Colin Firth and 'The King's Speech' co-stars backstage at the 2011 SAG Awards

"The KING'S SPEECH"

Best Cast in a Motion Picture

COLIN FIRTH

Best Actor in a Motion Picture

The 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place January 30, 2011, at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. The dramatic film "The King’s Speech," which is based on a true story, won two of the four SAG Awards for which it was nominated: best cast in a drama motion and best actor in a motion picture (for Colin Firth, who plays King George VI of Great Britain). "The King’s Speech" show how King George VI struggled to overcome a problem with stammering, with the help of his wife, Elizabeth (played by SAG Award nominee Helena Bonham Carter), and unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush, who also received a SAG nomination for his role in "The King’s Speech). Here is what Firth, Rush and Bonham Carter said in an interview backstage in the SAG Awards press room.

Why do you think "The King’s Speech" has struck an emotional chord with so many people?

Rush: I’ve been working in Sydney doing a play, so I haven’t really been here doing the circus and the excitement and the promotion and the junket and so forth. I get texts from people, from all over the English-speaking world— colleagues I’ve worked with in England, New York, L.A. and Brisbane. And they all have quite different responses to the film. And I think it’s because the storytelling doesn’t seem to prescribe a fundamental response in any given audience. So people are allowed to connect with either the themes of friendship or the failure one might have on whatever level of communicating with other people.

People have said, "I loved it not so much for its politics but for its power of oratory. It’s so great to hear a speech that kind of galvanizes the psyche of a country." Maybe it’s reflected that we don’t hear as much of that around at the moment, because mostly what you catch is the philosophies and the great impetuses toward social connection through sound bites. So it’s on so many different levels. And in thanking our cast tonight, it’s a very big story that covers from an 8-year-old, who has a very significant but small part in the story, right through generations. So I think there’s a huge family/generational element in there as well that people find connections with.

Firth: I don’t know why. When people have an emotional response to something, which in this case, like Geoffrey, I’ve been hearing people relaying quite profound responses. I think they're very hard to anatomize and deconstruct and explain. One of the things that pops in to my mind as I’m answering the question is that throughout the film, I’ve noticed you are responding to interactions between people. So you see the incredible pain and fear of this man, very exposed at the beginning. And the fact is that no one can help him. People can support him; people can feel sorry for him.

And I think of one of the moments that moved me most in the film is the look on Helena’s face as we start to finish that scene. Because this is the woman who loves him most, and she can’t take that problem away. She just has to sit and watch and suffer as much as he suffers. In some ways, what moves people isn’t so much looking at my face but looking at her face looking at my face. And that goes on through the film.

And another one is looking at Geoffrey’s face, for instance, when I put the headphones on, and I’m reading the Shakespeare. He knows something I don’t know. And there’s a glow. And something hits you here. [He points to his chest.] That's what I respond to when I watch it. It's watching other people watching other people. And I think that has so much to do with ["The King’s Speech" director] Tom Hooper and the way he works and the way he cuts, what he draws out of people. No one's in a bubble in this film. It's all a wonderful matrix of responses.

What actors’ work inspires you?

Bonham Carter: At this point, I’d say my fellow actors. And I’d say one thing about this film, the great thing about getting an ensemble award is that we’re all dependent on each others’ talent. As we all know, the most important thing in acting is listening. And you only truly listen when you absolutely put your trust in somebody else’s hands. So it was a doddle for me to act with these two [Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush]. But that was ensemble is: properly listening. And so for me, it was the perfect award for us to receive.

For more info: "The King's Speech" website
SAG Awards website

RELATED LINKS ON EXAMINER.COM:

Interview with Colin Firth for "Easy Virtue"

Interview with Colin Firth for "Dorian Gray"

Interview with Colin Firth for "A Christmas Carol"

Interview with Colin Firth for "A Single Man" (Toronto press conference)

Interview with Colin Firth for "A Single Man" (New York City press conference)

Interview with Colin Firth for "A Single Man" (TimesTalk Q&A, part one)

Interview with Colin Firth for "A Single Man" (TimesTalk Q&A, part two)

Interview with Colin Firth for "The King's Speech" (New York City press junket)

"The King's Speech" London press conference

Interview with Colin Firth at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards