Colin Firth reveals where he keeps his Oscar and what qualities make a good spy
Did you watch the 1979 television series?
Colin: I can't remember if I watched it all. I wasn't in front of the telly much at that time, but I remember its presence. It's just one of those things where it was just alive, in the air, whether you were watching it or not everyone was talking about. I remember my father talking about it. I remember friends talking about it, and seeing some episodes and being absolutely clueless as to what was going on. And thinking it was all probably too grown up and complex for me.
Do you have the qualities to make a good spy?
C: I think it depends on which version of the spy we're talking about, in the mythology. A spy is something which lends itself to romanticisation, it's fairly polarised really because you do have your romantic spy whether it be Bond or the private eyes of the noir era, the Raymond Chandler figures, all of whom have loneliness and solitude as part of the romance. Through to Bond whose solitary nature is part of his romance as well. It's interesting that he's designed as someone you want to be. Boys grow up wanting to be like him, to be that unattached and dispassionate and ruthless, but in fact we're describing a sociopath. So it's an interesting thing to aspire to.
Is there anything of the period in the film that casts its light back upon today?
C: I think in a world where you're not quite sure who's listening, I think it's probably more alive today than ever. I think because of the extraordinary technical facilities we have to spy on each other... we have CCTV all over the streets, which we just put up with. I think all of us would have been horrified - if we'd had a crystal ball in 1978 - and seen that we'd have a camera on every street corner and we'd put up with it. That we have journalists who are prepared to listen to our phone calls and read out e-mails, there's legal means by which the authorities can actually monitor your correspondence. I'm sure that was true then but it's much more easy to do it stealthily now. I'm not impugning the way that they go about their business but there are legal means by which they can and the that we're electronic now means that we are more vulnerable and from what I understand people who work in intelligence and who work in organised crime tend to write things down on little bits of paper because digital media is not to be trusted, it's easy to hack.
How much has winning the Oscar for your performance in The King's Speech changed things for you?
C: There are two ways of looking at it if an immense piece of good fortune lands on you like that. One is to feel pressure and become paralysed by it and say you have to do everything right - and you won't. One doesn't do everything right, it's a roll of the dice every time. I think that's a dangerous way to go. Or you can say 'I've got that in the bag, I can do what I want,' and use it as a sense of freedom.
Read more: http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/entertainment/monitor/2012/02/colin-firth-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-interview
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