Colin Firth masters the art of getting older, wiser and better

Colin Firth

When I interviewed Colin Firth earlier this year at the "Easy Virtue" press junket in New York City, he and I joked about the spandex he had to wear in "Mamma Mia!," the movie musical that became a worldwide smash. ("The spandex is still chafing," he quipped.) But an interesting thing has happened since the release of "Mamma Mia!" in 2008: Firth has been getting some of the best reviews of his career. And the acclaim has been well-deserved, since he’s made an array of movie choices that show his versatile talent, including playing a cynical father in "Easy Virtue," a manipulative corruptor in "Dorian Gray" and a gay professor grieving about his dead lover in "A Single Man."

So if Firth had to twirl around in spandex and sing ABBA songs in "Mamma Mia!" to get to this point, then so be it. I’d say that the spandex has not only been tossed aside, it’s also been busted out of, stomped all over, and buried by Firth’s standout performances in his more recent films. (Although never say never about the spandex being gone for good, because there are persistent rumors that there might be a "Mamma Mia!" sequel.)

When I met up with Firth to interview him at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival (where "Dorian Gray" and "A Single Man" both had premieres), he had just arrived from the 2009 Venice Film Festival, where he won the prize for best actor, for his role in "A Single Man." Firth could not attend the "Dorian Gray" premiere in Toronto because he was at the Venice Film Festival, but in our interview, he did open up about his emotional reaction to winning the award. "A Single Man" will arrive in cinemas before the end of the year.

As for "Dorian Gray" (which is based on the Oscar Wilde novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"), Firth plays the role of Lord Henry Wotton, the naughty aristocrat who takes a naïve young man named Dorian Gray (played by Ben Barnes) under his wing in Victorian-era London, and promptly introduces Dorian to decadence and depravity. The handsome Dorian makes an occult-like vow to stay forever young and immune to physical decline and scars. But as a result, a painted portrait of Dorian (which he hides in his attic) becomes increasingly grotesque and monstrous as Dorian descends into a life of hedonism and wickedness. In real life, Firth and Barnes (who played Firth’s son in "Easy Virtue") are very good friends, and they frequently like to joke/debate in the media about whether or not Firth is a good mentor to Barnes. Here’s what Firth had to say about that, as well as what he thinks of the addition of a pivotal character in the "Dorian Gray" movie that wasn’t in the book; why there are eerie parallels between Michael Jackson and Dorian Gray; and what may be in store for a possible "Mamma Mia!" sequel.

I’m convinced that you’re the hardest-working actor at these big film festivals. You always seem to have two or three films at each festival you attend.

Ask my family. They can’t wait to get me out of the house!

What do you say to people who might envy this kind of jet-set lifestyle of being a successful actor?

It’s not effortless. Some people think acting doesn’t resemble work at all.

Colin Firth at the 2009 Venice Film Festival

Congratulations on winning the award for best actor at this year’s Venice Film Festival. People seemed to be impressed that you accepted the award in Italian. Your accent was pretty flawless. Did you pick up any tips from your wife on how to speak Italian? [Firth’s wife, Livia Giuggioli, is from Italy.]

No, she hasn’t taught me a damn thing! [He laughs.] I did know [I won the award] a few hours before. Word gets around a little bit. I’m not supposed to say that. The camera wasn’t on me when they announced it, so I didn’t have to do one those [he does a fake surprised expression on his face]. I knew nothing about [which film] won the Golden Lion Award or anybody else’s.

But I didn’t have to fake how I felt. Even when I talk about it now, still, it makes me a little speechless. What I first thought was, "That’s why people cry at the Oscars!" I’d never understood it. I wasn’t about to cry, but I can see why people get their breath taken away. It really is unexpected. It disarms.

You’ve done so many different types of roles, but how comfortable are you when some people still recognize you as Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" or the "Bridget Jones" movies?

Darcy will be dead when he’s buried at the crossroads. I think a generation is going to have to die out before they [forget]. He’s not going anywhere. The number of times I’ve done something and people pronounce the death on Darcy, and yet he lives and walks. I don’t care what happens to him. I’m getting over that part.

"Main Street" director John Doyle, Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson and Colin Firth on the set of "Main Street" in Durham, North Carolina, in April 2009

Do you feel differently about acting and the film industry now, compared to when you first started?

Probably. A little bit. I’m thinking back to those memories … I was a bit wide-eyed and overwhelmed by it all. I didn’t know how it worked, how films were developed, bought, sold, how people second-guess commercial prospects … I wasn’t very worldly in that respect, and I put a lot of trust in the people whose job it was to sell and buy films. I don’t have that blind trust anymore. I’m too old. I’m more critical. I’m not intimidated anymore, and I haven’t been for years.

