Colin Firth says he is ‘still processing’ his response to intense action sequences in Kingsman: The Secret Service

DAILY MAIL
By SAM CREIGHTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 20:34 EST, 1 January 2015 | UPDATED: 06:22 EST, 2 January 2015



He made his name playing calm, civilised gentlemen in films such as Love Actually.

So movie-goers may be shocked at the graphic violence in Colin Firth’s latest film.

The actor, told Empire magazine he was ‘still processing’ his response to scenes such as gun battles in Kingsman: The Secret Service. He called for ‘legitimate discussions’ on whether film-makers should be encouraging audiences to enjoy violence.

Campaigners called his remarks ‘very encouraging’ but urged him to refuse roles in such films in future.

In Kingsman, rated 15 and due for release on January 29, Firth plays a spy training a homeless youngster to be a secret agent.



Kingsman also stars Sir Michael Caine and Samuel L. Jackson and is released on January 29 with a 15 rating.

It is the latest film from Matthew Vaughn, the husband on supermodel Claudia Schiffer and the director behind the films Layer Cake and Kick-Ass, which both drew attention because of their controversial content.

This latest project sees super-spy Harry Hart, played by Firth, take a rough street kid under his wing and train him to be a lethal secret agent.

But father-of-three Firth said: ‘I’m still processing my response. I did think, “I don’t know what I’m getting into now.” And there will be arguments, legitimate discussions, about whether it’s healthy to enjoy anything with violence.

'Particularly when you’re dared to enjoy it. I still don’t have the answers on what’s supposed to be good and bad. But I was exhilarated as well.’

His comments have been welcomed by campaigners against on-screen violence, who have called on filmmakers to take note of Firth’s concerns.

Pippa Smith, co-founder of the Safermedia campaign, said: ‘I think it’s very encouraging that an actor of his standing does question this level of violence. I rather hope that at some point someone will say “I’m not going to act in this film because of the levels of violence and I shouldn’t be promoting this sort of violence”, but I’m very encouraged to hear what he’s said.

‘It’s made him worried and concerned obviously and he’s quite right to be concerned that viewers are almost expected to enjoy this sort of violence, otherwise why would they have it in the first place?


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2893944/We-need-talk-violence-films-Colin-Firth-says-processing-response-intense-action-sequences-Kingsman-Secret-Service.html#ixzz3NgHRFFvM 
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