King, lord, education minister: if you need to call upon an actor to play these thoroughly British roles, who better than the quintessential Brit, Colin Firth.
Today he turns 55 and he’s as busy as ever, with another Bridget Jones’ sequel in the works, as well as a turn as literary editor Max Perkins, in the biographical film Genius.
For his birthday, M-Net Movies is celebrating this most amazing actor by telling you ten things you probably didn’t know abut Colin Firth.
- As a child, he lived in Nigeria for four years.
- Seeing as his wife is Italian, it’s not surprising to learn that he can speak the language.
- When he was offered the role of Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, his brother was quite bemused, asking: “Darcy? But isn’t he supposed to be sexy?”
- The lake Firth jumps into in Love Actually was only 45cm deep. Firth and co-star Lucia Moniz had to walk on their knees and pretend they were swimming in deeper water. Unfortunately the water was covered with mosquitoes and Firth was badly bitten, forcing him to seek medical attention for a swollen elbow.
- Talking about lakes: Firth’s famous lake scene in Pride and Prejudice was meant to be a nude scene. Screenwriter Andrew Davies isn’t sure why it was changed.
- For his role as spy Harry Hart in Kingsman: Secret Service Firth had to adhere to a strict training schedule for six months.
- He also did most of his own stunts for the movie.
- Scarlett Johansson nicknamed him Fabio while they were filming The Girl with the Pearl Earing. Apparently he hated it.
- You might have heard of the Rat Pack, and even the Brat Pack; but what about the Brit Pack? The latter is a term used to refer to British actors who have made it big in Hollywood. Although there’s always a fresh Brit Pack in Hollywood, the term is most often associated with actors who emerged in Hollywood in the ‘80s including Bruce Payne, Tim Roth, Rupert Everett, Paul McGann, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Miranda Richardson, Spencer Leigh, and, of course, Colin Firth.
- Richard Curtis originally wrote two different scripts for Hugh Grant and Colin Firth’s characters in Love Actually. He later merged the two scripts into one movie, with multiple characters and stories, tied together by the subject of love.
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