Ben Barnes, your co-star in "Easy Virtue" and "Dorian Gray," is saying in interviews that you’re a "terrible mentor" to him but that you’re an excellent friend. What’s your response to that?

I speak to him about following advice. It’s my mission in life. My mission in life is to set him off the tracks.

This is starting to sound like the "Dorian Gray" story.

[He laughs.] Yes. I’ve tried to lead Ben astray, but he’s too savvy.

Colin Firth and Ben Barnes on the set of "Dorian Gray"

And now he’s saying in interviews for "Dorian Gray" that Dorian Gray, not Henry Wotton, is the bigger villain in the story.

[He gives an exaggerated sigh while smiling.] I can’t say there’s really any competition about that. There’s no argument. One of them is the perpetrator and one of them is the facilitator. And you can make up your mind who’s worse.

If you’ve got a president who declares war, and a vice president who puts him up to it — which I think has been known to happen — who do you hold responsible? The thing that I think that is the probably most villainous about Henry is … he takes a boy who is innocent and blameless and corrupts him. It’s the most devilishly clever thing to do. It’s the vanity factor that Oscar Wilde is playing with here.

It’s interesting that Oscar Wilde didn’t use a photograph [for Dorian Gray], because the photo [technology] was pretty well-developed at the time. It’s the art of painting, so it’s something that captures his beauty in a way that only a great artist can. You see yourself in the mirror every morning, but not in that way. So Henry makes Dorian fall in love with himself and makes him celebrated publicly.

Colin Firth and Ben Barnes in "Dorian Gray"

What do you think about any parallels between Michael Jackson and the "Dorian Gray" story?

Oliver Parker, our ["Dorian Gray"] director, talked about Michael Jackson recently. And it hadn’t occurred to me until Michael Jackson died. But yeah, Michael Jackson is one example of a rampant, self-mutilating pursuit of vanity. And he couldn’t be a more perfect example of how futile it is and how it doesn’t work. He did not look like a little boy. He did not look like Peter Pan. And he did not look beautiful.

And he’s like Dorian because [Michael Jackson] was utterly beautiful [before all the plastic surgery]. That’s what’s heartbreaking, if you see a picture of him before he did anything to himself. Even before he did the first whatever things he did, he was still looking beautiful. And he sort of mummified himself before he died. There is some weird comparison to that and the [Dorian Gray] portrait in the attic.

And if you want to talk about what that pact with the devil would entail … "Would you give yourself to the devil?" What we’re actually saying is, "What would you sacrifice in order to try and look younger?" There’s an industry filled with surgeons’ knives and Botox.

Let’s just hope Michael Jackson didn’t kill anyone like Dorian Gray did. We’ll never know if there’s some plastic surgeon’s body buried somewhere because he messed with Michael Jackson.

I think Michael Jackson, in a way, killed himself.

Ben Barnes, Jessica Biel and Colin Firth at an "Easy Virtue" screening in New York City, in May 2009

In "Dorian Gray," your character had to age about 25 years. What was going through your mind when you saw yourself as an old man?

The effects were pretty good. There was no prosthetic … They made as much as they could with the hair-loss thing … All the wrinkles were painted. When I was taking the old man’s makeup off, which was quite nice at the end of the day, it was like that [wrinkle] is gone, that one’s gone. Oh, hang on, that wrinkle isn’t going anywhere!

[Snaps fingers] CGI? Photoshop? Over here, please! So how do you feel about getting older in such a youth-oriented business?

As a male actor, there’s a lot of advantages if you’re working, because the roles don’t dry up for men as they do for women. I don’t want to be speaking on their behalf, but great roles are not written in abundance for women past the age of 40.

Colin Firth, Meryl Streep and Dominic Cooper at the "Mamma Mia!" Sydney press conference in 2008

Except for Meryl Streep.

Yes, there are a few exceptions to the rule, but if you ask Meryl, she went through a period of insecurity.

And, of course, you worked with her in "Mamma Mia!"

She couldn’t have been more wonderful. People always ask about sequels [to that movie].

Ben Barnes and Colin Firth at the "Easy Virtue" world premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Speaking of sequels, Ben Barnes told me this about you, and this is a direct quote from Ben: "That man will do any sequel!"

[He says drolly] And yes, he’s doing a sequel right now! ["The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"]

[Says jokingly] You see? Your mentoring is rubbing off on him!

[Laughter] Well, I didn’t do a sequel until I was in my 40s. He’s starting young.

[Says jokingly] You’re such a bad influence.

