by Frederica Lamberti Zanardi

[Thanks Janet]
 

To win Bridget's love, I even beat up Hugh Grant

After this film, things will never be the same. Having beaten Hugh Grant, the incarnation of British fascination and glamour, is no small thing. Colin Firth is the man who not only wins Grant’s girlfriend but who also beats him in a fight. Yes, that’s indeed what happens to him in his role as Mark Darcy, the austere and sullen lawyer who wins the heart of Bridget Jones in the film based on Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary. A bestseller (it came out in 1996 and has sold more than 4 million copies; published in Italy by Sonzogno) that has entertained millions of women, especially single ones, who are quick to identify with this funny thirtysomething Englishwoman, who, with a number of extra pounds, is in search of soulmate. On the way, she’ll meet two completely different men: Daniel, her boss, the classic ladykiller and a bit of a shit but very fascinating, and Mark, a friend of the family’s, who is too serious but who is reliable. The film, a faithful reproduction of the novel, comes out in Italy on October 19 and has as its stars Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones), Hugh Grant (Daniel), and Colin Firth (Mark Darcy).

Firth is forty, lives in London, and has been in successful films such as Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient, but most of all he conquered the female British public playing Mr Darcy in the television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And given that Mark Darcy in Helen Fielding’s book was inspired by Jane Austen’s hero, the role couldn’t have been anyone but his.

How did it feel to beat Hugh Grant as a lover?

A:  The role of the winner doesn’t please me very much. My friends, my mother, were very pleased that I ended up with Bridget. But playing people who lose interests me more. The character who loses the woman suffers more and is more complex. Mark Darcy is very held in, reserved, introverted. He represents the old type of British person, the kind that almost doesn’t exist anymore. The character played by Hugh is closer to the Brit of today. 

In real life are you more like Mark or Daniel?

A: I’m a mix of both. Also, in all roles that an actor plays there’s a part of himself/herself. I had been Daniel—but that was in the past. A confirmed bachelor who didn’t want to be tied down. Now I’m more like Mark.  But not too much like him.

And have you ever been, like Bridget, in a desperate state, as a single in search of soulmate?

A: I was never desperate. To tell the truth, there are few men who fear not being able to find a companion. Ten years ago I was happy being single. In general I was better alone than as part of a couple. Up until five years ago. 

What happened five years ago?

A: I met Livia, my wife. She is Italian and we met in Colombia, during the filming of Nostromo. It was a coproduction of the Rai and BBC, and she was working on the Italian production team. I didn’t have any prejudices against marriage—it was simply that I had never met a person who made me say, “OK, I want to spend my whole life with you.” With Livia it happened. Now we have a baby, Luca, who is six months old. He was born in Rome.

Do you by any chance have any intention of moving to Italy?

A: It would please me a lot. Unfortunately the work I do makes it impossible. I don’t speak Italian well. And I don’t like dubbing. But I like Italian cinema.

With what Italian director would you like to work?

A: With Gabrield Muccino. I saw L’ultimo bacio and I liked it a lot. It had a distinctive tone. You could see that he knows how to direct actors well. And I’m also a fan of Gianni Amelio and Giuseppe Tornatore.

Why did you decide to become an actor?

A: I was in a school play at the age of 5 and everyone said that I was good. I liked that. And I was always fascinated by stories. I still am, and I like to tell stories. And I’ve begun to write.

Write?

A: It’s still a hobby, but I’ve published a story. When I act, I pretend to be someone else, you mask yourself/hide yourself. In writing, on the other hand, you reveal yourself. The first time that someone that I didn’t know read a story of mine, I felt much more exposed than I imagined. Someone was entering into my thoughts, into my space. I realized how vulnerable a writer is. Yes, I want to continue to write.

In the film, you are in a fist fight for Bridget. Did it ever happen to you to fight over a woman?

A: It happened once, when I was 19. I was attacked by a jealous ex-fiance, but I lost at the first blow.

In the film you win Bridget by saying: I like you just as you are. What kind of woman do you like in real life?

A: There doesn’t exist a type. A person is like a cocktail. Some qualities that work for one woman would be defects in another. At the bottom of all good things there is, in my opinion, a mix of contrary elements. Let’s take an example: a woman is bit of a woman and a bit of a child. Or else one might be very feminine but a little masculine. This fascinates me. Bridget is Bambi with a cigarette in her mouth. That’s why I’m in love with her.
 

Copyright © 2001, il Venerdi 

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

After the British TV series Pride and Prejudice, based on Jane Austens novel, you are once more playing Mr Darcy...

Five years after the TV series, the only time I talked of Mr Darcy in P&P was when I was interviewed. I've recently seen the series again, and I still ask myself why everyone saw in my interpretation (of Darcy). Jane Austen's Darcy is mysterious and enigmatic. What he does remains in the dark. I made him the way I did by "using myself". After that experience, which turned out to be a huge success, especially for me, people time and time again recognized me and complimented me. Playing Darcy again in Bridget Jones's Diary is both a similar and different thing. Above all, I had to give him a contemporary feel/look/style even though his character isn't very modern.

What do you think abouth Helen Fielding's book?

In England it's been both a hugh success both with the critics and the public. It has had effects on people's every day life. Londoners are reading the book everywhere. You can't find a train without a Bridget Jones's Diary. Those who convinced me to play him again - and those who didn't - think Darcy is everpresent in the screenplay. I find the book, which I also read while it was published as a weekly column in a newspaper, above all has great - and radical - literary qualities. A style which had to be transformed into a visual language. I think the screenplay came out excellent.

Jane Austen or Helen Fielding?

I love Jane Austen but it's not an obsession. I think that is neccessary to put your work to a test: nothing is sacred. Like Fielding's book. I have great appreciation for the work the screenwriters have done, and I accepted the role because of that. To transform a book to the big screen is to translate. Each interpretation is individual. It's so when you are reading a book, and it's so when you act out a role. It's neccessary to appropriate them. You need to step outside the sensation which is provoked within you. 

In what way have Helen Fielding's fantasy world changed you ..?

Well, one day I opened the newspaper and found my name in the weekly Bridget Jones's Diary. It's obvious that her Darcy resembles me. Maybe because I'm Helen Fielding's favourite Darcy. It becomes even more confusing when Helen interviews me in Rome, an episode which she has included in her second Bridget book, The Edge of Reason.

And now the circle is closed: you are Darcy in the film. Was it difficult to understand who you were to portray: Colin Firth or Mark Darcy or someone else?

No, it was very clear. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and I didn't feel any kind of pressure. 

How was it on set?

We were like a family. Above all we were very fortunate to work with Renée Zellweger, who is an exceptional actress. She interpreted Bridget perfectly. I've known Hugh Grant for ages and this time he's robbed me of the best lines.

In the film there is an added fight scene, which isn't in the book...

I was happy to be able to give him a lesson. It's become one of the funniest scenes in the film: we are two pathetic fighters who take themselves too seriously. I was pleased to see that it come out in the fighting style of Crutching Tiger, Hidden Dragon