thoughtful. But he was misjudged as being dull and timid and uncharismatic because he couldn't get the words out."
The shame finally brought the prince to Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush in the film), an unorthodox Australian speech therapist living in London, and it is their often-strained relationship that proves the film's fulcrum.
Preparing for the role presented Mr. Firth with myriad challenges. "What you cannot get is direct collaboration from the royal family-or time with them seeing how the job is done, as you might if you were studying other professions," he said. "But there are biographies, which are quite interesting because they conflict."
There was also an archival film depicting the full extent of the king's stutter. "You see the neck and the mouth go," the actor recalled. "We found it heartbreaking, literally tear-jerking. Something really hit me when watching that. I saw the vulnerability and immense courage all wrapped up in one moment, and the terrible exposure. He can't laugh it off or explain it away. What struck me was that he never gave up on dignity and grace. I've started to develop this extraordinary admiration for people who stammer. I see this courage that I simply don't have."
But when it comes to the mechanics of the stutter he affected, Mr. Firth himself is almost tongue-tied. "It's the most natural question, and it's the one I have the most trouble with," he said. "I don't know how to answer. Tom Hooper and I discovered it through a three-week rehearsal process. But I wasn't confident we really got it until we were shooting. It's not the first time I played a character who stammers, but it felt like it, because it's not a one-size-fits-all thing. Each character is specific."
Though the actor must be gladdened by the praise his performance has elicited generally, he seems especially pleased by the positive response from stutterers. "My profession can so often be completely frivolous, which is one of its virtues," he said. "But whenever I play someone who suffers, I feel there's a danger that I'm an imposter. So it's a relief that people who stammer haven't felt misrepresented. The reason why people tell stories and read stories and see films is to feel less alone. And if there's a story that takes everyone through something like this, it's a way to say to others, 'Now you live through it and see how it feels.' And if my profession gets that wrong, we've lost that opportunity. So it's a great relief not to have dropped the ball."
Sources: 1, 2.
Bow down.. the King is here.
Bridget Jones might have to give up the ciggies and put down that pint.
Golden Globe winner Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) tells Glare that he’s interested in making “Bridget Jones 3” and seeing his character father a little Bridget Jr. He’s talked to the studio behind the earlier movies, “and there is definitely enthusiasm about making another ‘Bridget Jones’ happen.”
Firth admits that his second “Bridget” with Renee Zellweger wasn’t on the level of the beloved first movie. “But I’m excited about a third film because now Bridget and Mr. Darcy are a bit older,” he says. “They’re different people from the second film, and the plot would most likely revolve around them being married and having kids.”
As for his involvement, Firth says, “There’s not any reason not to do it.”
With Vulnerability and Fortitude
Actors strive to make us feel things we ordinarily would not, to convey on a visceral level a character's anxiety and heartbreak, excitement and perseverance. And though the English actor Colin Firth isn't always given scripts that foster such lofty aims, he has recently been doing the best work of his career. In late 2009 he starred as an enigmatic gay academic in Tom Ford's "A Single Man," for which he earned his first Oscar nomination and won a Bafta film award. Now his widely hailed portrayal of Britain's King George VI in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" is garnering similar accolades. And a win at the Golden Globes on Sunday only increased his status as a front-runner in this year's Oscar race; the nominations will be announced Tuesday.
Yet Mr. Firth, a young- looking 50, insists that he is not distancing himself from the broadly mainstream roles for which he remains best known, in films like "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001), "Love Actually" (2003) and "Mamma Mia!" (2008). "I love 'Mamma Mia!'" Mr. Firth said earlier this month over a light lunch at a Westside hotel favored by celebrities. "It's one of the best things I've ever done, I think."
The merits of his part in that musical comedy are debatable, but his tender defense reveals an admirably egalitarian view of his oeuvre. And one is inclined to believe him when he suggests that his recent critical success does not represent a strategic shift toward weightier parts. "It's just the roles I got," said Mr. Firth, dressed in stylish but understated dark clothes. "I suppose everything I've done is just another role. It's up to other people to decide whether they like it or don't like it. I'd love for everything I do to get seen and accepted and loved. Believe me, if I could control this, I'd have done it years ago."
In "The King's Speech" Mr. Firth uses a touching combination of vulnerability and fortitude to play Albert, Duke of York-George VI once he ascends the throne after the abdication of his older brother, Edward VIII. But Mr. Hooper's film is not about royal politics. It instead concentrates on the future monarch's attempts to conquer a longstanding stutter, which threatens his ability to inspire Britons after the 1936 abdication crisis, as tensions mount over German aggression on the Continent.
As always when Hollywood deals with history, liberties are taken. But the challenge for Mr. Firth was how to make hoi polloi feel sympathy for a man (the father of Britain's current queen) who reigned over a quarter of the world's population and nearly as much of its land mass. "It's not really focused on the man born to be king," the actor explained. "There's nothing privileged about him; no one would change places with him for anything."
The connection between Bertie (as he was known to intimates) and viewers turns out to be fundamental: the act of speaking. "There's something very striking about seeing someone summon enormous courage to do what the rest of us do everyday and take for granted," Mr. Firth said. "The film is not a study of disability, but rather of how someone negotiates a disability. You discover a person or a character by how they handle obstacles. Do they fight or flee? Are they cool-headed or hysterical? Violent? Dignified? Seeing how people manage things, this is what drama is made of."
Limned by Mr. Firth, Bertie is at first a prisoner of his affliction-an especially unfortunate situation given the gifts obscured by it. "He should have been a fluent and an eloquent man," the actor said. "His letters suggest that he had wit and was thoughtful. But he was misjudged as being dull and timid and uncharismatic because he couldn't get the words out."
The shame finally brought the prince to Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush in the film), an unorthodox Australian speech therapist living in London, and it is their often-strained relationship that proves the film's fulcrum.
Preparing for the role presented Mr. Firth with myriad challenges. "What you cannot get is direct collaboration from the royal family-or time with them seeing how the job is done, as you might if you were studying other professions," he said. "But there are biographies, which are quite interesting because they conflict."
There was also an archival film depicting the full extent of the king's stutter. "You see the neck and the mouth go," the actor recalled. "We found it heartbreaking, literally tear-jerking. Something really hit me when watching that. I saw the vulnerability and immense courage all wrapped up in one moment, and the terrible exposure. He can't laugh it off or explain it away. What struck me was that he never gave up on dignity and grace. I've started to develop this extraordinary admiration for people who stammer. I see this courage that I simply don't have."
But when it comes to the mechanics of the stutter he affected, Mr. Firth himself is almost tongue-tied. "It's the most natural question, and it's the one I have the most trouble with," he said. "I don't know how to answer. Tom Hooper and I discovered it through a three-week rehearsal process. But I wasn't confident we really got it until we were shooting. It's not the first time I played a character who stammers, but it felt like it, because it's not a one-size-fits-all thing. Each character is specific."
Though the actor must be gladdened by the praise his performance has elicited generally, he seems especially pleased by the positive response from stutterers. "My profession can so often be completely frivolous, which is one of its virtues," he said. "But whenever I play someone who suffers, I feel there's a danger that I'm an imposter. So it's a relief that people who stammer haven't felt misrepresented. The reason why people tell stories and read stories and see films is to feel less alone. And if there's a story that takes everyone through something like this, it's a way to say to others, 'Now you live through it and see how it feels.' And if my profession gets that wrong, we've lost that opportunity. So it's a great relief not to have dropped the ball."
Sources: 1, 2.
Bow down.. the King is here.