From BBC News (5/4/00) Colin's on permament public display!! [btw, why didn't we know about this? would've been better than the Dome's exhibits!] [caption: Colin Firth set a standard for period drama heart=throbs] BBC magic moments showcased Morecambe and Wise: One of many classic BBC moments Doctor Who, Bill and Ben, Rowan Atkinson and Morecambe and Wise are among dozens of stars highlighted in a new exhibition from the BBC. The BBC Sight and Sound 1950-2000 takes visitors through 50 years of BBC radio and TV programmes and news events. It focuses around four specially-compiled films featuring many of the best-loved names and programmes in the corporation's history. The films also highlight some of the key news and sporting events covered by half a century of BBC News. Matthew Bannister, Director of Marketing and Communications, opened BBC Sight and Sound as part of BBC Experience - the permanent public display at Broadcasting House. He said: "With such a wealth of outstanding material from the BBC's past and present archives, this is a great new BBC experience for every age and interest. "As well as renowned comedy, drama, factual, sport and children's classics, visitors will recapture some of the most memorable events of the past 50 years, as recorded by the BBC." The four films - one for radio and three for television - are shown in four "rooms". Each room reflects different decades through the use of period television sets, radios and artefacts from each era. Other classic BBC programmes revisited by BBC Sight and Sound include comedy favourites Hancock's Half Hour from 1956 and Dad's Army, which started in 1968. From the 1980s and 1990s, Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder and Goodness Gracious Me are highlighted. Recent memorable drama series selected for the exhibition include the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The 1966 World Cup is one of the jewels of the BBC's sporting back catalogue. While news events from the Queen's Coronation to the millennium celebrations are also featured. BBC Experience was opened by the Queen in 1997 and currently attracts more than 100,000 visitors a year. It was recently voted best small attraction of the Year by readers of top travel trade magazine, Group Travel Organiser. Consumer magazine Holiday Which? ranked it top in its group of indoor visitor attractions, awarding it four stars.

... [btw, why didn't we know about this? would've been better than the Dome's exhibits!] It shouldbe a Dome exhibit.The Best of Britain! LOL about BBC still touting P&P even after all these years and countless period dramas since....and yet it was not deemed worthy of a BAFTA.Shocking!

[caption: Colin Firth set a standard for period drama heart=throbs] (Karen) would've been better than the Dome's exhibits!] Mmmm . . .and that photo could have gone nicely with the "things that have washed up on Britain's beaches" display.;-)

Whoo! Definitely on the agenda for the next visit. that photo could have gone nicely with the "things that have washed up on Britain's beaches" display.;-) LOL, Mari. Would indeed look lovely next to the driftwood and old tyres.

(Mari) "things that have washed up on Britain's beaches" display.;-) (Heide) Would indeed look lovely next to the driftwood and old tyres. ...and reels of MLSF, due to wash up in a few weeks. Am not surprised to see BBC exhibit featuring P&P2. On sale here in the US is "50 Years of the BBC" (or something to that effect) which features Darcy on the cover.

Screen Daily has posted a likely list of Cannes films at their site. Official announcement is in another week or so. Relative Values is not there.:-( Do we know who is distributing RV in the U.S.?

Yeah, I read that too. Argh. Doesn't look like it's going to be there. Also read detaied article in either Variety or THR (actual paper paper) about all the submissions. Didn't see it listed there either. No one has picked up US distribution yet, and the company that has it hasn't decided whether to do it themselves or not. Waiting to see how it does in UK, which will be btw June 9th or 16th.

If there are any Simon fans out there, I have new pages on COF - Mickie sent me a bunch of DVD captures. Thanks, Mick! http://www.geocities.com/firthfan/cof/cof1.html Murph

Oooh, DVD captures are wonderful. Thanks, Mickie and Murph.

(Karen) No one has picked up US distribution yet, and the company that has it hasn't decided whether to do it themselves or not. Darn. I thought with Julie in the lead, this one would be a slam dunk. I don't know why but I thought for sure I'd be seeing a new CF film on the big screen this summer. Let's hope for a good reception in the UK. There's always Londinium, a sure thing for wide distribution if there ever was one.;-) Murph and Mickie, the COF captures are great! Thanks. But would it have killed you to superimpose my pic over Saffron's face in The Car scenes?;-)

Karen says re RV: No one has picked up US distribution yet, and the company that has it hasn't decided whether to do it themselves or not. Waiting to see how it does in UK, which will be btw June 9th or 16th. ******** I thought too that this would be pretty big, but not to even be sure it will be picked up here in the US? UGGHHHHH! Murph

Thanks Murph...how clear those DVD's are. The hotel is my fave....I know he has to be a cad...but why is it I don't dislike him?

I know that several months ago there was talk of Fever pitch being released in the US and that it ended up in New York, at least. Has it been released on video here yet? I keep on searching at my local, but to no avail. Help! Thanks - I know that the women (and men) here will have the answer to my question. I always enjoying lurking and reading the latest. KateMcQ

The films for the Cannes FF are announced on the 18th, but RV, to me, doesn't seem to be a typical FF candidate. Perhaps it will be shown out of competition, or at a special Charity preview. Although there's a lot of hype about Cannes, very few films shown there do anything at the Box Office. I think that RV will get a very select release in the UK. But I do expect to see some promotion, interviews with JA etc. I'm not being defeatist here, but any movie that isn't aimed at the 16-25, predomonantly male, market, has zero chance of box Office success. RV would do well on video, and extremely well if shown on terrestial TV. Mansfield Park, despite being promoted as raunchy, has bombed completely, and has been withdrawn after one week.(had poor reviews though)

Kate, you can order Fever Pitch in North American format (NTSC) from Videoflicks in Canada for $29.99 US dollars. Has anyone checked US sites yet for availabilty? No matter, Canada's close enough.

(Bethan) Perhaps it will be shown out of competition, or at a special Charity preview Since I was told it was "submitted," that would not mean a charity preview. But it never meant "in competition," which I agree RV is not typical Cannes FF fare. Remember there are other categories for screening: Directors Fortnight and Un Certain Regard. Among the films tipped to be in the Miramax-Ethan Hawke Hamlet, Merchant-Ivory The Golden Bowl, and The House of Mirth. (Bethan) Although there's a lot of hype about Cannes, very few films shown there do anything at the Box Office. That's particularly true of the films "in competition." Most are the epitome of "art house" films and you really have to seek them out. I just saw Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, which was shown last year at Cannes. Re: Fever Pitch This release can't be sold by US sites; would be illegal. So you have to buy from Videoflicks or other Canadian sellers.

I'm not being defeatist here, but any movie that isn't aimed at the 16-25, predomonantly male, market, has zero chance of box Office success. I keep telling you...that's the only group that Pays Money..like$$$..at the Box Office.The rest are "renters". If you were a producer would you risk your money on a film no one was gonna pay to see?Only Miramax does that...and makes it up with "Deuce Bigalow." ~~~~~ Even without the sex and recycling Fanny Price and making her like Lizzie, or throwing in the slave trade to make it relevant, "Mansfield Park" , IMO was a dog. Further more I didn't even like the book.Poor Austen choice. Andrew Davies is writing the screen play to "Northanger Abbey".Good luck.

The more I read the more depressed I get re: quality film. In my opinion T.V. is the only way to go for people like Colin and of course Jane Austen, Charles Dickens etc. Eventually maybe the rest of the populace will return to the cinema but I doubt it. Not with video's and dvd's to be seen in the safety of ones home. It amazes me how well MLSF has done in Australia. Apparently it is still showing in two cinemas in Adelaide and was on for nine weeks here in Perth. Fever Pitch was in three cinemas, two of which were blockbuster ones. The other a main cinema in the centre of Perth. Perhaps it is safer here than in the U.K. to visit the cinema - also we have many more. A question for you in the U.K. is it the critics that damn a film, are they young and only give a good write up for their particular choice? Our main critics are well into middle age and films are considered for all ages and they are just in all genre of films, and I have yet to see one of Colin's films get less than 3 and one half sta s.

Ladies - Thanks for the information. I don't understand the US distributors - there's definitely a market for the movie - albeit small. I'll try vieoflicks.

