Colin Firth is one of the most recognisable faces in British who has found major success in both movies and TV over the years.
This week he returns to the big screen in The King's Speech, a role he has been tipped to win the Oscar for,
So to celebrate the release of the movie FemaleFirst takes a look back over Firth's career to uncover the essential pieces of his work that you should have in your collection.
- Pride and Prejudice
You can't look at Firth's body of work without commenting on the BBC's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, as it was the role that launched his career.
Yes it was back in 1995 that Firth graced the small screen as Fitzwilliam Darcy and had women all over the country drooling all over their TV sets.
The series was a huge success and kicked off an new interest in Austen novels, which continue to be adapted an quite a rate for both TV and film.
But for Firth it was the role that he will forever be linked with and his career was finally taking off.
- The English Patient
Just twelve months after Pride and Prejudice Firth landed a role in British movie The English Patient
The English Patient was an adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel and was directed by Anthony Minghella. Set in North Africa and Italy during the late 1930's and early '40's, "The English Patient" is an epic drama of two haunting love stories that unfolds against a background of international upheaval.
Firth took on the role of Geoffrey Clifton whose wife, played by Kristen Scott Thomas, begins an affair with László Ede Almásy, played by Ralph Fiennes.
At the time the novel was considered unfilmable but it went on to open to critical and commercial acclaim going on to be nominated for twelve Academy Awards.
On the night it picked up nine including Best Picture, Best Director for Minghella and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Juliette Binoche. Kristen Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes were nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor in a Leading role.
- Shakespeare in Love
Firth found himself in another Oscar winning movie when he took on the part of the bumbling Lord Wessex in Shakespeare in Love.
It is the summer of 1593, and the rising young star of London's theatre scene, Will Shakespeare, faces a scourge like no other: a paralyzing bout of writer's block. While the great Elizabethan age of entertainment unfolds around him, Will is without inspiration on material.
What Will needs is a muse--and in an extraordinary moment in which life imitates art, he finds and falls for a woman who draws him into his own dramatic adventure of star-crossed love. It all begins when Lady Viola, desperate to become an actor at a time when women were forbidden from such depravity, disguises herself as a man to audition for Will's play.
But the guise slips away as their passion ignites. Now Will's quill again begins to flow, this time turning love into words, as Viola becomes his real-life Juliet and Romeo finds his reason to exist.
Yet all is not well in Will's world. For even as the parchment begins to pile up, he's plagued by the fact that Lady Viola must marry the insufferable Lord Wessex.
The film was a huge hit when it was released back in 1998 and won the Best Picture Oscar, the first comedy to win since Annie Hall in 1977.
- Bridget Jones's Diary
Firth seemed to have found a home in comedy movies as he took on the role of Mark Darcy in the big screen adaptation of Helen Fielding's popular novel Bridget Jones's Diary.
Bridget Jones (Zellweger) is a pretty and neurotic thirtysomething "singleton" (in her vernacular) who vows to take control of her life after being humiliated by handsome, standoffish barrister, Mark Darcy (Firth) at her parents' New Year's party.
Determined to lose weight, and cut back on vices like wine, cigarettes, and workaholic-alcoholic-misogynistic men, Bridget begins a diary to chart her progress. Unfortunately, the P.R. executive hits a snag when her boss, gorgeous cad Daniel (Grant) instigates a sexy e-mail flirtation.
Despite her tendency to bungle book launch parties, and any situation involving the ever-present, ever-disapproving Mark Darcy, Bridget's winning combination of charm, vulnerability, and wit intrigues not only the seductively dangerous Daniel, but also the arrogant barrister.
The movie saw Firth banter well with both Zellweger and Grant as the bumbling Mark Darcy. His performance earnt him a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA nomination.
He went on to reprise the role in Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason.
- A Single Man
A Single Man brought Firth his first Oscar nomination twelve months a go when he bagged a Best Actor nod for his performance.
In Los Angeles 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis George Falconer, a 52 year old British college professor is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.
George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters, ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim.
George is consoled by his closest friend Charley, a 48 year old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future.
A young student of George's, Kenny, who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit.
A romantic tale of love interrupted the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.
He may have missed out on the Oscar to Jeff Bridges but he did pick up the BAFTA as well as finally gaining the recognition that he so rightly deserves.
The King's Speech is released 7th January
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Colin Firth is one of the most recognisable faces in British who has found major success in both movies and TV over the years.
This week he returns to the big screen in The King's Speech, a role he has been tipped to win the Oscar for,
So to celebrate the release of the movie FemaleFirst takes a look back over Firth's career to uncover the essential pieces of his work that you should have in your collection.
- Pride and Prejudice
You can't look at Firth's body of work without commenting on the BBC's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, as it was the role that launched his career.
Yes it was back in 1995 that Firth graced the small screen as Fitzwilliam Darcy and had women all over the country drooling all over their TV sets.
The series was a huge success and kicked off an new interest in Austen novels, which continue to be adapted an quite a rate for both TV and film.
But for Firth it was the role that he will forever be linked with and his career was finally taking off.
- The English Patient
Just twelve months after Pride and Prejudice Firth landed a role in British movie The English Patient
The English Patient was an adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel and was directed by Anthony Minghella. Set in North Africa and Italy during the late 1930's and early '40's, "The English Patient" is an epic drama of two haunting love stories that unfolds against a background of international upheaval.
Firth took on the role of Geoffrey Clifton whose wife, played by Kristen Scott Thomas, begins an affair with László Ede Almásy, played by Ralph Fiennes.
At the time the novel was considered unfilmable but it went on to open to critical and commercial acclaim going on to be nominated for twelve Academy Awards.
On the night it picked up nine including Best Picture, Best Director for Minghella and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Juliette Binoche. Kristen Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes were nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor in a Leading role.
- Shakespeare in Love
Firth found himself in another Oscar winning movie when he took on the part of the bumbling Lord Wessex in Shakespeare in Love.
It is the summer of 1593, and the rising young star of London's theatre scene, Will Shakespeare, faces a scourge like no other: a paralyzing bout of writer's block. While the great Elizabethan age of entertainment unfolds around him, Will is without inspiration on material.
What Will needs is a muse--and in an extraordinary moment in which life imitates art, he finds and falls for a woman who draws him into his own dramatic adventure of star-crossed love. It all begins when Lady Viola, desperate to become an actor at a time when women were forbidden from such depravity, disguises herself as a man to audition for Will's play.
But the guise slips away as their passion ignites. Now Will's quill again begins to flow, this time turning love into words, as Viola becomes his real-life Juliet and Romeo finds his reason to exist.
Yet all is not well in Will's world. For even as the parchment begins to pile up, he's plagued by the fact that Lady Viola must marry the insufferable Lord Wessex.
The film was a huge hit when it was released back in 1998 and won the Best Picture Oscar, the first comedy to win since Annie Hall in 1977.
- Bridget Jones's Diary
Firth seemed to have found a home in comedy movies as he took on the role of Mark Darcy in the big screen adaptation of Helen Fielding's popular novel Bridget Jones's Diary.
Bridget Jones (Zellweger) is a pretty and neurotic thirtysomething "singleton" (in her vernacular) who vows to take control of her life after being humiliated by handsome, standoffish barrister, Mark Darcy (Firth) at her parents' New Year's party.
Determined to lose weight, and cut back on vices like wine, cigarettes, and workaholic-alcoholic-misogynistic men, Bridget begins a diary to chart her progress. Unfortunately, the P.R. executive hits a snag when her boss, gorgeous cad Daniel (Grant) instigates a sexy e-mail flirtation.
Despite her tendency to bungle book launch parties, and any situation involving the ever-present, ever-disapproving Mark Darcy, Bridget's winning combination of charm, vulnerability, and wit intrigues not only the seductively dangerous Daniel, but also the arrogant barrister.
The movie saw Firth banter well with both Zellweger and Grant as the bumbling Mark Darcy. His performance earnt him a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA nomination.
He went on to reprise the role in Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason.
Tagged in Colin Firth