 The Oprah Winfrey Show October 22, 2004 Next, the dashing Colin Firth (clip from The Edge of Reason with Mark Darcy kissing Bridget at her apartment door) [commercial break] (Oprah in voiceover with montage of pics and clips) The dashingly handsome Colin Firth. He first made women swoon as the suave Mr. Darcy in the epic Pride and Prejudice. That role transformed Colin into the thinking woman’s sex symbol [clip of Love Actually Red Carpet and fan/press attention]. In Bridget Jones’s Diary, Colin developed a cult of female admirers, especially after delivering the famous line every woman longs to hear [clip of “I like you just the way you are]. After capturing Renée Zellweger’s heart, he hit the big time, dueling for Gwyneth Paltrow’s hand in Shakespeare in Love, protecting Reese Witherspoon in The Importance of Being Earnest and finally meeting his perfect match in the romantic hit Love Actually. Now Colin’s back for round two as Bridget Jones’ boyfriend, the loyal and loving Mark Darcy. But this time, everybody wants to know: Will he pop the question? [clapping] Oprah: In the new Bridget Jones movie, Hugh Grant plays Colin Firth’s archrival and competition for Bridget Jones’ affections. You’ve known him a long time. Colin, right? Hugh: Afraid so. Oprah: Okay, will you do us the honors of introducing him? Come on. Hugh: (rolls eyes) Oh, God. Dreary old British actor. Been around for ages. Played all kinds of roles from Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice [yeas and screams], right through to Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones 1, right through to Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones 2. One of Britain’s most versatile actors. Colin Firth.
[As Colin walks in, audience gives him a standing ovation. He looks surprised, shrugs, hands outstretched to indicate “who me?” and then kisses Oprah Eurostyle.] Oprah: We'll talk to Colin Firth when we get back. [commercial break] Oprah: The stars of the new Bridget Jones movie are back together for the first time. Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. The movie opens up Friday, November 19. Welcome. Welcome to the show. Colin: Thank you. Oprah: So now, you know, as you walked in, women are swooning over you. What’s that like for you, Colin? Colin: Was that for me? (looks down toward Hugh) Oprah: Yeah, yeah. Women were swooning. Colin: Because I saw Hugh sort of taking that... Hugh: It was mainly for me, but I’ll... Oprah: What does that feel like? Colin: Now, it feels fantastic. I’m very happy about that. Yes, thank you. I’ll take what I can get. Oprah: Has that one line from the movie followed you through—I like you just as you are—because that’s what every woman is looking for to hear. Colin: It amazes me the impact that that line has, because I would’ve thought it’s a fairly obvious thing you would say to a partner. It seems incredible how much hunger for that sort of affirmation there is out there. I know a lot of people say. 'it goes without saying..." Oprah: Uh huh. Colin: ...and then that’s when you get the cry of protest because, [starts speaking very emphatically, gesturing with hands, raising voice] "No, you have to say it!" Oprah: You need to say it. You need to say it. Colin: Yeah, yeah. [purses lips, nodding head in agreement] Oprah: Well, in the movie, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant play enemies and in this dramatic and dangerous fight scene [lots of laughter], you should know that there were no rehearsals and no stunt men were used. Take a look. [Shows clip of entire fight scene] We love that! So what did you guys do first before said we’re just going to go for it. Is that was you did? Colin: Well, pretty much. I mean, Hugh, I felt was, in spite of his considerable character defects, is brilliant judging comedy and I think it was very much his idea when we did the first film to dispense with the stunt man idea. No self-respecting stunt man would put his name to it [laughter] and any fight that Hugh and I were capable of anyway. Oprah: That’s funny. Colin: When he saw how we were getting on, I think we all just thought, “let‘s play to our strengths, as you might call them. We did it according to our own sense of our won masculinity. (looks down toward Hugh) I think... Hugh: Literally as well as one of these things where truth meets comedy because that is how two middle-class, educated Englishmen I think would fight. No question about it. Colin: And the last fight I had, my last violent confrontation when I was probably about five years old looked exactly like that. Oprah: Really? Have you ever actually been in a fight? Hugh: Oh, God, no. I’ll run... Oprah: Just as your character and Colin did. Hugh: Yeah. Oprah: We’ll be right back. That’s pretty funny. [Oprah appears to be talking to Colin as the camera pulls back.] Oprah: What would you say was your favorite film, other than the one you just finished, Bridget Jones? Colin: Of anything I’ve ever done? Oprah: Yeah. Colin: Shakespeare in Love, perhaps. (polite applause) Oprah: And you, sir? What would you say? Hugh: Um, one of the few I can look at without wincing: About A Boy. I thought I was... Oprah: You didn’t love yourself in Sense and Sensibility? Hugh: Oh no, no, no! Oprah: You didn’t? I did. Hugh: A rather unflattering costume, like [demonstrating chokingly high collars] Oprah: No, really. I loved you there too, but About A Boy was great. Hugh: Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Oprah: And I read the book. It wasn’t exactly like the book, but it was really good. Hugh: Yeah, we really did depart from the book in that one, but I think you have to do that. We’ve been quite free with Bridget Jones 2 in a way. Oprah: Yeah. Hugh: Very free when you think my character doesn’t appear in the second book at all. [tons of laughter, which drowns out some of the next comments] Colin: That was why I was attracted to doing it. Oprah: No, he wasn’t. Okay. Hugh was saying he was vile on set. Is that true? Colin: No, he’s not. The strange thing is that Hugh and I hardly meet at all. We only meet to pull each other’s hair and scratch. We’ve done three films now and that’s all we’ve done. In the first film, we... Hugh: We developed an appetite for it. We had a little scrap backstage just now. Colin: We do it in our spare time now. Oprah: We’ll be right back. Bridget Jones. Screen captures by MaryH; transcription by your formerly sane webmistress. Additional screen captures here |
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