Colin:   Good morning. 

Katie:    Apparently, this role has brought you to a new level of fame, Colin.  We now have Darcymania and the Firth Factor.  Have you heard about all this stuff: 

Colin:   Umm, these words have come up.  Yeah , I get hit with a new one every so often.  I haven't heard the Firth Factor. 

Katie:    The Firth Factor-which is not easy to say, by the way. 

Colin:   No, and I don't know---what is the factor?  What is the factor?  No, its, you know, you get to a certain age when to be described as a "sex anything" is something to be grateful for. 

Katie:    I hear you, but apparently at the London premier, people were going bananas over you, more so than any other actor who was present.  Is this true? 

Colin:   A very loyal friend must have told you that.  I heard a lot of noise for a lot of people.  You know, the English aren't prone to making a lot of noise.  This seems to bring that out in them---this whole thing. 

Katie:   Well, it's nice, you know, because some movies that are made about Great Britain are kind of pooh poohed in your homeland, and yet, Bridget Jones has been really embraced in a way.  For example, I know LOVE ACTUALLY was kind of trashed by people who live in England which was kind of upsetting to me because I absolutely loved that movie.  And I loved your story the best.

Colin:   hmm, Did you? 

Katie:   I did.  I loved that story.  I'm such a sap. 

Colin:   I loved that story too.  And we do tend to tear into our own a little bit.  You know, whether it's our soccer team, or you know, our sports heroes, or our musical heroes.  We're not easily spared for being successful.  It is a bit of a crime back home. 

Katie:   But why do you think Bridget Jones has been more embraced than some other products?  I know for example, Renee….there has been high praise for her and everyone says nice things about her acting and her accent, and ……

Colin:   Well, I think every generation takes on some sort of representative, you now, and I think that she speaks to a lot of people.  It is hard to catch that in a bottle.  How do you know what's going to work?  We'd all be making hit movies if we could.  But somehow she's tapped into an urban 30-something…….

Katie:   Sensibility …..

Colin:   I think she has, yeah, and it's spread well beyond the shores of England, as we've seen. 

Katie:   That's true and I think a lot of people in this country can completely relate to her.  In The Edge of Reason , I know your character, Mark Darcy, changes from an aloof unknown Bridget love interest to total sex god and human rights lawyer, Mark Darcy….let's take a look ……

Clip rolling from movie showing Mark Darcy telling Bridget he loves her ……

Katie:   Mark Darcy is so cute.  I mean because he is sort of a bit awkward and shy, and how much of Colin Firth is in Mark Darcy, or do you hate that question? 

Colin:   No, no, it's just a difficult one, um.  I think the easiest way to dodge it, in a way, is to say how likely is Mark Darcy to be an actor?  You know would he choose that as a profession?   A man who is….

Katie:   No, because he's a human rights lawyer!

Colin:   Well, he cares about other people----laughter from both----our profession is not known for that, and you know, he also is a person who is horrified at any type of emotional demonstration.  You know, he's repressed.  Actors like to make a show of themselves, you know, and think abut themselves, and all that sort of thing.  So in some way he's the polar opposite of me, professionally speaking.  We must overlap somewhere because they keep asking me to do it.  You know, they keep wanting me to wheel him out again and again. 

Katie:    And there's something so appealing about his character because, I think, for example, I know there is a scene when Bridget is talking about her wobbly bits and not showing him her body, which so many women can relate to.  I mean who really wants to do that unless you're like Giselle, or somebody, right?  And he says, I like you just the way you are.  In fact, we have a sign out in the crowd that says, we like you just as you are Colin, which I thought was so cute-----(cut to the crowd holding sign) because obviously, people just swoon at his sort of acceptance and loving nature, which is nice. 

Colin:   I was astonished by the reaction to that line of dialogue, actually, because what it speaks of is a hunger that people must have to be told that. 

Katie:   to be loved for who they are …

Colin:   I think so, you know, I thought maybe it went without saying but I think that's the problem.  Perhaps it doesn't go without saying.  Perhaps it does need to be said.  And, you know, I've never been in the business of going into relationships trying to modify anybody, but ….

Katie:   You can't really. 

Colin:    You can't.  It is a dead-end, and I've never been interested in that.  But I think it must just be the declaration that makes the difference. 

Katie:   But we can't let you go, and I know we only have a few seconds left, without showing a bit of the fight scene between you and Hugh Grant---which was rather pathetic, Colin. 

Colin:   I'm so sorry to hear you say that. 

Katie:  Laughter - come on, you have to admit-were you thinking, Oh my God, I'm more manly than that.    (laughter all round)

Colin:   You know what---this is exactly how it would be-two very angry, slightly frightened, and utterly incompetent Englishmen. 

Katie:  Well, Colin---great to see you, thanks for coming by and thanks for talking to the crowd. 

Colin:   It's great to be back!