Very long article in The Observer - all about Colin!!! Mentions BJD, DQ, MLSF and RV! Hoorah!! Some press for the poor boy. ;-) http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/observer/life/story/0,3879,157249,00.html

Here's the article: True Romance Fame has come full circle for Colin Firth. He won the heart of very woman in the country as Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Now he's set to play Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary. A case of art imitating art� but without the sideburns William Leith Sunday April 9, 2000 The Observer Colin Firth! Mr Darcy! You cannot mention one of these names without the other following immediately. Both have been changed immeasurably, in the public eye, by their relationship with the other. Before the Firth treatment, Mr Darcy was seen as a dour, mildly unpleasant, if misunderstood character in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Before he was Darcy, Colin Firth was a tall, well-built English actor with an expressive face and a string of smouldering, half-forgotten characters behind him. He'd been Robert Lawrence, the wounded Falklands veteran; he'd been Valmont in the Milos Forman film of the same name; he'd been a nutcase in a Ruth Rendell crime drama. And then, in 1994, he was cast as Mr Darcy. What was so special about Mr Darcy? Women loved him. For a great part of the BBC's version in the story, he hung around in the background, not saying much. Firth did a lot of his acting with his eyes. Other characters talked a great deal about him while he was absent. Unlike a lot of male heroes, he was a mystery. He was in no way a feminised wimp. Late in the day, burning with passion and unfulfilled sexual desire, he jumped off his horse into a pond and emerged, his shirt dripping. What people remember is those mutton-chop sideburns flying through the air. For the entire Bridget Jones generation, this was a superb antidote to the dull, whining, noncommittal New Man of the 90s - and he didn't drink lager and go on about football all the time. Since then, Firth has become part of the zeitgeist. He has entered the language. After Darcy, of course, he was playing a 90s football fan - the Nick Hornby character in Fever Pitch. Next, rumour has it, he will play Mark Darcy in the film version of Bridget Jones's Diary. The official status of the rumour, according to a spokesperson from Working Title, the film's production company, is 'unconfirmed'. Still, it's pretty exciting. Bridget has already interviewed a fictional version of Firth himself in the second Bridget Jones book, The Edge of Reason. In the world of Colin Firth, art is beginning to copy art. At the moment of Darcy, Firth, who was 34, was wondering how much time he had left as a romantic lead. Having accepted the part, he said, 'I don't know how much longer that sort of character will be available to me.' Afterwards, he was stunned at the way people identified him with the character. 'I felt as if I'd lost my whole personality,' he says. He tells me: 'It's been very strange, this idea of Mr Darcy appealing so much to women. Because obviously, as you can see, I don't carry that around with me. I'm not so Mr Darcy every day of my life. If people expect to see a saturnine, dark, smouldering tall aristocrat, they are going to be disappointed.' At rest, Firth's face is set in a sort of handsome grimace, he looks easily haunted. The mouth turns slightly down; the bones of the face cast shadows. But his expressions change with almost no effort; as an acting tool, this is a highly strung face. One slight touch on the happy pedal and he beams; an iota of misery and he glowers. 'I never saw myself as Mr Ugly, but I'm not that handsome,' he told me. 'I can sort of be made to look quite a lot better or quite a lot worse.' I first meet Colin Firth, now 39, on the set of Donovan Quick, a forthcoming BBC television film in which, as usual, he plays an intense, edgy fellow who hides behind a mask of English reticence. He is genial and welcoming, and speaks in that unusual, slightly old-fashioned voice which is perfect for costume drama. That's his actual voice. In person, Firth is not at all like Darcy. There is no sense of menace. Firth's character, obsessed with the tyranny of a national bus company, starts his own. Firth spends the day patiently approaching the bus, and entering the bus, and entering the bus, over and over. He takes instructions from the director, David Blair, with absolute humility. Before we meet again, I catch him several times on TV. He's prolific, having made more than 30 films, and you can often get a glimpse of him late at night, in a youthful guise. Sometimes he has a caddish moustache. Early Firth looked jittery and worried. The mature, smouldering Firth came later. Firth is very English; he plays people who hide their emotions. He often appears melancholic. Firth himself had an unhappy childhood. He once said: 'I'm very suspicious of people who romanticise their childhood.' Firth is married to Livia Guiggioli, an Italian documentary maker. Nick Hornby describes her as 'joke-perfect: PhD, beautiful in that sultry Italian way, funny and vivacious'. She is also, he says, 'very good for Firth, because she's absolutely not in any thrall to him'. She 'affects to be completely mystified' by the Mr Darcy situation. For three years in the 90s, Firth lived with the actress Meg Tilly, whom he fell in love with on the set of Milos Forman's Valmont. They have a son, Will, who is now nine. We met again, recently, in a film production office in London's West End. Again, Firth is impeccably warm and charming. He wears neutral clothes; his hair is on the short side of bouffant. Firth's hair is either quite short or quite long, never very short or very long. His characters are always outwardly respectable. He tells me he is about to go to Los Angeles to spend time with his son. He says, 'Los Angeles can actually be quite a relaxing place, but the minute you try to invest anything in it, it grabs you and starts to play games with you.' He already sounds like a character in a film. Another reason he is going to California, Firth says, is for 'my own personal relaxation, which is doing very little indeed'. He lived in Canada with Tilly, three hours inland from Vancouver. 'I'm too much of a lightweight for it,' he says. 'It's wilderness. Serious wilderness. It's not a trip to Wimbledon Common. And I rather fancied the quaint idea of the wilderness. It's really the middle of nowhere.' The move, he says, had been Tilly's decision. 'She found the place. I had a kind of reclusive impulse at the time, but not that reclusive. It was too wild. If you go north from where we were, there'd be nothing but woods and grizzly bears, until you get to the Arctic Circle. I found that oppressive. You couldn't even go for walks. There were instructions about going for walks. You take a flare and a map and a blanket and a bell, because within 20 minutes you can get lost by going round in circles.' Firth is gentlemanly, affable. With his deep, old-fashioned voice, he talks as if he were in a smoking room, holding a brandy bubble. We were quickly on to the subject of his childhood. Having been born in Africa, where his parents were teachers, he came to England at the age of four. Then, after stints in Billericay and Brentwood, the family moved to St Louis, Missouri, for a year. Firth was 12. When they came back to England, it was to another town, just outside Winchester. The young Firth felt unsettled. The year in America, he says, 'didn't feel like a very good thing at the time. It was probably a very good thing. I had a very bad time there.' The year abroad had done something to him. 'American kids,' he says, 'were a hell of a lot more sophisticated. I was barely out of grey shorts. I'd come out of primary school, where my classmates had grass-stained knees and collected football cards.' The American kids, on the other hand, 'were more like something out of Woodstock. I was like something out of Just William. They had slogans on their backs that were to do with the Vietnam war. I felt like a geek. I made up for it with a false cockiness. Before I got rejected, I would tell someone to fuck off. Someone would say, "What's your name?" and I'd say, "Mind your own business."' This was how he started: the first serious acting he did was to pretend he was tough, when he was not. Looking at his facial expressions, at the layers of stoicism and reserve, one gets a sense of somebody deeply, quintessentially English. Firth's face was once described in The New York Times as 'strangely neutral'. Unlike Jude Law, or Ralph Fiennes, he does not easily slip into American; being in America as a child only made him more English. The English actors he likes are Albert Finney, Donald Pleasance and Sir Anthony Hopkins - men of elusive emotions and inner struggle. He tells me he went back to his American school in the 90s, and found, to his relief, that it was 'pretty nasty. The place was horrible and had the atmosphere of a reform school. It made me realise that it wasn't all me.' He had acted in pantomimes and school plays since the age of five. 'School plays,' he says, 'were always something where I was definitely praised and in demand; that wasn't true of most aspects of school life for me.' He wasn't the first to be picked for the football team, or particularly academic. When he was 14, he made 'an official announcement to myself' that he wanted to be an actor. After the unsettled childhood, he didn't have a pleasant adolescence. Firth saw the Winchester of the 70s, full of squaddies, Hampshire lads and public schoolboys, as a place seething with menace. 'People will laugh at this, this is going to sound hilarious to some people, but I've felt more threatened in a town in Hampshire than I've felt in central Los Angeles,' he tells me. At school in Winchester, and later at drama school, he resented the fact that people thought of him as posh. He felt conflicted; at school he roughened his accent. Talking about his school clearly makes him uncomfortable. He says, 'Every time I mention school, the headmaster writes to my parents.' This is odd. Here is Colin Firth, the man who played Valmont and Mr Darcy, still under the spell of his old headmaster. Here, perhaps, is a clue to other Firth characters - the evasive, squirming Geoffrey Clifton in The English Patient, the walled-in schoolboy Communist Tommy Judd in Another Country. Was Firth a bad boy at school? Referring to his old headmaster, he says, 'If ever I've suggested that I was, that's what he takes issue with. I was just quietly resistant, in a way. He had a lack of respect for me because I was neither an identifiable wild rebel nor someone who toed the line in a meaningful way.' Firth saw himself as a 'loner', a 'quiet opter-out'. He 'didn't really like the system, I didn't like the education. I didn't fight it very courageously. I just didn't go along with it very much.' As a teenager, he got into some fights, which 'tended to be with close friends, rather than strangers in the street'. He grew his hair long, wore beads and listened to progressive rock. He 'went the hippie route', and felt, he says, like a freak. Nick Hornby says that when Firth was preparing for his role in Fever Pitch, which is about a guy who uses football as an emotional crutch, he 'found the things that were about him... I know he really identified with all that rootless Home Counties stuff, the suburban need to belong.' Firth tells me plainly: 'I didn't like my life while I was at school. I can honestly say I don't feel that I was very happy at school ever.' At 16, the long-haired Yes and King Crimson fan found his feet; he went to sixth-form college. Suddenly, with his flares, his interest in books and rock music, he 'slotted in very nicely with the in-crowd'. But 'academically, it all went to pot'. When punk came along, Firth was not a convert. 'Progressive rock,' he says, 'had become so pompous, and that pompousness suited me, because I had become so well acquainted with it. There was so much snobbery. It was my sanctuary from the laddishness that I didn't fit in with.' He stuck to flares, too - the grandiosity of the late hippie period had become his identity. Once again, he was an outsider. Not feeling like a future heartthrob, Firth moved to London in 1978 to 'get near theatres'. He was miserable. This must have seemed like a last chance, a shot in the dark. He took a job answering the phone for the National Youth Theatre. He had no friends, enjoyed reading Kafka. He 'made tea' at the National Theatre's wardrobe department. He auditioned for a place at the Drama Centre, and got it. Christopher Fettes, who taught Firth there, says that 'as a boy and a young man, Colin was a person of conspicuous intelligence. Real intelligence. It is very rare to have the privilege of training people for the theatre who are by nature poets. And Colin is.' At the Drama Centre, Fettes explains, 'there is an insistence on the Stanislavsky Method'. The approach, which is Russian, is based on using your inner demons to express the emotions of your character; you turn your own frustration into someone else's. Fettes explains that while this approach 'simply doesn't suit the Anglo-Saxon temperament in many, many cases', Firth 'responded to the training on every level, right from the early stages'. Firth was taught the Laban theory of psychological types, and put through the paces of 'Russian emotional freedom and Jewish introspection'. He came to know the 'reality of the inner world'. Fettes says that 'when he was a boy, one saw a potential Paul Schofield in him'. The Drama Centre mounted a production of Hamlet, something they had not done before, and have not done since. Firth played the title role, and was immediately cast as Guy Bennett, the role eventually played in the film by Rupert Everett, in the West End production of Julian Mitchell's Another Country. Firth works best as an old-fashioned Englishman; he's harder to imagine as a foreigner or a contemporary type with an estuary accent. You can't quite see him as Ralph Fiennes's Nazi in Schindler's List, or a Tim Roth druggie. Nor can you see him as a wimp in a romantic comedy, as played by Hugh Grant. He is deeply English; he has managed to use his own troubles and frustrations to play unsettled, seething Englishmen. 'I've not been a peaceful person,' he tells me. Sometimes, he says, while acting on stage, he feels 'waves of loathing' emanating from the audience. Firth is happier to talk about his family background. He has a brother, Jonathan, who is six years younger and also an actor. Jonathan, he says, is 'a real gentleman. I'm much more of a talker. I find him a much more stable and self-contained person.' Whereas Jonathan is 'wry', Colin says of himself: 'A lot of things hit me without me seeing them coming. Disappointments would take me by surprise.' Colin, says Nick Hornby, 'laughs a lot, and likes to make people laugh'. He listens to a lot of music, including opera, and reads a lot. He loves Faulkner, which I wouldn't have expected. His parents met in India; his mother was three and his father was five. His mother's parents were missionaries, although 'they weren't the sort of missionaries who went around converting the natives and bashing people over the head with Christianity'. His father's father was also an ordained minister. You can see where his accent comes from; it's not the cut-glass Sloane accent, but something older, with a whiff of the Raj. Talking to him, you can sometimes see his Imperial cad in The Turn of the Screw; all it took was a pair of mutton-chop sideburns, and the transition was complete. After leaving the Drama Centre, Firth has never been out of work. After Another Country, he had, he says, 'cornered the market in wet, sensitive, naive young chaps'. He was still worried about what he thought of as his 'neutral face' - with such a face, he told one interviewer, he would do better in intense roles. In 1987, there was a breakthrough of sorts - he landed the role of Robert Lawrence, a disabled Falklands veteran, in Tumbledown. This was a chance to be madly intense, and Firth revelled in it. 'I lived with him,' he says of Lawrence. 'And he was a goldmine. An articulate soldier who will talk.' Firth began to identify with Lawrence. He poured himself into the role. He even began to have nightmares about the Falklands war. When he looked at the camera as Lawrence, Firth says, 'his face was in my mind's eye. His face on me.' Firth pauses, and his expression changes. Sometimes his demeanour can appear to change instantly, without apparent effort. He said, 'At the time, I loved to think I was making this incredibly reckless sacrifice for my craft. If I was screwed up at the end, so be it. Now I can see that that was glamorous to me. I wasn't really suffering at all.' There was more intensity. In 1989, Firth was Adrian LeDuc in Apartment Zero, a psychological thriller set in Argentina; Firth studied Argentina, becoming fascinated with the place. He told one interviewer about how he saw tango as a metaphor for Argentina's political situation. Playing neurotics, he said, was 'a laugh'. By the mid-90s, he was a respected leading man, but not quite a star. He'd approached the title role in Valmont as 'the claw in the velvet glove'. Valmont flopped. In 1994, he played a nutcase in Master of the Moor, the Ruth Rendell mystery. And then came Darcy. Firth was offered the part of Mr Darcy in the television production of Pride and Prejudice; it changed the pattern of his career. The role, in which he spends most of the story glowering in the background, and then jumps fully clothed into a pond, made him into a star, and an official heartthrob. After Darcy, Christopher Fettes says, 'there was hardly a woman in England who wouldn't crawl on her knees to Moscow for a touch of his nether lip'. I ask him about Darcy jumping into the pond. Firth says, 'Originally I was supposed to take all my clothes off and jump into the pool naked. The moment where the man... is a man. Instead of a stuffed shirt. He's riding on a sweaty horse, and then he's at one with the elements. But the BBC wasn't going to allow nudity, so an alternative had to be found.' There were meetings. What could Darcy do with the pond, fully clothed? 'The alternative,' Firth says, 'went via underpants, which, actually, were not historical. He would never have worn underpants. They would have looked ridiculous anyway.' In the end, the inevitable decision was reached. As Firth put it, 'If you can't take them all off, just jump in.' The trouble was that Firth himself, as Bridget Jones was to discover, was not allowed to jump into the pond. Firth tells me, 'There's a thing called Wiles disease, which means you can't be insured to jump into a pond, because you can get sick from rat's piss. So we got a stuntman to do the actual dive.' A stuntman did the dive? So those mutton-chop sideburns flying through the air were not Firth. 'Everything is me, except there's a very, very brief shot of the stuntman in midair. Everything else is me.' Darcy, of course, is not a confused, post-feminist wimp. He is not remotely noncommittal. He was the best televisual real man for ages, and appealed directly to the growing constituency of lonely thirtysomething women. In Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the heroine manages to get an interview with him, and asks him about the 'wet-shirt shots'. Then she asks about his next film, which, he tells her, is 'about moss'. I go to see the film about moss, My Life So Far, in which Firth plays a quaint Scottish aristocrat who has invented some new uses for sphagnum moss. He starts off nutty, and begins to smoulder as soon as Ir�ne Jacob appears on the scene. There are some great Firth moments, with the camera closing in on the hyper-expressive face as the tormented eyes slide around. He's also in a film called Londinium, as a man who is 'terribly gentlemanly but suddenly violently irascible' - a touch of the John Cleeses - and has a camp part in Relative Values, a film based on the No�l Coward play, alongside Julie Andrews and Stephen Fry. Firth says he is going to go off on holiday and read some books. 'I'm going through a big Graham Greene phase,' he says. He is an admirer of Ralph Fiennes, and would have loved Fiennes's part in The End of the Affair. 'He's got it covered,' says Firth. It could get quite exasperating, actually. He keeps eating up the things I'd like to do.' Firth twinkles again and laughs. Five years later, it is clear that Firth's tenure as a romantic lead is far from over. It might not be long before we see him in the clutches of Bridget Jones herself. Is that too much to ask? � My Life So Far opens on 12 May nationwide and Relative Values is released in June ~~~~~~ "camp" part in Relative Values? Should've asked him the infamous Peter question. ;-)

