Colin Firth says I'm no sex symbol
By Adam Lee-Potter 2/01/2011
Striding from a lake in tight -breeches and a drenched white shirt, Colin Firth became an object of lust for women round the world.
But 15 years on from that career-making role as Mr Darcy, he has tackled a very different part – and his toughest yet – as George VI, the cripplingly shy stammerer forced to became King.
The Pride and Prejudice star is hotly tipped to win an Oscar for his performance in The King’s Speech, capturing how the Queen’s father battled to overcome his speech impediment.
“The drama of it all was fascinating to me,” says Firth, 50. “At the beginning of the war, the King’s people needed to hear him, to be reassured by him. Hitler and Mussolini were such compelling -speakers.
"For Bertie, as he was known to his family, it was like climbing a mountain every time he stood in front of a microphone.
“While I didn’t try to mimic him, I wanted to capture the hesitations he had, the pauses he took. But the most -helpful source was our writer David Seidler, who has spent his life battling with a stammer. You wouldn’t know it to listen to him now.
“He was born the year that George VI came to the throne and was -inspired.
“He thought, ‘The King of England is -dealing with it and he is speaking and therefore there must be hope for me’. And David was -powerfully expressive about what it felt like to go through it.
"He said it was like being -underwater, the panic sensation of drowning – it’s all you thought about.”
He adds: “I think all of us can empathise. Haven’t we all experienced a fear of not saying the right thing and suddenly being unable to say anything?
"All actors live in fear of forgetting their lines. When it happens to you – when you go dry on stage – it is the worst feeling in the world.”
Certainly, Firth says he came to admire the -wartime king, who died in 1952, aged 56.
“I didn’t know before about his extraordinary sense of humour,” he says.
“He had a sly wit that he would reveal in private. In public, he had to be so stoic, so rigid but when he let his guard down with those closest to him, there was a warmth to him.
“As his father says off-screen in the film, Bertie was so brave. He didn’t realise it, how he faced his fears head on when he had to.
"He was not groomed to be king but when his brother abdicated he took it all on and never looked back.
“And I was astonished at what he endured as a boy... a nanny who so loved his older brother and loathed him that it was tantamount to abuse, -being forced to use his right rather than his left hand, and his father’s total indifference to him.”
George famously took the throne when his brother, Edward VIII, renounced the title to marry Mrs Simpson, a divorced American.
Firth believes the couple led a mostly “empty and -shallow” life, but hopes today’s Royals will see the film.
“I hope the Queen is pleased if she does see it. I do know that Prince Charles is curious to see the film. His private secretaries were shown it and I think their reaction was quite positive.”
The King’s Speech, which also stars Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, won five awards at the Moët British Independent Film Awards, including Best Actor for Firth, and looks set to do as well at the Golden Globes and Oscars.
But Firth says modestly: “I think that the Oscars and other awards can make people aware of a small film like this one. I am very proud of it and would like as many people as possible to see it. It is certainly nice to hear such a positive response. After all, I have had enough negative reviews over the years.”
That said, Firth has had a meteoric rise since winning hearts with his moody gaze and chiselled cheekbones in the 1995 TV series Pride and Prejudice.
He has appeared in a string of hits, -including Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually and Mamma Mia!. But the actor says his family has kept him on the straight and narrow – even mocking his sex symbol image.
Firth, who has a 20-year-old son, Will, from a previous relationship with actress Meg Tilly, settled down with Italian film producer Livia Giuggioli 13 years ago. They have two sons, Luca, nine, and Mateo, seven.
“I think she finds the whole sex symbol thing rather amusing,” he says. “She knows me as the man who doesn’t pick up his socks, can be unshaven and all of that.
“But without question, Pride and Prejudice was a high point for me. I am still surprised that I got the role of Mr Darcy, as I was 35 when we made it.
"When it was shown in England, I was in Italy, having just met the woman who’d become my wife.
"Her family was surprised this very repressed Jane Austen character would be considered sexy.”
Firth and Livia met on a film set.
He says: “She was working on a film I was in, in South America. I remember seeing her through this crowd of people and just knowing I had to get to her. She really had no idea who I was which was actually a nice way to start to get know each other.”
In Love Actually, he played a man who falls for his Portuguese cleaner and has to learn her language – just as it has happened in real life.
“I struggle with Italian but the children are perfectly -fluent, so they think my attempts to speak it are highly funny.
He adds: “I do lead a very boring life but family is the secret. But I’m not romanticising about my -family as this wonderful, serene, grounded environment. In fact it’s mayhem.
“It doesn’t matter how people are -reacting to you anywhere else, if you’ve got small children it’s up to you to deal with it and, you know, they are the divas. You can’t say to them, ‘You better behave yourself or I’m going to call my agent’.”
Although he is clearly enjoying the success of The King’s Speech, Firth is realistic about the perils of showbiz. Nothing, he says, lasts forever.
“I am not taking anything for granted. I think if you wish -something like this away, all this attention and all these events – -dressing up and being around -beautiful and elegant people – it’ll be gone soon enough.
“It’s not -guaranteed for life and I think both Livia and I are pretty good at just enjoying it while it lasts.
“The downs will be back. There’s absolutely no other possibility.
“You have to really, really enjoy the -moment. I’ve had a couple of meaty roles in a row and I -certainly do not take that for granted.
“I don’t know if it’s going to come round again any time soon so it is a wonderful -moment.”
But if the Oscar predictions are right, there could be many more of those wonderful moments to come...
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Разумеется, ее нельзя считать доказанной при такой выборке, и на серьезную научность эти результаты и не претендуют — во всяком случае, пока, на данном этапе. Но вообще это еще далеко не самое странное открытие "британских ученых", они иногда такую фигню "открывают", что просто диву даешься, на что уходят деньги британских налогоплательщиков. 
Голосую за эту цитату! 
И пошла цитировать... 
Спасибо! 
на ступеньках старинной испанской церкви, Колин! Забыл уточнить! 
— С.] и сразу же понял, что должен до нее добраться. Она совершенно не имела понятия о том, кто я, что, на самом деле, было очень хорошо для того, чтобы начать узнавать друг друга". 
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