Sep 17 2011 Siobhan Synnot
OSCAR-winning heartthrob Colin Firth says he’s rarely bothered by showbiz spies – because he’s too dull.
But while most celebrities have to fight off prying eyes, Colin reckons he has managed to see off snoopers by being boring.
“I take comfort in the fact that there’s very little I do that is of interest,” admits Colin
“They can find out what I shop for but I do feel a little dull when it comes to secrets.”
Colin lives in London with his wife of 14 years, Livia Giuggioli, and their two sons, and tries to live a normal life off screen. “I’ve been followed to the purchase of a toothbrush,” he laughs
“And many years ago I was photographed having bought a vacuum cleaner. There were many, many photos of my vacuum cleaner travelling from the boot of my car into my house.”
He might claim to be dull but Colin can be as enigmatic as any secret agent. And what appears isn’t always accurate.
For instance – did he really leave his Oscar in the loo on Oscar night?
“Somebody completely and utterly made that up,” he snorts.
“There was a story about me leaving the Bafta in a bar as well. It’s one of those things when it’s not a particularly bad story, so it’s not worth denying – and yet it just happens not to be true.”
Even his devoted fans don’t know everything about this self-deprecating actor, who shot to fame as Mr Darcy in the BBC series Pride And Prejudice.
“I found a quiz on myself once online,” he said. “Someone told me there was a quiz of 50 Things About Colin Firth. It was a multiple choice about my favourite colours, places, books I’d read and things I liked.”
“I failed miserably. I got 10 per cent.”
For someone who treats acting like any other job – “I clock off and leave my work at work” – Colin spent most of the last year in a whirl with the success of his last film The King’s Speech.
So he was only too happy to take a step back and play a supporting role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Colin plays handsome intelligence agent Bill Haydon, who is something of a suave smoothie in the British spy network – especially compared to the main character, Gary Oldman’s low-key, bespectacled George Smiley.
The film, which also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kathy Burke and Tom Hardy is a slow-brewing, elegant retelling of John Le Carré’s Cold War novel. The story was previously made into a series by the BBC in 1979, with Sir Alec Guinness as Smiley and Scot Ian Richardson in Colin’s role.
The antidote to James Bond’s high-living, it highlights the lack of glamour of a spy’s life, spending hours in dim, smoke-filled offices. Colin reckons this is a more authentic portrait of MI6.
“I think John Le Carré tends to take the mask off that and show the sadness and the melancholy that goes with that very real sense of isolation.
“This is about lonely men and the pain of not knowing who you can trust and who you can believe in,” he says.
“It’s interesting that James Bond is created as someone you want to be.”
“Boys grow up wanting to be like him, to be that unattached and dispassionate and ruthless – and in fact we’re describing a sociopath really.”
Le Carré drew on his own experiences in British intelligence for his spy novels.
Now in his 80s, the author is famously reclusive.
But he is such a fan of 51-year-old Colin, who he’s met several times, that he wrote a new line especially for him. “We needed another line in a scene. We decided it would be unthinkable to make up a Le Carré line, so it occurred to one of the producers to phone him up and ask,” says Colin, with a grin.
“I got a line hot off the press. Rather like something delivered on a velvet cushion really, with the ink still wet.”
It’s the latest of a series of high points since his Oscar win in February.
And although he delivered polished speeches for both his Oscar and Bafta awards as Best Actor, Colin admits he was in a daze at the time – and didn’t really come to appreciate his honours for another three months.
“I think when something major comes along, whether it’s good or bad, we go into a slight state of shock, and it takes a while to process,” he admits.
“It was a pleasant shock but slightly numbing. I imagined I would want to punch the air around June or July – and that is what happened.
“The shock wore off and I wanted to celebrate – but everyone had gone home,” he says ruefully.
“It’s a lonely moment of joy.”
Colin hasn’t seen much of his golden statue since his win.
His young sons Luca, 10, and Mateo, eight, enjoy playing with the award and have been lending it to their pals.
“It gets shown to the first person who’s willing to take a look, whether it’s my friends or my kids’ friends, so it tends to move about. It’s been in relatives’ houses, the kids’ schools, it travels around. It’s not spending much time at home at the moment.”
Winning the award has transformed many careers – but Colin denies he has become a new powerful figure in film.
“There are two ways of looking at it when an immense piece of good fortune lands on you like that. One is to feel pressure and to become paralysed by it and say you have to do everything right – and you won’t – or you can say, I’ve got that in the bag, now I can do whatever I want.”
“One of my sons did point out that I was not yet even the most influential person in my own household, let alone anywhere else,” he says wryly.
Since the win, the actor has been garlanded with other honours.
He has a Hollywood star and the freedom of the City of London – an ancient honour that allows the recipient to drive sheep across London.
“In that sense I am infinitely more powerful than I was,” he jokes.
“Nobody can stop me with the sheep on Southwark Bridge now – just try.”
Colin has yet to go to Buckingham Palace to pick up his biggest prize, a CBE, announced in the honours list this summer.
It should give him a chance to learn if The King’s Speech, and his performance as the stuttering monarch George VI, has the royal seal of approval from the his daughter, The present Queen.
“I don’t think there is a lot of conversation involved,” says Colin.
“I’ve heard reports that she has seen the film – I don’t know if that’s verified.
“But I know other members of the Royal Family have seen it and their response has been positive.”
Maybe she’ll ask him for his autograph. “Shall I bring a pen just in case?” laughs Colin.
Following the success of the King’s Speech, and some time off, Colin reckons it’s now time to look forward to new challenges.
The next few months are busy.
He’s just finished filming the comedy thriller Gambit, based on a screenplay by Oscar winners Joel and Ethan Coen, whose hits include True Grit and No Country For Old Men.
Then there’s The Promised Land, a political thriller set in British-occupied Palestine in the 1930s and 40s, with Colin on the trail of a terrorist.
He’s also set to get his teeth into Stoker, a gothic drama inspired by the Dracula creator, with Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.
But don’t expect to see Colin watching any of these new films.
He says he has learned not to sneak into cinemas to watch audience reactions to his work.
“I’ve only done it once.”
“I got quite nervous because I thought it embarrassing to be seen doing that.
“I pulled my collar up and my hat down over my eyes and snuck in as if going into a porn cinema.
“I went upstairs and into a back row – and realised I was the only person in the cinema. That’s how well the film was doing.”
Now, however, it’s a lot harder for Colin to go unnoticed.
Daily Record
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