'I don't want to be a sex symbol!'

By Jo Weedon

He swore he'd hide when the time came. Lock himself up at home or jump on a plane and head off to a deserted island until the fuss had died down. It's a novel approach for a man who's just headed the 3 million pounds epic which is Granada Television's autumn blockbuster.

You'd think that, as its star, Colin Firth would want to enjoy the fame that's come his way since Lost Empires hit the screen. But, far from wallowing in the attention, the 25-year old actor has politely but firmly turned down interviews, shunning the sort of publicity even Hollywood superstars would give their right arm for.

"I find the thought of journalists quizzing me quite frightening," says the burly six-footer when finally persuaded to talk. "I've been bracing myself for months, trying not to think of the exposure. "It's nerve-racking when you're up against the judgment of millions. I decided the best thing would be to disappear until the fuss died down."

Of course he knows that isn't practical. With the show already sold to America it could be a long time before that happens. Lost Empires is Granada's biggest gem since Jewel in the Crown. Set against the backdrop of an Edwardian music hall, the eight-hour drama-based on the J. B. Priestley novel- is packed with as much intrigue, sex and scandal as Dallas and Dynasty combined.

With a cast including Laurence Olivier, Alfred Marks, Pamela Stephenson and Brian Glover, it's no wonder Colin felt more than a little trepidation when he was offered the part of Richard Herncastle, the handsome Yorkshire lad who joins his uncle's magic act. "Its an impressive line-up, so I had quite a turn when I read something about me 'heading the cast'. 

"Herncastle was a tough nut to crack," he says. "Playing Hamlet was easier.  With Hamlet there are all sorts of opportunities to be funny, exciting, dramatic. But Richard is the narrator, the observer. He's a bit like Alice in Wonderland. You can't make her exciting, either. You just have to give him as much shape and depth as you possibly can." Colin had thought about turning down the part because it meant a commitment for more than a year, but reading the novel changed his mind. "I couldn't put it down." 

More than 150 hopefuls auditioned for the part but producer June Howson says: "I knew Colin was right as soon as he read it for me. He has a commanding quality." It's that commanding quality that those in the know predict will make him a star. A star? He turns pale at the thought. He doesn't want to be rich and famous. "It's vulgar to be rich, don't you think?" he says over dinner at a splendacious Buckinghamshire riverside retreat (admittedly not his choice of venue). The poor chap - normally a jeans and T-shirt man - he is decked out in borrowed clothes to fit the restaurant's jacket and tie regulations. He doesn't own a car and lives modestly, alone, in Hackney. He doesn't want a glamorous lifestyle and has absolutely no desire to join the celebrity circuit. He's never been to a premiere and hopes he never will. "I find those occasions silly. People indulging in congratulating each other is so phoney and embarrassing. I always think it's a shame if something I really admired gets the Oscar treatment. You suddenly see all these actors who have given wonderful performances dressed up in horrible clothes, behaving like idiots."

There's more than a little cynicism about Colin Firth and yet behind the tough facade is a shy, unpretentious young man. The word embarrassed crops up regularly in his conversation. Bt its not so long ago that he was cleaning aeroplanes, working as a stage doorman and emptying dustbins to earn a living. 

From drama school he went straight on to the West End stage in Another Country, and landed a major role in the film version. Then there was no work for eight months. "I thought it was all over, " he recalls. "People only get a break once in their life, and I thought I had mine."