Colin Firth
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Biography
British actor Colin Firth achieved international renown in 1995 with his arguably definitive screen portrayal of Fitzwilliam Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." He began his career in West End dramas and on the big screen in period, often literary adaptations, before a number of successful romantic comedies including "Bridget Jones' Diary" (2001) and broader historic dramas like "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" (2003) turned him into "the thinking woman's heartthrob." While the moniker stuck throughout his career, Firth continued to showcase untapped facets of his talent in independent films, family-friendly hits, and gutsy cable movies. With noted turns in "Love, Actually" (2003), "Nanny McPhee" (2006) and "Mamma Mia!" (2008), Firth displayed both serious acting chops and an easygoing screen presence that continually pleased audiences. But the actor took his career to a new level with "A Single Man" (2009) and "The King's Speech" (2010). The roles were tour-de-force performances that earned Firth several award nominations and wins and elevated his career to new heights.
Colin Firth was born on Sept. 10, 1960, the son of academic lecturers who raised their young family in Nigeria for four years before settling in England. Firth seemed unlikely to follow in his family's footsteps and by his early teens, had developed a keen interest in acting, partially inspired by British great Paul Scofield and his performance in "A Man for All Seasons" (1966). Firth began dramatic studies with the National Youth Theatre at 18 and went on to make a significant impression at The Drama Centre London. Fresh out of that program, Firth was surprised to find himself cast as the lead in a West End production of Julian Mitchell's "Another Country," replacing Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of upper class spy-in-the-making, Guy Bennett. Over the next decade, Firth enjoyed a steady if low-profile living as an actor, making his screen debut in the 1984 film version of "Another Country" and sticking close to his stage roots in George Bernard Shaw's "The Doctor's Dilemma" and "The Lonely Road," a psychological family drama that earned Firth critical notice. Dipping his t in romantic lead territory, he co-starred opposite Greta Scacchi in a small screen remake of George Cukor's "Camille" (CBS, 1984), and anchored the 1986 British miniseries "Lost Empires," playing a touring entertainer in early 20th century England. He solidified his standing as an actor of substance and heady range with a return to the London stage in Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms."
Firth showcased his darker side in "A Month in the Country"(1987), where he essayed a haunted World War I veteran who romances a vicar's wife, and "Apartment Zero" (1988), a rare contemporary role where he made an impression as a lonely and sheltered film lover whose life is changed when he takes in a mysterious American boarder. In 1989, he earned his first acting awards, including one from the Royal Television Society, for his portrayal of paralyzed soldier Robert Lawrence in the TV biopic, "Tumbledown." Later in the year Milos Forman's "Valmont" (1989) marked Firth's entry into the American studio film world, and he was both appealing and appalling as the rich and too clever 18th century count in the adaptation of the classic French novel Les Liasons Dangereuses. Unfortunately, the film was overshadowed by the previous year's lavish take on the same material, "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988).
Following appearances in a number of European-produced films that were little-seen across the pond, as well as London stage runs in a pair of comedies, Firth truly made his international breakthrough in 1995. The Dublin University-set romance "Circle of Friends" (1995) was moderately popular, but the BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice" (1995) was wildly popular in Britain and exported to the U.S. (A&E, 1996). Suddenly, Firth found himself dubbed a "heartthrob" for his take on the aloof, arrogant, but ultimately redeemable 18th century suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy in the adaptation of what was considered literary history's first romantic comedy. He was recognized by the BAFTA and National Television awards with a Best Actor nomination. The following year, Firth offered a stoic turn as the cuckold husband of Kristin Scott Thomas' in "The English Patient" (1996), the Oscar winner of Best Picture of the Year among other countless accolades.
Firth's starring role in Nick Hornby's football-themed story "Fever Pitch" (1997) was little seen in the States, but "Shakespeare in Love" (1998) was a certified blockbuster that swept the Oscars and BAFTAs. In the fictionalized fable of the Bard's off-book romance, Firth cut a dashing figure in doublet and hose in the comic, slightly villainous role of the Earl of Wessex. He excelled as an eccentric inventor in the 1930s-set "My Life So Far" (1999) before taking on a bit of post-modern casting by playing Mark Darcy - a character inspired by his glowering interpretation of the Austen hero - in the film version of "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001). His performance in the hugely successful chick flick fueled Firth's growing cult of female admirers, earned the actor a BAFTA nomination, and also shifted the tide towards more contemporary and romantic comedy roles. An Emmy-nominated performance as a Nazi secretary of state in HBO's "Conspiracy" (2001) and a remake of "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2002) maintained Firth's close ties with headier, more literary material, while a 2003 appearance as Amanda Bynes' unknowing English father in the light-as-feather teen comedy "What a Girl Wants" (2003) and a role in the romantic ensemble "Love Actually" (2003) proved that the popular actor had mainstream crossover appeal. He returned to period dramas but cemented his romantic lead status with his portrayal of 17th Century artist Johannes Vermeer in "Girl With a Pearl Earring" (2003) - a tale that projected an intimate relationship between the famed painter and the young subject (Scarlett Johansson) of his most renowned work of art.
Firth reprised Mark Darcy for the sequel blockbuster "Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason" (2004), which found his character in a series of ups and downs and misunderstandings with neurotic Jones, despite finally having become her official boyfriend. The solid mid-forties actor entered the family film fray in 2005 as a harried widower with seven unruly kids in the critically-lauded fable "Nanny McPhee." In a pair of very different family tales, Firth starred as an author coming to terms with the troubled relationship with his dying father in the limited release "When Did You Last See Your Father?" (2007), and played a single father and ill-chosen love interest of Helen Hunt in "Then She Found Me" (2007). Firth carried on in the romantic comedy vein, co-starring alongside Uma Thurman in the critically reviled "The Accidental Husband" (2007) and in the big screen adaptation of the Abba-inspired stage musical "Mamma Mia" (2008), as one of Meryl Streep's character's former lovers and the possible father of her daughter.
