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Genova (2008)
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And When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007)
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Colin Firth: interview

Admit it – many of us think Colin Firth is just bland, middle-class totty. And maybe he was, once. But, as Dave Calhoun has discovered, the former Mr Darcy has grown up and moved on, and in his latest films, he’s riveting

It crept up on me unexpectedly. For a number of years I’d dismissed him or avoided him or – shame on me – mocked him. Whenever I thought of Colin Firth, which admittedly wasn’t very often, I could only think of one word: bland. It didn’t help that he had an alarming following among the good women of middle England, many of whom seemed about to rip this mild-mannered fellow’s flowing white costume-drama blouse from his back and do unspeakable things to him. When I mentioned to a colleague that I was to interview Firth, a strange look came into her eyes and her voice quivered. It reminded me why Firth put me off my popcorn.

Yet, slowly but surely, Firth is evolving; his understated but potent presence in a few recent films has hit my bias hard. He’s never going to win awards for searing histrionics, but I’ve started to appreciate the essential Englishness of his demeanour on screen: confident but not arrogant; skilled but never irritatingly so.

‘My primary instinct as an actor is not the big transformation,’ Firth tells me. ‘It’s thrilling if a performer can do that well, but that’s not me. Often with actors, it’s a case of witnessing a big party piece but wondering afterwards, where’s the substance?’

I’m sure loyal followers of Firth will tell me that I’m late to the party. And others will mock me for going soft. But last year, Anand Tucker’s adaptation of Blake Morrison’s memoir ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father???’ really got me thinking. Firth does a good job of portraying middle-age, middle-class male stoicism, which is a lot harder than it looks. He’s 48, and age has brought him the ability to take on more serious roles that lean towards the classless. Of course, Firth’s always going to be more toff than factory worker, but while he’d look ridiculous in a Mike Leigh film, he’s too versatile to be condemned to play earls or Tories. Now we’re all middle class, he’s cinema’s everyman.

When I meet Firth at the London Film Festival, it’s a couple of hours before the premiere of ‘Genova’, a film he’s made with the dynamo British director Michael Winterbottom and one that proves there’s a new vigour to his career. He’s very good in it. He plays an academic whose two young daughters are involved in a car accident which kills their mother, his wife. The family is based in the US, but he decides to shift them to northern Italy for a fresh start. Firth gives a quiet performance, restrained but not uptight; he offers a controlled yet moving portrait of grief. ‘I love the film,’ he says as he explains the pleasure of working with Winterbottom, who enabled him to explore his character in a way that he has rarely been permitted. ‘I’ve honestly never been more happy with a film.’ I believe him. Now that he’s is older, he’s enjoying a new maturity that allows him to play fathers and husbands – grown-ups not pin-ups.

We talk about the variety of his recent roles. Even while he was making ‘Genova’ – a low-budget drama filmed in the usual Winterbottom style of little money, few crew and lots of imagination, he was flying back and forth to Pinewood to shoot ‘Mamma Mia!’ – which has taken almost £70 million at the UK box office and looks set to become the biggest earner ever in our cinemas. ‘We had to embrace the laughter and silliness for it to be enjoyed by the audience,’ Firth says. ‘We decided that we just had to have fun and enjoy the stupid costumes and the stupid… well, I better not say anything rude about the music.’

You couldn’t find two roles more different: in the first he offers a subtle take on grief and recovery; in the second he prances about a version of a sunny Greek island dancing to Abba songs. ‘Actually it’s nice having that diversity underscored for a change,’ he says. ‘Usually people who write about these things like to join the dots rather than emphasise the lack of joining.’

He remembers that last year offered a similar contrast when he was making a documentary about death row, ‘In Prison My Whole Life’ with his wife, Livia. ‘We travelled to Amsterdam to interview Snoop Dogg. We were with him for four hours and he was great company. But it was the same week that I had to snog Rupert Everett in drag for “St Trinian's”.’

It’s taken Firth a long time to ditch the image of the well-bred pin-up (or ‘posh totty’, as a colleague put it to me). And even today a clip on YouTube of Firth as Mr Darcy diving into a lake in the 1995 BBC adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ has thousands of overheating users needing a similar hose-down. ‘He’s gorgeous,’ writes one fan. ‘When he gets out of the lake dripping wet I literally swoon.’ Others are less subtle. ‘MR DARCY! GIVE ME THAT COCK!’ screams one. Firth will always be Darcy to some – Boris Johnson, for instance, who introduced him at the premiere of ‘Genova’ by waffling on about Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bennet and costume dramas. Firth, embarrassed, merely forced a smile.

Looking back, Firth’s post-Darcy career did him few favours. He must have thought that a turn as a football fan in the British film version of Nick Hornby’s ‘Fever Pitch’ (1997) would inject his reputation with some much-needed machismo – but it made so slight an impression on me that I struggle to remember anything about it. Did I even see it? Then ‘Shakespeare in Love’ (1998) saw him back in billowing-white-shirt territory and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (2001) sealed the deal.

But things are looking up. Earlier this year, Firth was in Helen Hunt’s relationship drama, ‘Then She Found Me’ and this month he can be found savouring the sharp Noël Coward dialogue in ‘Easy Virtue’, where he plays a darkly witty, chain-smoking patriarch in 1920s Britain whose soul is stained by his time in the trenches during World War I. On the horizon too is a role as the Machiavellian Lord Henry Wootton in a new version of ‘Dorian Gray’ and even a lead in a film scripted by Irvine Welsh, of all people. Welsh meets Firth? That’s a partnership no one would have predicted back in his Mr Darcy days.

‘Genova’ will screen as part of a Time Out 40th anniversary weekender at BFI Southbank at 8.45pm on Nov 21. ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Easy Virtue’ are in cinemas now.

Author: Dave Calhoun. Portrait Greg Funnell

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User comments on this story

Gillian said...

Thankyou Roberta, just shows us woman have good taste and still like to know at least there is some gentleman around and one of them is Colin Firth, Handsome and talented, your right the sound have another at his films they may even agree with us Ladies
thats all I am saying I rest my case Posted on Jun 02 2009 20:23

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Gillian said...

I am a Fan of Colin Firth and enjoy all his work, I haven't seen him play a part yet That I don't enjoy he has good comic timing, his lastest film Genova will be really good to watch, if you had seen him in When did you last see your father, you would agree how talented this man can be It really had an effect on me,at the end got to the heart strings I am standing by Colin firth he cany do hust about anything Posted on Apr 17 2009 15:58

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E Pennington said...

Can I say it?Colon was a far more suitable D'Arcy than the great Olivier who was too old for the part anyway. Colin Firth has yet to show his true potential as he has not yet been given the scripts which would show off his talents. Posted on Mar 23 2009 11:52

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jay grand said...

Ha ha , I can really understand the conundrum you;re going through about Frith :) He's not Rock N Roll and you want to stay Rock N Roll. Well, mate, you;ve just grown up! :) And discovered that the world is not black and white. OR Roch n Roll or NOT Rock N Roll. Good for ypou! Welcome to the land of Adults! :)
PS having said that, I'm sure it could all be sorted out with a new haircut. I'm looking at his photo hair and it sends shivers down my spine! Posted on Nov 26 2008 10:59

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Barbara Derboven said...

Dear M. Calhoun, thank you for your bewildering comment on Colin Firth !
Colin Firth disposes of a large range of expressional means. Having said that, I refer to his earlier films in the 80ies, as there are f.ex. 'Another Country' and 'A Month in the Country' costarring an excellent Kenneth Branagh. Other films followed.
The 90ies showed his coming out as romantic lead continuing right into this century and as much as my opinion of him is concerned I think that these parts do not really suit him nor reflect his true talents. But : as we interpreters say, only an interpreter who works a lot and exercices his art will become a good interpreter, this might be the same for acting. I think, Colin Firth is much more at ease with complex personalities and matters as represented in 'Born Equal', 'And when did you last see your father', 'Genova', 'Then she found me' and the upcoming 'A Single Man'.
Nevertheless, I think he is working too much lately by playing too many different roles. He might need a script coach or an aritstic adviser. I might do this for him.
So you just tell him, this will be fine and I thank you in advance !
And by the way, I am not British, so all this fuss about him being the Stiff Upper Lip-Tory-Costume drama-Colin Firth does not interfere with my appreciation of him. Best wishes and again thank you for your article, Barbara Posted on Nov 18 2008 12:42

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Roberta said...