Many, many thanks, Karen! Well spotted!! Am off to buy a copy of the Observer, to see if there are any pics. Sounds like a magazine article. Some new stuff there. So Livia is a documentary maker and has a PhD (and beautiful!) And his granfathers were ordained ministers. Have wondered about that. Missionaries were not always ordained. Love the comment about his old headmaster writing to his parents ...probably thought CF was a model student! Interesting cooment on RF as well...I've often wondered if Colin wanted those roles (who wouldn't?)

Thanks, Karen!! This story made my day. It�s been such a long time since the last big interview. Btw ain�t it great that Colin loves Faulkner, I could�ve bet on it. Funny though that all the old stuff about Darcy & the pond, Lawrence, Meg & grizzly bears, bad boy at school, Drama Centre etc. was again recycled but there was nothing about his latest success, 3DOR. rumour has it, he will play Mark Darcy in the film version of Bridget Jones's Diary. The official status of the rumour...is 'unconfirmed'. Aha! This means: he�s IN!

Thanks, Karen. Such a great article. It really captures a lot of the personality of the man himself, and seems to be completely updated. One of the best I have read about him. A great find, and so needed right now. Perhaps (we hope) it is a prelude to the official news about Mark Darcy. xx Murph I have it on my pages now, if anyone misses it for some reason.

Ohhh! Wonderful! Thank you, Karen, for finding this. I've also put it up the link on cf.com. Perhaps the best article about him ever, and for sure the longest. This author (can't believe it is a man) has studied his subject almost as thoroughly as any Firthologist around here, but obviously had better access to the sources ;-) PS: Meet you in Moscow.

Sorry I posted in the wrong topic: Thank you Karen...what a super interview. Sad when he talks about Ralph Fiennes doing all the thing he wants to do. When I saw The End of the Affair, I could have wept thinking of Colin in that role. ~~~~~ Would someone pl. explain this to me...: "Firth was taught the Laban theory of psychological types, and put through the paces of 'Russian emotional freedom and Jewish introspection'. He came to know the 'reality of the inner world'. ~~~~~ He likes opera..(Livia?) He sounds v. happy :-)

Did anyone catch Stephen Fry on Parkinson on Friday? RV was discussed, apparently JA has particular skills in "farting" as disclosed on air! Luckily given that vein of humour, SF declined to mention our DB.... luckily for us? Also read an article in current Radio Times on Jack Dee, he is 38 and spent an unhappy time at a comprehensive in Winchester. Just wondered if he and CF had come across each other before Londinium? Typically the article mentioned all JD' acting roles/recent projects, except the one I wanted to hear about!! Anyway the Observer has more than made up for that, thanks Karen for breaking the news. Had a scoop of my own today... blockbuster's single copy of SLOW was actually available to rent, it's normally out. So I am off to enjoy some Matthew close ups.