In a rare appearance in a dark thriller, Firth also starred in "Genova" (2008), playing a widowed father who attempts to make a fresh start with his young daughters in Italy, only to find the past coming back to haunt him. Following a starring turn in the British remake "St. Trinian's" (2009) and a co-starring role in the romantic comedy "Easy Virtue" (2009), Firth played Fred, the nephew and only living relative to Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), in Disney's take on the Charles Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol" (2009). Firth turned to more challenging dramatic fare when he starred in "A Single Man" (2009), playing a gay British college professor in 1962 who struggles to find meaning in his life after the death of his long-time partner (Matthew Goode). Working for first-time feature director, fashion designer Tom Ford on "The Single Man," Firth gave a conflicted, layered performance which garnered the actor several award nominations at year's end, including nods from the Independent Spirit, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and Academy for Best Actor. He next delivered another exemplary dramatic performance in "The King's Speech" (2010), playing King George VI, who struggles to overcome a debilitating speech impediment during a time of national crisis. The king enlists the help of unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a relationship that begins discordantly, only to grow into an unbreakable bond. "The King's Speech" received widespread critical acclaim and found its way onto many year-end Top Ten lists. While the film had exceptional supporting performances from Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, it was Firth who earned the most adulation, including Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG wins for Best Actor.
Filmography
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Life Events
1983
Made London stage debut in "Another Country"; replaced Rupert Everett in the role of Guy Bennett
1984
Made American TV-movie debut in "Camille" (CBS)
1984
Made film debut in "Another Country"; played Tommy Judd opposite Rupert Everett's Guy Bennett
1986
Cast as an aspiring artist in the British miniseries "Lost Empires" (aired on PBS in 1987)
1987
Won critical acclaim for "A Month in the Country"
1988
Played a film buff who takes in a mysterious boarder in "Apartment Zero"
1989
First starring role, playing the lead in Milos Forman's "Valmont"
1989
Offered a harrowing portrayal of real-life Scottish soldier Robert Lawrence who had been left paralyzed in "Tumbledown"
1993
Co-starred in the HBO TV drama "Hostages"
1995
Played pivotal role of Simon Westward in "Circle of Friends"
1995
Had breakthrough role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen's classic "Pride and Prejudice"
1996
Landed featured role as Kristin Scott Thomas' husband in Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient"
1997
Portrayed a foul-mouthed soccer player in "Fever Pitch"
1998
Played Wessex, the intended groom of Gwyneth Paltrow's Viola, in "Shakespeare in Love"
1999
Received raves for his stage performance in the London premiere of "Three Days of Rain" by Richard Greenberg
2000
Had featured role in "Relative Values" a film adaptation of a Noel Coward play
2000
Released his first written work "The Department of Nothing," a short story that appeared in <i>Speaking with the Angel</i>
2001
Played Mark Darcy opposite Renee Zellwegger's title character in "Bridget Jones' Diary"
2001
Portrayed the Nazi secretary of state who took part in the Wannsee Conference in the historical drama "Conspiracy" (HBO), received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor
2002
Played Jack Worthing in the remake of "The Importance of Being Earnest"
2003
Co-Starred with Scarlett Johansson as painter Johannes Vermeer in "Girl with a Pearl Earring"
2003
Joined the Richard Curtis ensemble romance "Love Actually"
2004
Reprised the role of Mark Darcy in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
2005
Co-starred with Kevin Bacon as a showbiz duo whose career was ended abruptly amid scandal in "Where the Truth Lies"
2006
Co-starred with Emma Thompson and Angela Lansbury in "Nanny McPhee"; scripted by Thompson
2007
Portrayed general Aurelius in "The Last Legion"
2008
Featured in Helen Hunt's directorial debut, "Then She Found Me"
2008
Cast as Uma Thurman's fiancée in the romantic comedy "The Accidental Husband"
2008
Cast as one of the potential fathers in the the film version of the ABBA-inspired musical "Mamma Mia!"
2009
Voiced Scrooge's nephew, Bob Cratchit, in Robert Zemeckis' animated adaptation of <i>A Christmas Carol</i>
2009
Co-starred in an adaptation of the play by Noël Coward, "Easy Virtue"
2009
Starred as a college professor grappling with solitude after his longtime partner dies in Tom Ford's directorial debut "A Single Man"; earned Independent Spirit, Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actor
2010
Earned critical acclaim for playing King George VI in "The King's Speech"
2011
Co-starred with Orlando Bloom and Patricia Clarkson in the small-town drama "Main Street"
2011
Co-starred with Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy in the "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" remake
2014
Co-starred with Emma Stone and Marcia Gay Harden in Woody Allen's "Magic in the Moonlight"
2014
Was featured in blockbuster spy flick "Kingsman: The Secret Service"
2016
Reprised Mark Darcy role yet again in "Bridget Jones's Baby"
2017
Reprised "Love Actually" character in the well-received charity-themed short "Red Nose Day Actually"
2017
Reprised Harry Hart role in the sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle"
2018
Played amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst in biodrama "The Mercy"
2018
Played William Weatherall Wilkins in Disney's revival sequel "Mary Poppins Returns"
2018
Played Harry in "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"
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