[He laughs.] He’s not in any position to talk about [me doing sequels]. [He says seriously] I would do another ["Mamma Mia!" movie] just to be back with the same people, because that’s just how we felt about it. I love her [Meryl Streep]. If we do another sequel, it won’t be [ABBA] songs, from what I understand. We’d like to pick another band.

Colin Firth in "Mamma Mia!"

How did doing "Mamma Mia!" affect your career, since it’s now the biggest box-office hit of all time in the United Kingdom? Do you find that you’re getting better roles or have more clout in the industry?

It’s hard to measure, but I don’t think it hurt.

What was your gut reaction after you read the "Dorian Gray" script and saw that Henry Wotton had a daughter name Emily (played by Rebecca Hall), since the Emily character was written specifically for this movie? How did you feel about that departure from the original book?

It made sense, actually. I don’t think it was dangerous to mess with. I knew that there are societies out there and purists of Oscar Wilde. But you know what I say to them? "Fine. Go read the book. We’re not burning the last edition. If you want the original version, there’s the door, OK?"

We’re trying this as a way of dealing with the third act. It made perfect sense from every point of view. Wilde’s novel has presented narrative difficulties for every filmmaker, every adaptation that has ever been …

Colin Firth and Rebecca Hall in "Dorian Gray"

I think that’s one of the problems with the novel in trying to adapt it. It’s not Dorian; it’s not through his eyes. You see the world’s eyes on Dorian, the idea of beauty. You can’t see from his point of view. It’s through Henry’s eyes … Oscar Wilde’s novel is short. [The 1945 movie "The Picture of Dorian Gray"] made no changes whatsoever. I’m not saying that as a criticism; that’s just the way it is. There’s no real last act in that way. It just ends up with a magnificent, melodramatic flourish.

But in order to have Dorian come back [to London] and go around again [to visit Henry], in terms of conflict, something had to be at stake. We were so lucky to have one of the best actresses of her generation, Rebecca Hall. That [Emily Wotton character] is something at stake for Henry, because I don’t think it’s remorse. He loves his daughter, but that could be a biological thing. I don’t think he’s a redeemable man at all. I don’t think he’s sorry at all for what he did to Dorian … I don’t think [Henry] himself regrets what he has done.

We were talking earlier about who the worse villain is. Well, yeah, Dorian is the perpetrator, but I actually think [what’s worse is] the man who facilitates those crimes, goes blamelessly home to his wife with clean hands and says, "[Dorian’s sins] have nothing to do with me."

Colin Firth, Ben Barnes and Oliver Parker on the set of "Dorian Gray"

Oliver Parker said he wasn’t entirely convinced Ben Barnes could do the role of Dorian Gray until after Ben impressed him in the audition. What were your thoughts about Ben taking on this role?

I didn’t have any concerns about him. My concerns for Ben are that there’s a rather Dorian-esque thing about being as beautiful as he is. He actually might get hired because he’s beautiful, but he’s got a lot to prove, because the world is skeptical because of it. I think he has a real battle with public perception. I think he is a person of great substance. I think he’s an actor of great talent. He’s very, very bright. The assumption that I had when I met him was, "You’re just a pretty boy." I think I did catch myself being surprised at how talented he was.

I think that’s what’s different in Oscar Wilde’s world. Outer beauty tends to replace inner beauty. You don’t see a lot of beautiful, bad people in Shakespeare. You do get a hint of it in Jane Austen and the deceptive boys that [a Jane Austen female protagonist] falls for. I think someone said at the press conference for "Dorian Gray" in London that now if you’re beautiful, you’re likely to be considered completely vacuous.

Colin Firth and his wife, Livia Giuggioli, at the 2009 Venice Film Festival

Did you ever have that problem of being perceived as vacuous because of your looks?

I didn’t have that problem, but when the Darcy thing happened in the mid ‘90s, I suddenly found myself being patronized by journalists. I’d never taken roles that had anything to do with looks. And the minute that thing ["Pride and Prejudice"] happened, people were trying to put the heartthrob thing on me.

Do you remember the first time you read "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?

I can’t remember. There’s an awful lot of Victorian English literature which has perculated into our culture so completely that we know these books whether we’ve read them or not. It’s not uncommon for people to have heard about the [Dorian Gray] painting in the attic." Even in "Family Guy," they joke about it.

I just can’t remember when I first read [the book]. I knew every line, every scene, all the names of the characters, but I don’t remember if it was from BBC adaptations or stage adaptations or films … But I was thrilled by [the book] when I did read it. It’s literally an exciting experience to read it. It’s sensational.

Photo credits: Photos # 1, 2, 3, 6, 12: AP. Photos # 7, 8: Getty Images. Photo #9: Universal Pictures. Photos: 4, 5, 10, 11: Ealing Studios.