Luxuriously long article. Loved it and that it provoked so many long time droolers to respond. We back a winner, even if he doesn't get those Ralph Fiennes parts. How many of us cringed at this from the author..."Darcy appealing to the growing constituency of lonely thirty something women.: Ouch!! (Renate) Meet you in Moscow. I'll be there in kneepads. ;-) (Elena) but there was nothing about his latest success, 3DOR. Unless this was a veiled reference to it...."Sometimes, he says, while acting on stage, he feels 'waves of loathing' emanating from the audience." LOL! Surely, not. (Lizza) RV was discussed, apparently JA has particular skills in "farting" as disclosed on air! Luckily given that vein of humour, SF declined to mention our DB.... luckily for us? Dear God, yes. Some things are better left unsaid. Not that it would make a whiff of difference. Any photos to the article, Bethan?

Blockbuster only has one copy?! Tut! My local has three copies...last time I checked, they were all out. Which is good news.:-) I'm very partial to Matthew. I just hope that when CF plays Mark Darcy (see, I'm no longer saying "if"), they'll let him appear with his natural coloring, and not dunk him in black. He looks years younger...and I like auburn! I've got the original Observer article....it's in the Magazine, a four page spread, with about ten pix of CF, most of which I'd seen before. But there are new shots. There's a large colour photo of CF and Sophie Thompson from RV, and a B&W shot of CF standing in front of scenery boards. There are also two photos next to each other, of CF with Meg Tilly, and with Livia. The Meg Tilly shot is the one in which she wears glasses and he looks like (IMHO) Kurt Russell. The Colin/Livia shot is the best I've seen of them together...he has his arm round her and they're both smiling. And I can't scan! But if these photos don't appear soon via some other more IT literate source, I'll have a go!! I think that male journalists produce better interviews with CF. He seems more at ease with them. I like the bit about his parents meeting when they were aged three and five. Real childhood sweethearts! And the comment that "a lot of things hit me without me seeing them coming. Disappointments would take me by surprise". He's had his fair share of ups and downs. And , reading the small print at the end, I'm glad to see that MLSF opens "nationwide"...May 12 though, not May 5!

Meant to add...copydates for newspaper colour mags are normally about 2 months before print date, so I guess he must have gone to LA immediately after 3DOR ended, and should be back in London now. Also, the interview seems to have been conducted in 2 stages...the first, when he was filming DQ about 12 months ago. The interview must be linked to the release of MLSF....my guess is that MLSF was originally scheduled for release last summer in the UK.

This can't compete with the Observer article, but I post it nevertheless ;-) http://www.d.umn.edu/~molson2/mst3k/unitedse.html "The United Servo Academy Men's Chorus Hymn" from The Starfighters Music & Lyrics: Kevin Murphy Transcribed by Matthew Olson and Alana Olson [On the Satellite: A choir of uniformed Tom Servos stand in formation behind Tom, the director.] MIKE: Welcome, my friends. We are very fortunate to have with us today the United Servo Academy Men's Chorus, directed by the United Servo Academy Men's Choral Director, Vice Brigadier Sir Thomas Bullhead Servo, conducting them in the United Servo Academy Men's Chorus, um, Hymn. TOM: [to the chorus] Alright, eyes front, three and... CHORUS: Here's to the guys and gals who like to fly, Flying so high with some guy in the sky. Skyrockets in flight, Afternoon delight, Captain High at your ser--vice. TOM: Would you like to fly in my beautiful balloon? Take these broken wings and learn to fly me to the moon. Sail on silver bird, Have you ever heard that the bird is the word? CHORUS: In a big country Dreams say with you, "Come along with me Lucille, In my merry Oldsmobile. We are kids for saving Earth, We are fans of Colin Firth. Off we go to yonder blue, We really move our tails for you. TOM: [Chorus "ahhs" harmony] 'Cross the wide Missouri! [music ends] MIKE: Ah! Ah, fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! That was the United Servo Academy Men's Chorus. And that sonorous tone you heard has to be due in large part to the fantastic conduc-- [chorus, under direction of Servo, begins singing "Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous"] What are you doing? What are you doing? Please Stop that music. Please, please do not, do not continue with this Vice Brigadier Sir Thomas Bullhead, I implore you, stop the music! Stop I say! Stop the music! Uh, Sylvester, can you get an engineer in here please, in Studio A? I apologize ladies and gentlemen. I want you out of my studio! Stop this music right now! Out, Out! Raus, Raus!

Thanks for the article, Karen! I'm going to start calling you "Scoop";-) Bethan, we'll anxiously await word of any new photos. I guess I'm being picky about this article but . . .they couldn't even get his place of birth right! Not even the right continent--sheesh! Spelled his wife's name wrong, too, and the dates on the Tilly relationship are not quite right. Speaking of which . . .the part about the Canada "wilderness" is waaaay exaggerated. Probably recycled from old stuff; CF seems to have a wicked sense of humor and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he fed this "living in the wilds" stuff to some city slicker journalist way back when just to see if they'd be gullible enough to print it and they've been repeating it ever since. Lots of nice new quotes, though, but do they have to keep rehashing the school stuff? I *never* read this type of thing ad nauseum about other actors. Odd, as others have said, that there's no mention of 3DOR--but that would have been at odds with this writer's apparent agenda in presenting him as an actor who is limited in his ability to do anything but "repressed Englishmen." Not sure Colin would agree with that; I sure wouldn't. Less versatile than Fiennes? No, no , no. Rafe has had the breaks and the opportunities--and to his credit, he's made the most of them. Not surprised to hear that he's longed for the Fiennes-type roles. Keep at it, Colin, it may happen for you yet. And he's studied The Method, Moon!;-) "Sometimes, he says, while acting on stage, he feels 'waves of loathing' emanating from the audience." His perception is so sad--the truth is so much to the contrary. Well, I think I've learned moe about Wiles disease than I've ever wanted to know.;-) And Faulkner again? 'Fess up, Colin: that's a copy of "Tuesdays With Morrie" I see tucked under your arm.;-) Glad to hear he's been spending the past months with his boy. Now back to work, Colin!;-) Very interesting stuff--thanks again, Scoop.;-)

Nice to see you back again, Lizza. Watch our darling Matthew a few times for me. (Renate) PS: Meet you in Moscow. *hee hee* I'll be taking a breather in Glasgow enroute to Moscow, looking for my little nutcase Donovan, if you please. (Evelyn) When I saw The End of the Affair, I could have wept thinking of Colin in that role. pass the Kleenex. At the Drama Centre, Fettes explains, 'there is an insistence on the Stanislavsky Method'. The approach, which is Russian, is based on using your inner demons to express the emotions of your character; you turn your own frustration into someone else's. Fettes explains that while this approach 'simply doesn't suit the Anglo-Saxon temperament in many, many cases', Firth 'responded to the training on every level, right from the early stages'. Think this pretty much *nails* the discussion of whether Colin is a "Method" actor. As it was pointed out, that terms (capitalized) usually refers to the Actors Studio technique associated with Lee Strasberg and others, but it was based on Stanislavky's methods of "inside out acting." Here are the links to additional info on it, but can't find any mention of the Laban theory of pschological types. Will keep hunting. http://www.theatrgroup.com/Method/ Nice to see that Livia now has a profession. And we all snickered when one article referred to her as a "producer." Am amazed however at all this space (emphasis) being given to his childhood and the overall characterization of its being "unhappy." That's seems so unusually open. Hmmm BTW, there are tons of color photos with the magazine spread and Ann's DH has scanned in a page with the one we haven't seen yet. I'll put it up in a tad. I should be able to scan in the others tomorrow myself. :-)

I've put up the Colin and Sophie T pic on my Relative Values page: http://www.spring.net/karenr/mdbro/rv2.html Hmmm, that "campy" definitely has me worried.

Thanks, Karen! I will thank you everywhere you post this article. ;-) And he's studied The Method, Moon!;-) It is official! Mari, loved your comments, I see just like you. ;-) Can you imagine Colin going around the house singing Ridi Pagliaccio ?

Hmmm, that "campy" definitely has me worried. Yes, we will probably hate it. ;-) Then again, he may end up taking away some roles form Rupi. ;-) Thanks for the quick scan Ann and Karen.

Thanks Scoop, Ann 'n James. Moxie looks glam...Peter looks 'different'...and the shirt collar doesn't fit again. ~~~~~~ My dictionary says: "camp"..[Oh No]...exaggerated effeminate mannerisms exhibited esp. by homosexuals. Exaggerated, affected, outrageously artificial, or out of date as to be considered amusing. Also..."loose-limbed sensuality which was sometimes macho and sometimes ..." We'll love Peter anyway...and we know IRL he" isn't"..So..who cares...

Adrian in AZ was slightly camp...reminded me at times of Felix Unger (The Odd Couple). But it's one of his best performances. In the brief clip I saw of RV, CF's voice was reassuringly deep....all three or four words!

I thought it was really refreshing to find an indepth article that for once didn't mention Jennifer in connection with Darcy, maybe the next one will spare us Meg in all her silver lame^ glory. (ouch!) Bethan, the one of him with Livia has been shown before. IMO I think it was just when he had given up smoking because his face appears much fuller. It was so much leaner and more boyish on stage. I agree it is most curious that 3DOR is not all mentioned, given its Olivier nom. At least we can all rest easy in our beds---------- the "wave of hate etc" was not emanating from any audiences we were in! Maybe hate and longing became confused in Walker's mind!!

Thanks a million for that article, Karen. At last, something new to dissect! ;-) (Moon) Mari, loved your comments, I see just like you. ;-) Me three. Refreshing as it was to read new material, I must admit it always irks me when some of the details are wrong. Then again, maybe everything else we've read is wrong and this is right (as was mentioned, the author had direct access to a rather credible source--ODB himself). Sooo, Livia's a documentary maker, then?! And did indeed finish the elusive PhD (perhaps accounting for that year in Umbria)!? And CF as MD is still an 'uncomfirmed rumour'?! (Karen) Am amazed however at all this space (emphasis) being given to his childhood and the overall characterization of its being "unhappy." That's seems so unusually open. Hmmm You think (or are you being ironic)? Seems this is a recurring theme which dominates every one of his in-depth interviews. There was that piece early last year--can't remember where, but it was British--in which Colin discussed his St. Louis experience, how rough his classmates were compared to him and the 'swagger' he developed. (Lizza) maybe the next one will spare us Meg in all her silver lame^ glory. (ouch!) Hee hee! Welcome back dearie (you too, Renate). I remember this pic from another site. Fugly outfit! At least we can all rest easy in our beds---------- the "wave of hate etc" was not emanating from any audiences we were in! Yeah, what's up with that? Loathing, Colin? Hardly! (Evelyn) My dictionary says: "camp"..[Oh No]...exaggerated effeminate mannerisms exhibited esp. by homosexuals. Ohno, indeed! It's Jack from Will and Grace! Ahhhhhh! It'll be a scream to see CF play a part like this (*if* we get to see RV here in the US). Oh, well. Off to read some Graham Greene. ;-P

Bethan - I've got the original article too and have just been reading it again so that I will have something vaguley interesting to contribute. Here goes! I especially like the quote "After Darcy...Christopher Fettes says (Fettes taught CF at The Drama Centre BTW.."there was hardly a woman in England who wouldn't crawl on her knees to Moscow for a touch of his nether lip"" Obviously Mr Fettes underestimates the power of the man - methinks he is blissfully unaware of the cosmopolitan nature of the Firthbase and I am sure that if knees were not an option that we'd get there somehow ;-D

(Evelyn)We'll love Peter anyway...and we know IRL he" isn't".. Unfortunately, we do not know what he is or isn�t IRL, to be quite honest. Anyway, I don�t mind seeing him in a campy role, on the contrary, I�m very curious to see it. (Lizza)the "wave of hate etc" was not emanating from any audiences we were in! I think Colin is talking about Walker here and the negative feelings that Walker was supposed to stir, among other things. In other words, he is hoping to have made such an impact.

(Karen) True Romance(Article) by William Leith ...(CF quote)'But the BBC wasn't going to allow nudity, so an alternative had to be found.' Thank goodness for that, or there would have been a small earthquake in the vacinity of Winchester from Miss Austen doing 360's in her grave. Nudity -- in "Pride and Prejudice"! How crass and obvious. Jane Austen wrote comedies of manners; she was an astute and ironic observer of social conventions. The whole idea of nudity is just so -- untoward. Some decorum, please. I don't even want to talk about the film version of "Mansfield Park". I enjoy the book greatly. Some Janeites consider it to be her finest novel. That is their take on the book. I found Christopher Fettes a bit disconcerting, from the tone of his comments I felt CF might be dead or dying. They sound like something from a eulogy. Okay, that is rather harsh. Revision: Fettes's comments come across like a speech from a testamonial dinner. All that's missing is the rubber chicken and the gold watch. Maybe he's pitching for a job as CF's publicist. So CF is something of a Method actor. What form of the System does the Drama Centre teach? Is the truncated form made famous by Lee Strasberg? Or the more fully developed Stanislavsky System taught by Stella Adler? Perhaps the Drama Centre offers its own take on Stanislavsky? (These are just rhetorical questions.) CF doesn't seem as fraught and intense as the general idea of a Method actor. Perhaps it's his Englishness. Has CF ever done Chekov? MLSF did have Chekovian qualities, but has he ever actually done Chekov? It would be interesting, as Stanislavsky originally started his methodology for application to the Chekov plays presented at the Moscow Art Theatre. I'm flummoxed by Nick Hornby's quote concerning Ms. Giuggioli, what does he mean that she's "joke-perfect"? It seems a very strange way to describe someone. Is it British slang? (Mari) Probably recycled from old stuff;...Lots of nice new quotes, though, but do they have to keep rehashing the school stuff? I *never* read this type of thing ad nauseum about other actors. It may be that CF doesn't like tallking about his life in detail. He may prefer to keep his private life private. (Part of his charm.) The journalist, William Leith, may well have had to write an article which was, more or less, a certain number of words and had to resort to padding the piece. Or the old information may have been his editor's idea. (Lizza) RV was discussed, apparently JA has particular skills in "farting" as disclosed on air! Luckily given that vein of humour, SF declined to mention our DB.... luckily for us? (Heide) Dear God, yes. Some things are better left unsaid. Not that it would make a whiff of difference. Snicker, snicker. Puns -- I love 'em.

"Joke-perfect" means, I think, absolutely perfect, perfect beyond belief. (Karen) True Romance(Article) by William Leith ...(CF quote)'But the BBC wasn't going to allow nudity, so an alternative had to be found.' I'm not very sure about the BBC not allowing nudity. They seem to show little else but nudity at the moment (having just seen "Madame Bovary. Most bizarre!) Andrew Davies was quoted as saying that he wanted Darcy to jump in naked, but that Colin Firth "wasn't up for it" (ie wouldn't do it). Sensible fellow...clothes on can be far more erotic than clothes off!

(bethan)I'm not very sure about the BBC not allowing nudity. They seem to show little else but nudity at the moment (having just seen "Madame Bovary. Most bizarre!) Nudity in Madame Bovary is apropos to the story. Obviously Emma didn't like making love with her clothes on (as with the good but uptight doctor), thus her infidelity. Darcy diving into the lake was not even a part of Pride and Prejudice, so his doing so naked would have been merely salacious...and inappropriate . Personally, I find that scene more emotionally appealing than sexually so - more about Darcy's emotional suffering than his sexual deprivation (IMHO). I like Fettes' comment about Colin being a poet. Wonder if it's true.

Andrew Davies was quoted as saying that he wanted Darcy to jump in naked, but that Colin Firth "wasn't up for it" (ie wouldn't do it). It wouldn't have been Colin Firth, but a stuntman doing it, anyway. *** An uplifting start to the chorus of the hymn of the Firth-faithful, (thanks for the find, Renate!): "We are here to save the Earth we are fans of Colin Firth..." Anyone care to contribute? ;-)

(Mari, Moon, Elaine, more or less) Me three. Refreshing as it was to read new material, I must admit it always irks me when some of the details are wrong. Hey, he gets points from me for getting Will's age right (I think). Thank God, your questions on the System were rhetorical, Cheryl. I'd hate to get into another one of those discussions where we all show off how very little we really know. Nice picture of Peter, I think.;-) Karen, thanks for finding this article so early.

Great article Karen, hope he does play Mark Darcy, I received BJsD Saturday and I love it.

Ok, Variety is reporting it! ***** Tuesday April 11 3:18 AM ET Colin Firth may get lead entry in ``Diary'' By Adam Dawtrey LONDON (Variety) - Colin Firth is being lined up to play the romantic lead opposite Renee Zellweger in Working Title's film adaptation of ``Bridget Jones' Diary,'' with Hugh Grant as his rival. The casting of Firth, who played supporting roles in ''The English Patient'' and ``Shakespeare in Love,'' is peculiarly apt. His character, Mark Darcy, is based on Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's ``Pride and Prejudice,'' whom Firth played in a BBC television adaptation. Firth's smoldering incarnation of Austen's hero obsessed the Bridget Jones character in Helen Fielding's original novel. The film, directed by Sharon Maguire, starts shooting May 1. Financing and distribution is split among Universal Pictures, Miramax Films and Canal Plus. Reuters/Variety

"We are here to save the Earth we are fans of Colin Firth..." Wasn't this heard on Mystery Science Theater 3000? (Maureen) I received BJsD Saturday and I love it. Make sure you get your hands on Edge of Reason as well. Even if it wasn't so funny, one has to love a book in which the words "Colin Firth" are used so frequently. Talk about free publicity!

Thanks Mari....is this pretty official?..I mean, can we start the party?

