Oscars: Colin Firth, lead actor winner and master chef?
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When he walked backstage with his Oscar, Colin Firth was asked about his relationship with British royalty. Now that he’s gotten the royal nod of approval for his role as King George VI in best picture winner “The King’s Speech,” does he expect to be invited to the royal wedding?
“As I understand it, the invitations have already gone out,” Firth said. “Mine is definitely lost in the post somewhere. I’m working on tracing it.”
It was then pointed out that “The King’s Speech” got made, in part, thanks to a grant from the UK Film Council, which is being scrapped by the incoming government. Firth said that he didn’t really want to become entangled in the politics of that but added that he thought it was “a very short-sighted decision.”
And now that the awards season is over, is the actor relieved to take a break from Bertie?
“Yes, I have started having fantasies about what I’ll do when I don’t have to talk to you lot,” he joked to reporters. “No, it’s lovely company. I think I’m going to cook a lot. I’m not very good at it, but I’m going to inflict my cooking on anyone within range. I think I’ll be the only one eating it.”
What does he think the message of “The King’s Speech’ is?
“I don’t believe in messages in anything I do. I make pictures; I don’t think we’re philosophers. I don’t think good storytelling should dictate what people should think or feel,” Firth replied. “What has struck me is that the emotional response has been very personal, very wide and very diverse. Obviously, speech therapists and people with speech impediments have been affected by it. … I think that it’s important that it resonates with people who haven’t been heard in a long time.”
When Firth was onstage accepting his Oscar, he told the audience that he was trying to control his impulse to dance. Now backstage he was asked whether he’d please let those impulses loose.
“I was struggling to contain them in that moment, and I think that I need some quality time alone,” he said. “I don’t think this is the right environment for that type of behavior, and anybody who has seen ‘Mamma Mia!’ will know what I mean.”
-- Jessica Gelt
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