It seems to me that men in general are only discovering now what women discovered years ago: Mr. Firth real talent. He's clearly not just a gourgeous man and his fans already know that for ages. Maybe it's because now he's really famous and is taken another parts (varied parts, like the ones he took before Mr. Darcy) that men are finally paying attention to his great acting skills. I invite everybody who hadn't notice Colin Firth talent to take another look, but this time without any former judgement. Posted on Nov 17 2008 05:22

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RoseMary said...

I think Colin Firth is one of the most underated actors, as evidenced by this interview. People need to see more of his movies. Anyone who has seen him in Trauma, Where the Truth Lies, or Then She Found Me (to name a few) knows the depth of his talent. Unfortunately, I think these movies were sometimes poorly edited or directed, so they aren't always very successful. Therefore, people don't really know him beyond Pride & Prejudice and Bridget Jones. I think he's amazing. He can do it all... drama, comedy, suspence. HE'S BRILLIANT!!!! He makes everything look so real. He's not stoic, he's gives a honest, truthful portrayal. He's the most incredible actor! Posted on Nov 16 2008 22:34

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Annie said...

I'm glad Mr Calhoun now iunderstands what a fine actor Colin Firth is, but I find his article incredibly patronising.
"Age has brought him the ability to take on more serious roles". You've got to be kidding! He's been doing that since he was twentyish. If you must write articles about people, please do your homework Mr Calhoun. It doesn't take much research to find wonderful reviews of Colin's serous roles in film and on stage. Posted on Nov 14 2008 17:00

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Mango said...

Your favorably tempered review of Colin Firth's latest films and his talents is indeed welcome. However, if you are going to write a more-in-depth piece of commentary than the usual movie critic, it would help to do a little more research on your subject. It is a sad fact that every actor is judged by his/her last gig without regard to what has preceded it. If one were to take a peek at Colin's early works, Apartment Zero, A Month in the Country, one would see a young Colin Firth with an incredible talent for communicating a wide range of emotions with understated acting in "non-posh totty" roles. The majority of his career has been in non-posh totty roles, portraying middle class men in productions that are artistic with substance but don't appeal to the masses. One comment from a recent co-star called his acting very quiet, not scenery chewing. As Anthony Minghella once said, Colin puts his fingers on the keys very delicately. And don't even get me started on his ability to heat up the screen with kisses that are so sensitive, they make one melt. Fever Pitch has so much depth--the evolution of an emotionally damaged young man finding himself through love and throwing off the mantle of resentment that divorce can inflict on children. Colin so inhabited this character that it is hard to believe he is not Paul Ashworth. This is one of my favorites of all his films, and I am not British, know nothing about your football, and hadn't ever heard of Arsenal, much less be a fan. Now I'd root for them anytime. Why is it that men are so slow to "get it." Late to the party you say; well, better late than never. Posted on Nov 13 2008 18:28

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elemacd said...

You missed a few of his really fine films like 'A Month in the Country'', 'Apartment Zero'. and TV drama 'Tumbledown'. I am glad that you realize the error of your way, as Mistah Firth is concerned. I am a U.S. resident and he's my favorite actor, hands down! Posted on Nov 13 2008 18:20

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Max "Strangler" Cartwright said...

Look, I... I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it.
I FREAKING LOVE COLIN FIRTH!! HE MAKES MY BELLY FIZZ EVERYTIME I SEE HIM, AND LIFE WITHOUT HIM JUST DOESN'T SEEM QUITE LIKE LIFE!
I mean... if he died, tomorrow, I swear I'd be forced to cut my wrists; drink some bleach or crash into a wall heaong. He is so fit mate!! Posted on Nov 13 2008 16:56

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