(Evelyn)"Mansfield Park" , IMO was a dog. Further more I didn't even like the book.Poor Austen choice. Andrew Davies is writing the screen play to "Northanger Abbey".Good luck. I didn�t like it either. These are my two least favourite JA books. (KarenR)He is an admirer of Ralph Fiennes, and would have loved Fiennes's part in The End of the Affair. 'He's got it covered,' says Firth. It could get quite exasperating, actually. He keeps eating up the things I'd like to do.' Well! We thought so and have been exasperated accordingly ;-) Firth studied Argentina, becoming fascinated with the place. He told one interviewer about how he saw tango as a metaphor for Argentina's political situation. Perhaps I should have danced on the sidewalk ;-) (Evelyn)He likes opera..(Livia?) Why Livia? Perhaps he liked opera first, and then Livia. He sounds v. happy :-) Does he? (Renate)"The United Servo Academy Men's Chorus Hymn" Renate, that was so funny, what *is* it all about? :-) (Moon)Can you imagine Colin going around the house singing Ridi Pagliaccio? Yes I can! Especially when he finds that Ralph had nicked another role he wanted. (Elena)Unfortunately, we do not know what he is or isn�t IRL, to be quite honest. So? You don't believe after Meg, Jennifer, Livia and little Will, he is definitely hetero? Skeptic lady, you! ;-) I think Colin is talking about Walker here and the negative feelings that Walker was supposed to stir, among other things. In other words, he is hoping to have made such an impact. I hope not, because he hasn't... I expect he was talking about some other play...

(Evelyn)...is this pretty official?..I mean, can we start the party? Break out the hats and noise-makers, I say:-) Don't think there's any turning back for him at this point. (KarenR)He is an admirer of Ralph Fiennes, and would have loved Fiennes's part in The End of the Affair. 'He's got it covered,' says Firth. It could get quite exasperating, actually. He keeps eating up the things I'd like to do.' (Gi) Well! We thought so and have been exasperated accordingly ;-) Sorry, but I refuse to blame Rafe for this state of affairs. If Colin really wants to start being in the running for these types of parts, he knows what he needs to do.

Gaah, sorry for messing up the tags. I've gotten out of practice:-(

You don't believe after Meg, Jennifer, Livia and little Will, he is definitely hetero? I�m not suggesting or believing that he is or isn�t, just idly pointing out the fact that we don�t really know anything about this or any other private things or feelings of his, we only know what we�re shown and told. He sounds v. happy :-) Does he? I also think he sounds v. balanced and sound. Only a very balanced and secure person would analyze his past the way he does, or talk in public about being exasperated because a colleague of his keeps eating up everything he�d like to do. It�s an amazingly candid confession.

darn

Only a very balanced and secure person would analyze his past the way he does, .. And on'n on'n on.... (Psst...you're almost 40..."Get Over It")

Forgot...IMHO ;-)

Agree with Susan. 'Tain't Rafe's fault Colin doesn't get those roles. Besides, I think this quote 'He's got it covered,' says Firth. It could get quite exasperating, actually. He keeps eating up the things I'd like to do.' was said with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Sounds to me like he knows just what he wants to do and is moving very securely into (sob) middle age.

(Evelyn)He likes opera..(Livia?) Why Livia? This is the first time I've seen opera mentioned as one of his choices of music (though I'm not surprised as the chap is obviously very eclectic). I guess Evelyn wonders whether this may be Livia's influence. Well, we know absolutely nothing at all about Livia's likes. I expect he was talking about some other play... Possibly "Chatsky", his previous theatre work. The actors were praised, but the play was not very well received and he played an unsympathetic character. I also think he sounds v. balanced and sound. Only a very balanced and secure person would analyze his past the way he does, or talk in public about being exasperated because a colleague of his keeps eating up everything he�d like to do. It�s an amazingly candid confession. On the other hand, maybe that's the effect he hoped to achieve: you (we) think he is what he appears to be: balanced, secure, philosophical, analytical, poking fun at himself... More at peace with himself and more confident... beginning to act mature. Less scatty perhaps (he used to be known for that). Or in other words, he has a better control of himself. But whether he really is so vastly different - I wouldn't know. Elena is right on this point. We only see what is shown to us. :-)

Oh, b.........!

I get an error message when I try to post at Topic 80, so excuse this for being in the wrong place. I thought you would like to read it. - Murph 4/12/00 - From Popcorn.com - Colin Firth Makes 'Diary' Date Mr Darcy to play Mark Darcy. Confused? Read on. In a bizarre case of art imitating art, Colin Firth is set to play the romantic lead in 'Bridget Jones' Diary'. The quirk is that Firth's character in the film, Mark Darcy, is based on Jane Austen's Mr Darcy - the character Firth himself played in 'Pride And Prejudice'. So post-modern. 'Bridget Jones' Diary' is set to begin production on May 1, with Firth starring alongside alongside Renee Zellweger (currently working on her - yikes! - English accent) and Hugh Grant. Grant will play Firth's love rival in the film, which has been adapted for the big screen by Grant's writing buddy Richard Curtis - the two previously collaborated on 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' and 'Notting Hill'.

Thanks, Murph. Looks like Topic 80 went on tilt when we got to 2000 messages. Try the new Bridget topic # 131.

From This is London (11/4/00) - has a mention of Colin and SD (BTW, for those interested in RF's Shakespearean productions, check out The Times and an article about Linus Roache) Stage fight for theatres by Alison Roberts London's theatrical chatterati have a big fortnight ahead of them. On Wednesday, the first-night crowd will traipse to the Gainsborough Studios in Shoreditch to witness an Almeida Theatre production of Richard II, starring Ralph Fiennes. (Handy tip: don't wear your Manolo Blahniks: it's very muddy and the Portakabin loos are distinctly unglamorous.) The following week, a revival of Peter Nichols's Passion Play opens at the Donmar Warehouse - and, yes, Sam Mendes will be there, fresh from Oscar triumph, if a little bored with shaking people's hands and pretending, poor boy, he's known them all his life. Still, anyone who's anyone in London's theatre world will fight for tickets to these two events, if only to rub shoulders with the other anyones, and thus prove that they're definitely a somebody. Between them, the Almeida and the Donmar have got London's fashionable theatrical set sewn up. This is largely because they're both quality venues, each of them with a track record of fine, accessible and innovative productions. And it's also because they're natural expansionists, run by determined directors (Mendes at the Donmar in Covent Garden; Jonathan Kent and Ian McDiarmid at the Almeida in Islington) intent on colonising the West End and beyond. Success is undeniably sexy. They are, however, quite different beasts. Should you wish, for example, you could divide them by average audience member. At the Almeida, the clientele is older and smarter. They might be celebrity academics or Left-leaning lawyers, arthouse types who'll eat, post-play, at one of those cosy little restaurants opposite the King's Head on Upper Street or head south to St Johns in Clerkenwell - the kind of people who can't quite bring themselves to throw out their old black polo neck. What they like about the Almeida is its intelligence, its casual - if somewhat uncomfortable - atmosphere and its proximity to their Islington town house. At the Donmar, meanwhile, the audience is much more student-like, a mixture of late twentysomething postgrads (who'll sit in a Soho coffee bar afterwards) and media-based culture vultures (who'll eat pretheatre dinner at The Ivy). They wear Levi's, liked the idea of Sam Mendes commissioning a musical from Alex James of Blur - sadly, it never materialised - and, rightly, worshipped Alan Cumming in Cabaret. Oddly, given these (admittedly broad-brush) audience profiles, the Almeida is the more artistically daring of the two venues. While the Donmar generally sticks to Anglo-American plays and musicals, the Almeida isn't afraid to stage an international repertoire. At the same time, both venues have big plans for the future - both are light on their feet and, thanks to long-term success, can afford to take the risks they might have baulked at before. If you can divide the two theatres by audience-member, you can equally divide them in terms of ambition. Fundamentally, both theatres want to run their own customised version of the National Theatre (that is, to stage more than one production at the same time, to run a mini-empire). They can do this by producing one show at headquarters and another couple at outposts in the West End. This isn't a case of simply transferring a successful play from original venue to West-End house - it means doing it all yourself, without the services of an intermediate producer. This way lies world domination. Can they both pull it off? First of all, they need to attract the box office-busting playwrights and actors who'll pay the rent, leaving respective artistic directors free to plot the next push into Lloyd Webber territory. Both venues have glamour on their side, though the Almeida is still the heavyweight in this respect, supported by the big guns of British theatre, including Diana Rigg, Harold Pinter, Michael Gambon (with whom McDiarmid, who's also an actor, recently starred in Tim Burton's spooky thriller Sleepy Hollow). The Islington duo can also count on their network of Hollywood friends: Fiennes, of course, Juliette Binoche (who adores the Almeida), Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, and Kevin Spacey, whose appearance in The Iceman Cometh proved how star-struck we really are. Spacey has since taken a place on the Old Vic's board. It's perhaps no coincidence that the Almeida will move there early next year while the Islington base undergoes minor refurbishment, adding a south London outpost to its existing network of venues. But Spacey, of course, is equally devoted to Sam Mendes. Together they made a movie, American Beauty, which won five Oscars. Mendes doesn't need to work at attracting Hollywood stars to his theatre (should he desire it), since they're lining up to work with him. And given the sensation caused by Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room, who can blame them? On the home front, the Donmar's best friends include playwrights Patrick Marber and David Hare, actors Colin Firth and Natasha Richardson, and increasingly impressive director David Leveaux. Mendes's theatre relies less upon the really big stars of British theatre (though Helen Mirren and Nicholas Hytner both feature this season), often preferring sparky young actors whose work shows potential - Stephen Dillane, for example, gave his best performance yet in the Donmar's revival of Stoppard's The Real Thing. The Almeida has the greater experience, having already run a second home at the Albery Theatre and having redeveloped the Gainsborough Studios. Indeed, the Donmar is pretty open about studying the battle plans already drawn up by its Islington cousin: staff talk about following the Almeida blueprint in a downsized form. Significantly, though, the Donmar has money on its side, thanks to what Sam Mendes calls "quite small" gifts from Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks film company and a New York theatre producer who wants first-look rights for Broadway transfers. The Almeida, meanwhile, is still wholly reliant on Arts Council funding. But it's not really a competition. There's lots of room in London theatre for rampant ambition: we're lucky like that. In any case, the more fashionable first nights the better - someone's got to keep the theatrical chatterati off the streets of an evening.

From The Scotsman (11/04/00): Sphagnum opus COMING shortly to a cinema near you, My Life So Far, starring Colin Firth, who is struggling to avoid being typecast as Mr Darcy. Having played him to acclaim in Pride and Prejudice, Firth is expected to sally forth to play Darcy's modern-day namesake in Bridget Jones's Diary. In his latest movie he is cast as a Scottish aristocrat who has invented some new uses for sphagnum moss, which must have had Hollywood's moguls drooling at the thought of mega box-office returns. Apparently, the aristo starts off nutty then smoulders, which must be difficult if there is a lot of moss involved. Sphagnum should not be confused with his elder brother Stirling, not to mention Moss Bros or Mossad.

Is this Scottish humor? It sucks...

(SusanMC)Sorry, but I refuse to blame Rafe for this state of affairs. If Colin really wants to start being in the running for these types of parts, he knows what he needs to do. Not that I blame Rafe either (nor do I believe Colin does), but things may not be as easy as they seem...

Sphagnum should not be confused with his elder brother Stirling, not to mention Moss Bros or Mossad. (Evelyn), Is this Scottish humor? It sucks... I thought it was pretty funny, Evelyn. Strange, yes, but funny. I wonder if Colin wanted Rafe's part in the Avengers? ;-)

I am waiting for one of our theatre "litterati"...Arami, Cheryl, Chris(Luvvy) to pl. give us the scoop on the following from Sunday's Observer interview: "Firth was taught the Laban theory of psychological types, and put through the paces of Russian emotional freedom and Jewish introspection. He came to know the 'reality of the inner world'...." It could give us a good insight into his style of acting. Thank you.

Rudolf Laban (1879-1958). Hungarian creator of movement training theory as applied to dance, acting, etc. The Russian/Jewish reference is to Stanislavski, I would assume. The two get paired based as they are on the exploration of "the discovery and control of the actor's sensations, feelings and emotions".

Chris has given us a good link to the discussion of Stanislavski's Method, as I recall. It's a rather elaborate and exhausting technique based on the actor attempting to "become" the person portrayed, to the point of living, thinking and feeling as if the actor were that other person. Colin's description of his experiences while (and after) playing Lawrence in Tumbledown made it obvious to me that The Method has had a profound influence on his approach. By his own admission, his efforts have on occasion caused him to suffer, sometimes more than he expected, which scared him. That's what he meant when he was quoted questioning himself: "Is acting really worth it?" I think that he has since revised the intensity of his personal input and attempted to put a sensible distance (yet without any discernible detriment) between his own emotions and those necessary for creating a convincing and satisfying (as opposed to merely satisfactory) illusion on stage or screen. (Stop me, someone, I could go on like this for ever... ;-))

We know you can, dear, but you've controlled yourself admirably :-)

:-P ;-)

From that This is London article you posted the other day, Karen... At the Donmar, meanwhile, the audience is much more student-like, a mixture of late twentysomething postgrads (who'll sit in a Soho coffee bar afterwards)... Whad'ya think, ladies. Better than the Lab-owning, Volvo-driving women of a certain age typecast?

(Arami)(Stop me, someone, I could go on like this for ever... ;-)) No, no, go on. I like to know about this stuff. Thank you Chris & Arami. And Karen who emailed some interesting sites on the Laban Method. Next time I see him on stage, I'll have a greater appreciation of his portrayal.

(Evelyn)And Karen who emailed some interesting sites on the Laban Method. Are those un-postable, Karen? I'd be interested...:-)

Sure, Gi, happy to provide here as well, but first a bit of info about the Drama Centre, where Colin was trained:Drama Centre London was founded in 1962 and it is of historical interest that in those turbulent years it was one of the very few examples of a successful student revolt. It represented a response to the creation of a National Theatre that was to make demands on the actor hitherto without precedent. It was and is a true example of conservatoire training since it made available to students in the UK a selection of the work of major innovators in theatre practice from both sides of the Atlantic. These include * The Moscow Arts Theatre * The Actors Studio of New York - Lee Strasberg * The H.B. Studio New York * German Expressionism - the work of Rudolf Laban and the traditions of the European Modern Dance * The work of Louis Jouvet at the Conservatoire de Paris For all this its character reflects the traditions of the English theatre and it bears in substance a striking resemblance to the approach of Joan Littlewood at Theatre Workshop.Here are some of the things I've found on Rudolf Laban: The description of a Ph.D research project entitled, "Applications of Laban Movement Studies to Actor Training: Designing an experiential and theoretical course for training actors in physical awareness and expressivity." http://www.towson.edu/theatre/tcphd.html A Guide to Labanotation: http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~griesbec/LABANE.HTML The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies - I liked the motto at the top "move observe understand evolve: and the quote from Laban on the index page, "We need an authentic symbol of the inner vision to effect contact...we need...to think in terms of movement." http://www.limsonline.org/index2.html There is also this place, which has lots of links: http://www.laban.org/ If I've left out any good ones, Evelyn, that were in my email, feel free to post them.

HISTORIC ASPECTS OF MOTION AND SPACE Biography of Rudolph Laban RUDOLPH LABAN was born in 1879 in Bratislava, Hungary, which is now part of Czechoslovakia, (now the capital of the Sovak Republic). Even in his earliest years he was facsinated by observing people�s movements. His desire to understand physical and mental effort led him on a long course of study, experiment and research. Architecture first attracted him, but did not hold his interest. He went to Paris, Berlin, Vienna and other centres of learning to seek further knowledge of the arts and sciences essential to the student of movement. He was led from the academic to the practical in search of indigenous and cultivated activity - to the American Indians , the natives of Africa, the peoples of the Near East, and the Chinese - in order to study at first hand their national habits and the manifestations of their power. Ballet naturally claimed his major attention and in time he became Director of Movement in the Berlin State Opera and one of Europe�s most famous choreographers . Reacting against the artificiality of the theatre, however, he sought expression of his art and philosophy amongst the ordinary people, and all over Europe centres were established in his name for the craftsmen who came to seek advice on their own working problems and on the strains and stresses involved in their various occupations. In these centres they found the bodily awareness, understanding and relief in courses of movement that were provided especially to meet their needs. Unable to work under the Nazi regime, which looked upon his teachings of harmony and fulfilment through re-educating the sense of rhythm and movement as a threat to its own discordant philosophy, Laban and some of his pupils sought sanctuary in the U.K. Remarkable developments followed in that country, where previously very little awareness existed of the common basis which movement provides to both dance and work. During the war Laban turned to industry and established the Laban-Lawrence Industrial Rhythm, which comprised new approaches to selection, training, placing, investigation of working processes and assessing job capacities based on his researches into the natural rhythm of man�s movement. This development was made in association with F. C. Lawrence, who as a management consultant included in his practice these new methodes which offered a vital contribution to the solution of the difficult problems that constantly arise in the management of men and women in industry. Early in this century, at the beginning of his career, Laban began to develop a system of movement notation for the purpose of his investigations which he called "Kinetography" (known as "Labanotation" in the U.S.A.) and published in 1928. This found world-wide recognition and is now practised in connection with a variety of human activities by scientists and artists alike. In 1959 the International Council of Kinetography Laban was founded by the leading experts from both western and eastern countries. Important in Laban�s concepts and development of movement principles are his examinations of spatial relationships occuring in static and dynamic space-forms. He presented an introduction to his subjekt in his book Choreographie, which was published in 1926 in Germany but has been out of print for many years. During his later years he developed conciderably his studies of space harmony and left a manuscript on the subject called "Choreutics". This was published posthumously in 1964. In connection with investigations of human capacity in industry during the 1940's, Laban envolved the effort graph explained as a means of recording kinetic quality of performance (as opposed to spatial forms). In the further development of its use it has become an essential tool for recognising personality traits through observation and analysis of effort phrases in a person�s movements. In the field of therapy the application of his effort analysis has produced remarkable results. Through his study of mind-body relationships and the psychological effects of certain movement patterns, he was able to achieve improvements in many emotionally disturbed people as was as in those with physical limitations. Significant of fast-growing interest in Laban�s concepts was the forming in 1942 of the Laban Art Movement Guild, today flourishing association of international repute. After the war Laban devoted much of his energy and time to dance as an educational force. In 1946 Lisa Ullman, who had been his close associate for a number of years, founded the Art Movement Studio in Manchester, which became the trainingcentre for movement study and educational dance baced on Laban�s concepts and findings. Laban lectured regularly at the Studio, at the same time visiting various universities and educational establishments as guest lecturer. He was also for many years co-director with Esme�Church of the Northern Theatre School at Bradford and contributed to the training of many people who are today well known and successful in the world of drama. In 1953 Laban moved to an estate in the Thames Valley at Addlestone Surrey, where there were facilities for housing not only his work and archives but also the Art of Movement Studio. In 1954 the Laban Art of Movement Centre was formed as an educational trust to perpetuate his work and to promote and provide education in the art of movement in accordance with his theories and practice. Laban put his collection of materials at the disposal of the Trust to make accessible to the public the wealth of charts, manuscripts and models which resulted from his explorations and discoveries. After the publication of Effort in 1947, Laban wrote and published Dance and Movement Notation. Laban continued working at Addlestone Modern Educational Dance, The Mastery of Movement and Principles of until his death 1958. With the wide facilities at Addlestone, the practical application of Laban�s findings to the many fields of human activity in which movement plays an important part have been carried on extensively, and his principles are today recognised as an important basis for the movement education of children and adults. Macdonald and Evans, September 1972

