This was how Colin Firth was described in today's show of Sunday Morning... and I got a big kick out of it. This image of Colin Firth taken from A & E's version of Jane Austen's movie "Pride and Prejudice" has forever been indelibly etched in most of women's memory... after all, don't women who are smart and savvy yet sensitive and romantic wish for a dashingly handsome, rich and smart Mr. Darcy in their lives?
Although Firth has been around for some time now acting in movies and theatres in his native Britain, he gained popularity here in the US after the television version of Pride and Prejudice came out in 1995. Though, he gained international popularity through the movie Bridget Jones' Diary, nothing could compare the women fan frenzy that was created after P&P. This TV show was created as a television series and for me, as well as for most fans, consider this version as the best of all the P&P movies ever made. For one thing, the creators of this movie stayed true to the Jane Austen's story and if they ever made any changes to the story, it was so minimal, that it didn't matter so much. Another factor is the tremendous combination of talented actors and actresses that made the story come to life. All the chosen talents aptly played their parts so well that it endeared them to their audiences... Though other films have come out since then, the latest in 2005 starring Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFayden, nothing will still compare to the 1995 version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
That catapulted Colin Firth to bonafide heartthrob and spawned online websites dedicated to Colin Firth as well as P&P blogs, forums, etc... which are still in existence to this day. After this, he got more movie assignments though in most of them, he was not in a major starring role. But like a real trooper that he is, he accepted those roles, big and small and always gave it his all. Now, his latest movie "A Single Man" directed by Tom Ford, an American fashion designer, is creating Oscar buzz. Though he plays a gay person in this role, I don't think that his women fans will lose their admiration for the man who truly gave Mr. Darcy a face. After all, he is the "thinking woman's heartthrob" and we know that Colin Firth is just showing his range as an actor honed by his years in theatre.
