Regis:…and now he stars in TIOBE, here is Colon Firth. (long o)
(wild applause)
Hello, Colon, nice to have you here.
(Colin wears black jacket and gray tee shirt, blue jeans rolled up at the ankles, clunky black shoes and maybe blue socks
peeking out?)
Kelly: You know, last time you were here, Regis was not here.
Colin: That’s right.
R: This is the first time we’re meeting.
C: This is it. What a pleasure it is too. (sniff)
R: Colin is one of those British guys that are wowing women all over the world.
K: Right
R: I mean, like you, Hugh Grant,…
K: As a matter of fact, the last time Hugh was here, he referred to Colin as sexy Colin Firth (attempts a British accent)
R: Yes, Hugh Grant calling you sexy Colin Firth.
C: It’s a bit alarming, actually, if that’s the way he feels about me, he hides it very well when we’re together.
K: I think he’s one of those people that ignores you because he has a crush on you. 
C: Is that what it is. They say about Englishmen they play hard to get even when no one wants to get them.
(Laughter)
R: I’m looking for this, um, oh here it is right here…Yes, Colin, now is this your home in England (shows recent issue of
Vogue with Colin’s photo) up in the tree there?
C: Yes, that’s my garden shed just in the background.
R: Your garden shed. See I love these British guys…
C: It’s in the corner of my garden.
K: They refer to you as Britain’s sex god screen idol. Is that a heavy title for you to pull off?
C: No, I’ve always felt that way about myself.
(Laughter)
R: Now here’s a picture I like. The British guys got a little touch, a little different from everyone else. So there you are
(shows pix of 4 British men in recent Town & Country magazine) It all began with Cary Grant years ago. And then there’s
Colin, and Hugh, and who’s the guy on the…Oh Prince William. Yes. 
C:Just another guy there, yeah.
R: Prince William, yes. He’s a little distinguished…
C: Uh, not bad company.
R: Absolutely.
K: Now you had a new baby last time you were here.
C: That’s right, yes.
K: Luca?
C: Luca
K: How old is Luca?
C: A little less now. He’s thirteen months now.
K: Ah, terrific, just turned a year. Is he walking?
C: Absolutely…no, he’s not walking. He’s terribly lazy and you know actually he gets a rather sort of irritable statement on
his face when you get him on his feet.
R: Tell me about the name Luca. It’s not after Luca Brazzi, is it?
C: No, it’s an Italian name. My wife’s Italian so we have an excuse to give him a name that would otherwise probably be a
little pretentious.
R: A hah. So you married an Italian lady.
C: That’s right, yeah. It means you’re actually surrounded by a very intense extended family, who, you know, if you want
to hold your own baby you have to get in line behind the cousins, the brothers…
R: All the Italians have a lot of relatives and they’re all very loving and all that…
K: But you’re probably eating very well. Are you eating very well?
C: I’m eating superbly well. It’s one of life’s great challenges to get through three months in Italy and then still be ready to
do a film at the other end of it you know.
K: I’m very excited because my mother-in-law is coming tonight. She comes for two days and she cooks about 18 months
worth of food. That’s wonderful. In two days, I mean she freezes it and labels it.
C: We get exactly the same thing. But you’re a mother, aren’t you?
K: Yes, I am. But I’m a horrible cook, so there goes that.
C: Ummm.
R: But your parents were scholars.
C: They were, yes. And are still.
(Laughter)
R: And when you say scholars, do they teach?
C: They do. Yeah. They will not give up. It’s um… They travel the world doing it, and uh…
R: Were they strict in terms of education?
C: Um, no, it wasn’t so much strictness, but they were very very intent that I grew up, you know, curious, and uh travel
was very important. And we were surrounded by books and it was more attractive(?) to inspire, really.
R: How do they feel about your present occupation?
C: They were extremely alarmed by it when it was first announced.
R: They were hysterical.
C: Yes, it was well…
R: They were scholars but they were crazed.
K: I think that any parents of actors become alarmed and horrified.
R: Sure, because it’s such a tough…
C: And I would be the same and it was repressed panic and uh they tried to be rational about it and uh supportive and
understanding, but it’s something they had no concept of and I mean I might as well have been saying I’d jump off the
edge of the earth.
R: It’s all new to them.
C: Absolutely.
R: Did they see you in BJD?
C: Yes, they did. They see everything. I mean my father keeps a scrapbook now.
R: Oh, no kidding.
C: Oh yes.
R: A scholarly scrapbook.
C: Absolutely, yes, annotated with academic remarks.
K: Is there ever a time when you turn to your parents and say see mom and dad, imagine if I’d followed your path, who
knows? But now you get to see me constantly. I mean even when you’re away from them they still can see you.
C: Well, this is true, and also, I mean, I…most people in my family followed an academic path and I’ve always slightly felt
there was something wrong with me because I didn’t and uh, you know, I said to my father a few years ago maybe I
should just go to college now, you know, scratch the itch, and uh he pointed out that my profession, if you’re lucky enough
to be working in it, affords so much education. I mean you do travel. You do have a wonderful excuse to plunge in and do
homework on subjects, whether it’s literature or something that isn’t your own, so it provides a very good substitute.
R: And one of those things you probably taught yourself  about was Oscar Wilde’s work.
C: Well, yes, and in fact one almost doesn’t have to do much homework if you came from a family like that in England,
because he was sort of in the air. I don’t remember a time when I first heard his name. It was… these names Wilde and
Coward were so strange to me as a child. I thought they must be important people.
R: Pioneers, too.
C: Absolutely.
R: TIOBE was one of Oscar Wilde’s.
C: That’s right, um, and I think his best.
R: And you play the fellow with the two identities.
C: Well, yes, I mean, there are two of us with two identities, really. It’s a very hard film to pitch. Um, you try to tell a story
here. There’s one guy pretending to be someone else and his friend’s pretending to be someone else and they both want to
be called Earnest. And uh people’s eyes glaze over when you…
R: You mean like hers right now?
K: Yeah, but that just happens…
C: Just every five minutes.
K: Every five minutes.
C: No, you’ve just got to take it on trust that it’s very funny and it’s odd that after a hundred years it is still making people
laugh. And on the press junket I think one of the things that recurred most was the comment I didn’t think I was going to
like this.
I don’t like costume film, you know.
R:Let’s take a look now. Here’s Colin and his romantic interest in the film, Gwendolyn, played by Frances O’Connor.
TIOBE.
(Clip: Jack doesn’t think the name Earnest fits him at all, likes…Jack)
(Applause)
R: She thinks you’re Earnest. Ha ha ha. It’s important to be Earnest in this movie. Colin, it’s awfully nice meeting you.
Thank you so much for coming by.
 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.