Brief mention in 5th paragraph. Indie drives soccer club documentary to goal By Adam Dawtrey LONDON (Variety) - The independent film company Icon Entertainment Intl. is backing a feature documentary about Manchester United, the world's richest soccer club. American sports documentary filmmaker Bob Potter is directing the movie, which follows England's most successful team through the current season, which runs from last August to May. The film is scheduled for world premiere in October in Manchester. Potter's company, Bombo Sports & Entertainment, will co-produce the film with Icon. It marks another attempt by the film industry to cash in on the huge global following for soccer, and for Manchester United in particular. `Best,'' Mary McGuckian's biographical film about the club's most famous past player, George Best, will be released in British theaters this summer. Working Title Films is preparing ``Busby's Babes,'' about the airplane crash that wiped out the exceptional Manchester United squad of the 1950s, and other versions of that same story are also in the works. Yet soccer has a vexed track record at the box office -- recent British films such as ``Fever Pitch'' and ``The Match'' died on their theatrical release. Such is the box office stigma attached to the game that FilmFour is changing the title of its upcoming Mark Herman comedy, ``Season Ticket,'' to avoid any soccer connotations. Nonetheless, Manchester United, the current European champions and the world's richest club, has a huge global fan base. It is also a club that stirs passionate aversion in supporters of rival teams. The documentary, provisionally titled ``Manchester United the Movie,'' will follow the team to the world club championships in Tokyo and Rio De Janeiro, as well as tracking its performance in the English and European competitions. Reuters/Variety

Yet soccer has a vexed track record at the box office -- recent British films such as ``Fever Pitch''and ``The Match'' died on their theatrical release. Oh....but I thought FP was not a film about soccer, but a romantic comedy about relationships and obsessions... ;-) *winkie* *winkie* smallAnd it didn't die in the UK...but was poorly released in the US

Looks like E! Online expanded and updated its Firth file after the BJD announcement. We knew most of this, but check out his son's name *sigh of relief for those who may have thought it was Willy Tilly* ;-) Also, I didn't know about the Apt. Zero award. Colin Firth Birthdate: September 10, 1960 Birthplace: Grayshot, Hampshire, England Occupation: Actor Quote: "I don't think a great many things are achieved by crudely exerting yourself upon them. Still, I'd love to do cartwheels and the fireworks and the pyrotechnics. I would love to dazzle. I just don't have a great capacity for it." --Harper's Bazaar, May 1996 Claim to Fame: Played Tommy Judd in Another Country (1984) Significant Other(s): Wife: Livia Giuggioli; born 1970; married June 21, 1997 Jennifer Ehle, actress; born 1970 Meg Tilly, actress; born 1960; together 1989-94 Family: Grandparents: missionaries; worked in India Father: David Firth, history teacher; born 1934; traveled to various locations to teach; became history lecturer at King Alfred's College, Winchester Mother: Shirley Firth, teacher; born 1936; lecturer on comparative literature at Open University Sister: Kate Firth, voice coach; born 1961 Brother: Jonathan Firth, actor; born April 6, 1967 Son: William Firth; born 1990; mother, Meg Tilly Awards: 1988: Seattle Film Festival: Best Actor, Apartment Zero 1989: Royal Television Society: Best Actor, Tumbledown 1998: Screen Actors Guild: Cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture, Shakespeare in Love"; shared with cast mates Factoids: Had nomadic childhood, living in England, Nigeria and St. Louis, Missouri Education: The Drama Centre, London, England

Many thanks to Karen for the links and to CherylB for the text on Laban.It looks like a very complete system supported by a very complex annotation method. To me it's like the card game, bridge: I'm glad to know what it is about but would not dream of pursuing the subject in depth ;-)

Significant Other(s): Jennifer Ehle, actress; born 1970 Can't they forget her? Meg's relationship is different..several years and produced an off-spring. Poor Jennifer has to go around like "the scarlet letter" . Fergodsake they were only together for less than a year. I don't see other stars where they enumerate girl friends.

(Evelyn) Fergodsake they were only together for less than a year. Hey, we were together for less than a minute and I'm telling everyone DB was my significant other. ;-) Thank God for those Donmar pictures. I'm scratching my head over this: Claim to Fame: Played Tommy Judd in Another Country (1984) They couldn't think of anything else? Neat find, Mari.

(Evelyn)...And it didn't die in the UK...but was poorly released in the US It was barely released in the US. It would be more accurate to say that it played in a few theatres within the international boundaries of the United States. It had no American release to speak of, not at all. (Mari) ... (from Firth entry) Claim to Fame: Played Tommy Judd in Another Country (1984) (Heide) They couldn't think of anything else? Maybe it was a favorite film of one the compilers. I once read a review of "Another Country" in a video guide which described CF of then being "at his most luscious."

Well, for once Darcy wasn't mentioned (though that role is certainly his claim to fame - so far). Odd considering BJD.

I don't see other stars where they enumerate girl friends. They have so very little on his personal life that they obviously tried to pad it up a bit. (Mari) ... (from Firth entry) Claim to Fame: Played Tommy Judd in Another Country (1984) (Heide) They couldn't think of anything else? Pathetic. Hey, we were together for less than a minute and I'm telling everyone DB was my significant other. ;-) LOL! Was? Was? ;-)

Ok, in comparing other actors' summaries on the E! Online listings, it seems there's a method to their madness. "Claim To Fame" appears to be the actor's first major film role, not the one for which he or she is best known. For example, Tom Cruise's "Claim to Fame" is "Taps" from '81, and Julia Roberts' is "Mystic Pizza" form '88. Also, I should have mentioned that in addition to the bio info I posted above, there are other links there for Colin; one is called "Credits," which takes you to a semi-complete list of his film work (through MLSF). "Video" links you to the movie trailers for ATA, MLSF, SIL, and TEP. "Goods" links you to posters on sale for SIL and TEP. So all in all, it's a nice page. Just go to www.eonline.com and search on Colin Firth. Evelyn, I do agree that it's weird to list Jennifer, but there again, they've done it to all of them and some of the lists are, ahem, rather lengthy. You should see the list of Significant Others for Julia Roberts--guys are lined up like dominoes, going all the way back to Liam Neeson in '88.;-)

OK, checked at the Cannes sites and seached through the press release (which is in French) for Relative Values. Not there. So I think the June 9th opening should be the one.

What about premieres? I should think there should definitely be something for both MLSF and RV in London.....fairly soon for MLSF, perhaps the end of April? They have so very little on his personal life that they obviously tried to pad it up a bit. (Arami) I've always wondered about the (anonymous) girlfriend who irritated him by watching too much television, and who took the television with her when she left (his own words!). Obviously a live-in relationship! Looks like E! Online expanded and updated its Firth file after the BJD announcement. We knew most of this, but check out his son's name *sigh of relief for those who may have thought it was Willy Tilly* ;-) (Mari) The start of each decade seems particularly significant in his biodata...1960, 1970, 1990.... what of 2000, I wonder?? William Firth sounds like a very solid sort of name!

Am perhaps being greedy, but I'd like to know about the other two projects CF was considering. He's got the whole of July thru' September free! BJD is a great project in terms of exposure....everyone will know about it and (hopefully) see it. But I was impressed with the potential of "Maid of Buttermere"...great leading (dramatic) role, and "Armadillo". Hope there's more to come. BTW what happened to Pat O'Connor's "The Lion in Winter"? An ideal role for CF (not Anthony Hopkins!)

(Bethan)I've always wondered about the (anonymous) girlfriend who irritated him by watching too much television, and who took the television with her when she left (his own words!). Obviously a live-in relationship! All we know for certain is that she wasn't an actress.

(Bethan)I've always wondered about the (anonymous) girlfriend who irritated him by watching too much television That wasn't Jennifer ...she doesn't watch TV either.... Has a TV, though, ... enjoys "Playstation"...pays her license.

(Arami) but I'd like to know about the other two projects CF was considering. You are putting far too much stock in what the person at the agency said. Armadillo seemed the most likely to be a "real" project and it was supposed to be done during the summer. Even though I absolutely *hate* the idea that The Prisoner is being made into a movie, No. 6 is a role for Colin.

Sorry, that quote should've been attributed to Bethan.

Evelyn or Karen, do you know who we should telephone regarding the Premiere for MLSF, then perhaps Bethan and I could try and find out a few details.

the (anonymous) girlfriend who irritated him by watching too much television That wasn't Jennifer ... No, it wasn't. It wasn't an actress.