Red Carpet
Arrivals
Inside
the Odeon Leicester Square
The Show
The
Telegraph's Spy column disclosed...Why Firth missed cue
Timing
is of the essence for any leading actor. So Spy was amused to see Colin
Firth miss his cue at the Evening Standard British Film Awards on
Sunday night.The dashing Bridget
Jones star was there to present the Alexander Walker Special Award at
the end of the glittering ceremony at the Savoy...
However,
after Firth had been introduced by comedian Jack Dee and welcomed with
rapturous applause, he was nowhere to be seen, and a second take was
required.
"I
don't think it was my fault," he told me afterwards. "And no, I wasn't
in the toilet - I don't quite know what happened."
Perhaps
Dee's mention of the notorious "white shirt" put him off, I suggest.
"I
accept that, as an actor, you get boxed into a certain stereotype," he
sighed. "But I'm certainly not going to turn down costume dramas
because of it. I don't think you can let wardrobe dictate your roles."
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| Transcription,
exclusive for firth.com by Agent Baby's
mother, with screen caps by Lorna, Janet and Susan |
| Jack Dee: Next up is the Alexander
Walker award. To tell us more, one of our most dashing leading men soon
to be seen in Nanny McPhee
with Emma Thompson and Atom Egoyan's Where
the Truth Lies. Steady ladies... it's Colin Firth. Big
cheers, a smiling Colin gets up. Voiceover lists his films, ending with
'and of course Mr Darcy in Pride and
Prejudice.' |
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| Colin: When you've seen these
two men at 3 o'clock in the morning, or if you've seen one of them
hastily undress in order to donate some rather stylish items of
clothing to a panic-stricken actor seconds before a television
appearance, or the other, after many sleepless months of recent
fatherhood, concealing an agony of fatigue and managing to be
absolutely charming about your performance, then you realise that the
agony of fatigue is probably because of your performance, and when you
wish you'd accepted their offer of a lift as you watch their helicopter
fly over your 30-mile traffic jam, when you witness extraordinary
dignity in the face of a bitter Scrabble disappointment, when you've
seen such things, something within you warms to them. |
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But in the
midst of these various acts of wanton genorosity, you tend
to forget that these two men carry a disproportionate share of
responsibilty for a revived British film industry, for the wave of
quality film making on both sides of the Atlantic [pause] and for my
career. [pause for laughter, he gets it.]
Now.. a casual glance at their body of work will
show you one or two ropey films, an improbable number of excellent
films, and a fair number which could be considered genuine classics. I
think with credentials like these we can forgive them for Hugh Grant...
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and recognize that their contribution
[continued laughter], that their
contribution to the British film industry is unparalleled. I would like
to rest my case on this piece of film.
[Clips shown:Sid
and Nancy, Wish You Were Here, Four Weddings, Elizabeth, Notting Hill,
Billy Elliot, Bridget Jones fight scene, Love Actually, and Inside I'm Dancing. Then a montage
ending with Ali G saying 'This is good shit'. Applause. Shot of
Kim Cattrall in audience drooling.] |
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| The Alexander
Walker
Special Award for contribution to the British film industry, ladies and
gentlemen, goes to the richest, nice people in the business, Tim Bevan
and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films. |
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More to come
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