“If you're playing someone who's got marital problems, you have to play someone who's trying not to have marital problems. So, you've got to get into the problem first.” IfsTryingFirstsPlayProblemPlaying Someone Author:Colin Firth
“If you're playing someone who's impeded by fear, or shyness, or has whatever dysfunction your character might have, you have to achieve the dysfunction first, imaginatively, in order to play someone who is trying to negotiate their way out of it.” IfsWayTryingFirstsPlayCharacterMightOrderAchieveShynessDysfunctionPlaying Someone Author:Colin Firth
“The great thing about dealing with people about whom we have historical resources, is that if the writing needs work, there's everywhere to go to enrich it.” PeopleIfsNeedsWritingResourcesHistoricalGreat ThingsDealing With People Author:Colin Firth
“When I look in the mirror, I don't see my Dad, I see my grandmother. For a while it was my mother looking back at me. If only it was my Dad.” IfsLooksMotherDadMirrorsMy DadGrandmotherLooking BackMy Grandmother Author:Colin Firth
“I find that at almost every press junket I get that comment, "this character's different from what you generally play..." And that's OK! But I think "generally play" stems back to Mr Darcy. I'm fine with it but I tend to find that if it's a departure, which in other people's words it always is, it's always a departure from that.” PeopleIfsThinkingDifferentPlayCharacterFinePressesCommentStemDepartureDarcy Author:Colin Firth
“So, if you haven't picked up some tips during an apprenticeship like that, you shouldn't be directing. It doesn't mean you can do it, but it loads you up with information.” IfsMeanCan DoHavensInformationLoadYou Can Do ItApprenticeship Author:Colin Firth
“There's no point in it unless it's a story that you really want to tell. It's a nebulous job. Unless you're doing it well, you're not doing anything. And there are a few of those. It's perfectly possible to be a passenger on a film set because if somebody else has written it, you can make nothing of that role and that's exactly what bad directors do.” IfsWantWellsStoriesJobsFilmRolesWrittenDirectorsNo PointPassengersFilm Set Author:Colin Firth
“I don't know if there's a problem with original ideas... I think a healthy film industry should have a good supply of good, original writing.” IfsThinkingKnowsShouldWritingIdeasProblemFilmIndustryHealthyShould HaveOriginalsFilm IndustryOriginal Ideas Author:Colin Firth
“I do think a good story in a novel is fair game and there's nothing wrong with adapting that. It sometimes gets a bit facile where they think: "Let's get the next best-seller and see if we can turn it into a film."” IfsThinkingSometimesStoriesFilmTurnsNextGamesBitsNovelFairsGood StorySellersAdaptingBest SellersFair Game Author:Colin Firth
“So, I think there's a danger that good stuff can fall by the wayside if it doesn't conform to formula. But I think it comes down to money and they just don't know where it's going if they haven't got any precedent.” IfsThinkingKnowsFallStuffHavensDangerFormulasConformPrecedent Author:Colin Firth
“If I'd loved my chemistry teacher and my maths teacher, goodness knows what direction my life might have gone in. I remember there was a primary school teacher who really woke me up to the joys of school for about one year when I was ten. He made me interested in things I would otherwise not have been interested in - because he was a brilliant teacher. He was instrumental in making me think learning was quite exciting.” IfsThinkingKnowsYearsHas BeensMadeMightSchoolRememberJoyGoneTeacherTenGoodnessExcitingMathBrilliantPrimariesChemistrySchool TeachersPrimary SchoolMath TeacherChemistry Teachers Author:Colin Firth
“It's an unknown quantity. It's actually almost a cliché to say it, how hard comedy is. What's that famous quote? "Dying is easy, comedy's hard." I think the broader it gets, if you miss by a millimetre, you've missed completely. It's a very hard thing to do.” IfsThinkingHardEasyComedyDyingMissingThings To DoQuantityHard Things Author:Colin Firth
“'La Dolce Vita' made we want to go to Rome and, if not jump into the Trevi Fountain, at least watch someone else do it. Maybe that's why I married an Italian...!” IfsWantMadeWatchesMarriedItalianRomeFountainDolce Vita Author:Colin Firth
“If I were to write a book about the progress of getting to a third film, it would be a long one.” IfsWritingLongBookWould BeFilmProgressThirds Author:Colin Firth
“Whenever you take on playing a villain, he has to cease to be a villain to you. If you judge this man by his time, he's doing very little wrong.” IfsMenLittlesJudgingCeaseVillain Author:Colin Firth
“I'm fully aware that if I were to change professions tomorrow, become an astronaut and be the first man to land on Mars, the headlines in the newspapers would read: `Mr. Darcy Lands on Mars.” IfsMenFirstsLandTomorrowProfessionNewspapersMarsAstronautHeadlinesDarcy Author:Colin Firth
“I don't know if this qualifies as gentle reassurance, but right now this is all that stands between me and a Harley-Davidson.” IfsKnowsRight NowGentleReassuranceHarleyHarley Davidson Author:Colin Firth
“I think it's quite extraordinary that people cast me as if I'm Warren Beatty: until I met my present wife, at the age of 35, you could name two girlfriends.” PeopleIfsThinkingTwoAgeNamesWifeMetsExtraordinaryCastsGirlfriendBirthday60th BirthdayBeatty Author:Colin Firth
“My primary instinct as an actor is not the big transformation. It's thrilling if a performer can do that well, but that's not me. Often with actors, it's a case of witnessing a big party piece but wondering afterwards, where's the substance?” IfsWellsBigsActorsCan DoPartyWonderCasesPiecesTransformationInstinctPrimariesSubstancePerformersThrilling Author:Colin Firth
