Hampshire Actually

Despite international success and a globetrotting life, which sees him dividing his time between America, London and Italy, he has not forgotten his Hampshire roots.

"I was born in Grayshott on 10 September 1960 although I was only there for two weeks before my parents left for Nigeria, where we lived for four years," he recalls. "We then spent about a year in the US before returning to England when I was five." 

The son of academics, Firth travelled extensively in his childhood as his parents took up various teaching posts, including stints in Essex and St Louis, Missouri. When his father accepted a teaching post in Winchester, Firth went to a local school. "I don't think I've contributed anything to the city's history and certainly very little to its scroll of academic achievement!" 

Firth attended Montgomery of Alamein comprehensive school. "It was a very good school, although I was not a very good student! I should have tried harder at school. I didn't hate school, although I didn't particularly like it either. I went on to Barton Peveril sixth form college in Eastleigh, where I mostly went through the motions, because by that stage I had just about decided that I wanted to be an actor."

He knew from a young age that he would not follow his parents' footsteps into the world of academia: "I was a born performer - or at least a show-off. I remember, as a five-year-old, dancing around a bit and making people laugh in a school play. It was fun and I enjoyed the praise I received afterwards. There was no holding me back after that and I liked to entertain at home, telling jokes to my sister Kate and my brother Jonathan. I used to do impersonations of Batman - I was a great fan of his - and I tried to play the piano."

His musical ambitions developed when his family moved to St Louis, Missouri. "I was about 11 at the time and I formed a band. I was lead singer and I played the guitar. I don't think we were a threat to anyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The music became a form of escape. I was not really a rebellious person but as I entered the second half of my teens I did play truant a bit and immersed myself more and more in music. I looked the part too. I had long hair, pierced ears and tended to dress rather badly."

After leaving school in Winchester, and determined on a career in acting, Firth took part-time work as a dustman and paperboy to earn some money. 

"I knew what I wanted but I didn't really know how to achieve it. Eventually, I tried for a place at drama school and, after spending a summer with the National Youth Theatre, I was finally accepted into the Drama Centre in London in 1980. Firth lived the lifestyle of a typical student, trying to make ends meet. "I lived in a bedsit in North London. I used to walk everywhere to save money. That would have been all right if I had not had holes in my shoes for much of the time!"

Life changed dramatically though when Firth's obvious talent led to him starring in a production of Hamlet at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End during his final term.

"I couldn't believe how it all changed. At the start of the year I didn't even know I was going to be in Hamlet, but by the end of the year I had seen my picture outside a big West End theatre, had an agent and a real career."

He made his film debut in 1984, playing opposite Rupert Everett in an adaptation of Julian Mitchell's play Another Country. A string of television roles followed until, in 1988, Hollywood beckoned in a costume drama called Valmont. It was not a huge success but he met actress Meg Tilly and they lived together for several years, sharing a log cabin near Vancouver, where they had their son, William.

"My career did not matter too much at the time. I was creating a homely family atmosphere and I was certainly not in love with Hollywood or the American movie scene. The money was good but the productions were not. I preferred theatre, but the pay was poor so I think I became generally uninterested."

His relationship with Meg Tilly broke up and Firth's career took off again. 

"The idyllic world of the log cabin proved not to be enough. I began missing acting and we just grew apart. I still regularly fly to America to spend time with Will."

In 1995, Firth met Italian film producer Livia Guiggioli while working on a television dramatisation of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. They were married in Italy in 1997 and have two sons, Luca and Mateo.

"Livia is a very special person, perfect in my eyes. She is not only beautiful but very clever and has a great sense of humour. She is the smartest woman on this planet and my chief adviser. Her family are great, too. When they met me and heard that I was supposed to be some sort of a heart-throb in England, they couldn't stop laughing. That was great and I love being in Italy because I can just be myself the whole time. I am very happily married."

That's bad news, of course, for his countless female fans, who swooned when he wore the most famous wet shirt in television history as Mr Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was this role, almost 10 years ago, that really turned him into a major star and an overnight pin-up. And it was the inspiration for author Helen Fielding's Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary, the part Firth played in the film adaptation of the book. 

To many, Firth will always be Mr Darcy. "A lot of people still refer to Mr Darcy and many people expect me to be just like him. They must be very disappointed to discover I am not at all like him. I'm not as well-spoken, I'm gentler, not nearly so uptight and I only dress up when I have to."

The comment is confirmed by his casual, relaxed dress and manner when we meet at a hotel for the interview. He has a reputation for a wicked sense of humour, but on this day, at least, he is quiet. "I can be loud, very loud, but most of the time I am fairly quietly spoken.

"I left the role of Darcy on the last day of filming but, having said that, Pride and Prejudice was a superb production and a lot of trouble was taken over getting it right. The famous scene of me swimming the lake was originally written as a nude scene but it did not seem to fit in with the rest of the production, so I remained clothed. We had no idea of the impact it would have, and it does still embarrass me a little.

"Interestingly, although Pride and Prejudice is principally set in Hertfordshire, Jane Austen did apparently gain much influence from her time in Hampshire and many of her descriptions fit in with the life and times of the county."

Firth was cast in another romantic role for the recent hit movie Love Actually. He has said that he found it difficult to relate to the bumbling romantic he plays, "because I don't feel like him at all or think I'm as nice as that guy. I wouldn't be as patient and self-deprecating", adding that he doesn't have a permanent romantic view of life. "I'm interested in emotion, its complications. I'm not necessarily an optimist in terms of romantic love."

In a departure from romantic leads, Firth's latest roles include the enigmatic Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in the dark, period piece, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and a man who wakes from a coma to discover his wife has been killed in a car accident in Trauma. "It's a good film and don't let the storyline put you off. But it seems like an age ago that it was shot as there has been so much else going on." 

Despite his hectic schedule, Firth always tries to return to his roots. "I am looking forward to some time off and, hopefully, some of it will mean visiting family back in Hampshire."

Discover why Colin Firth likes Hampshire so much. For all information on South West Trains services to the county, call 0845 6000 650 or visit www.southwesttrains.co.uk