Exclusive interview: Oscar winning Colin Firth on 'Kingsman', his latest film

Colin Firth talks about his latest film Kingsman with People's Daily Online on March. 24, 2015.

(P = People's Daily Online, C = Colin Firth)

P: Some viewers say the character you played in Kingsman represents a breakthrough for you, because it's quite different from the ones you did in your previous films. What's your thought on it?

C: Well, yes. I mean, it's making use of the familiar things that I've done before, and I think this is what Matthew Vaughn likes to do. He likes to take familiar imagery and then subvert and surprise with familiar things. So, Kingsman, yes, you see Bond, you see men in black, you see the avengers, you see Harry Palmer. But then he makes it his own by twisting it, or exaggerating it, or making it kind of post-modern com. ent. in a way, just for entertainment. And he's done something similar with me. You've seen me playing English gentleman before, you've seen me in a suit, you know, being polite, all this kind of thing. But this time you see me fight, and you see me do this sort of crazy action sequences. So the impact that has is based on the fact that you start with something familiar. So he wanted to cast me because you expect this and instead you get that. So yeah, it was very very new for me and I think it's probably surprising for people to watch, but only because it begins with a familiar reference point.

P: Did you enjoy the shooting?

C: It's a mix because the beginning of the training was a little bit intimidating and difficult, quite painful. But when we've achieved it, when we've shot those scenes, by the time we were doing it after six months, it was one of the most exhilarating things I know. And Matthew is exhilarating to work with. It's not always easy, because he's a perfectionist, and he'll surprise us, you know. I learned my lines, we have the set built, and he has a whole set of ideas, and then if he rise and if he has a better idea, he would do the better idea, even if we have to change the set, change the everything, change the dialogue, he would do it. But I loved it, because I thought yep, he's always committed to making it better.

P: Among the cast members, who do you think is the funniest?

C: The funniest? That's difficult cause they're funny, all of them. Michael Caine's stories, very funny, and he loves to tell stories. And it's the same with Sam, Sam Jackson. I could have wasted time not filming because just from listening to these guys tell stories about their experiences, because they had all to do with my favourite movies. Taron is very funny too. And he made fun of me quite a lot. So sometimes you didn't wanna work, because you were just enjoying each other's company.

P: Who is the most gentlemanly?

C: Well they're all gentleman in their way. I suppose in terms of the archetypal, gentleman that we think of as the Englishmen, I think obviously it's Michael Caine. He has that grace, elegance and dignity that we associate with the gentlemen. Sam is not the English gentleman in the suit at all, but he is an absolute gentleman in that he goes compassionately to make people feel happy, comfortable. He just treats people with great generosity. So he's a huge gentleman. And Taron, he's so good in this role that people imagine that he's like that guy and he's not at all. He's also perfect gentleman, he's very very polite, very kind and very sensitive. So I think it was an ambience of gentlemen.

P: Do you think yourself charming in the film? Because apparently many people who have seen it think so.

C: I don't think anybody can consider themselves charming. I'm very glad that if that's people response, it makes me very happy because obviously I'm supposed to be playing a gentleman. That means the role works. But no, I can't have that response to myself.

P: What drove you to take the part in the first place?

C: Matthew Vaughn. Because I hadn't seen his script, he hadn't written the script yet when I met him. My interest was based on him and the movies he's made. I think they're all very very individual and diverse and unique. It was basically I was attracted to working with Matthew.

P: Did you work out for the fight scenes?

C: Oh yes.

P: What was it like?

C: Three hours a day, every day, for six months. It was difficult at first cause I was unfamiliar with this kind of moves, and over the age of fifty, it's not when you think it's time to start doing this. But I was excited when I saw it began to work. Obviously if you persist in this kind of thing, something will change, like I got fitter. And to feel fitter, to have the opportunity at the discipline and the structure, to be given that was incredible, at this age. I thought ‘it's not too late, I can do it.' Well, the most difficult part, in a way, I had to go away and do a movie, I went to do a movie with Woody Allen in France in the middle of the training process. So I was playing somebody very different, not physical at all. They sent the trainer to France, so every morning before I got up to go and do that film, I had to do an hour and a half with the trainer before going to work. That was a little bit tough, you know, I'd arrive on the set and I'd want to fall asleep before I even started. But by the time we achieved it all, and we were shooting these sequences, it was incredibly satisfying to have done all that work.

P: Will there be a sequel to the film?

C: I hope so. There's an intention. Matthew Vaughn has stated publicly that he would love to make a sequel and find a way to bring us all into it.