Top 10 Colin Firth Performances

#10: Jamie
“Love Actually” (2003)

We open with our actor as one part of an ensemble cast, and with one of Love Actually’s most memorable stories. It doesn’t start well for Colin Firth’s Jamie, who arrives home unexpectedly early only to find his girlfriend having it off with his brother. Emotionally devastated, the writer retreats to a cottage in France and enlists the help of a Portuguese housekeeper. While he labours with his work and everything he does write ends up in the water, romance blossoms despite the often-laughable language barrier. Given his initial heartbreak, Firth cuts a lonely figure at first. But by the movie’s end he has the whole village behind him. Literally.

#9: Lord Wessex
“Shakespeare in Love” (1998)

Costume dramas are a somewhat specialist subject for Firth, with various roles dotted throughout his back catalogue, but this outing as Lord Wessex for “Shakespeare in Love” garnered especially high praise. An impeccably dressed but out of luck aristocrat, Wessex is betrothed to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola, who loves Shakespeare, who loves her back, and Wessex knows it. All in all it’s an elaborate and entertaining entanglement of relations, worthy of something the playwright might have penned himself. And, while Firth’s is a supporting role within a high-profile cast, it’s one that truly stands out, and not just for his burgundy threads in the duelling scene.

#8: Johannes Vermeer
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” (2003)

Getting inside an artist’s head is no mean feat, but that’s exactly the task which Firth faced for our next film. Opposite Scarlett Johansson’s dutiful maid Griet, Firth’s Vermeer is a quiet man with talent to spare. However, as he spends most of his time locked inside his studio, he’s emotionally distant from the rest of his family. And when Griet is invited to sit for a now-famous portrait, his wife’s jealousy takes over. Based on the award-winning novel by Tracey Chevalier, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” was also nominated for 10 BAFTAs, though was unfortunate to come away empty handed. Nevertheless, Firth’s Dutch Master is a masterclass in acting.

#7: Eric Lomax
“The Railway Man” (2013)

To another adaptation of an internationally successful book, but a very different role. “The Railway Man” sees Firth star as Eric Lomax, a British World War Two officer who’s captured as a Japanese Prisoner of War and set to work building a train line. With a script based on Lomax’s memoirs, he falls under suspicion of being a spy, is repeatedly tortured, and is left psychologically traumatised for years afterwards. The movie sees Firth’s character try to put his past to bed by finding and confronting one of his captors, but closure doesn’t come as simply as he’d hoped.

#6: Robert Lawrence MC
“Tumbledown” (1988)

Before big time movies became his bread and butter, Firth was busy carving out a career on TV, most notably with this role as a returning Falklands War soldier. A one-off drama, “Tumbledown” proved hugely controversial at the time of its release, seemingly exposing some of the worst aspects of life in the British forces. When Firth’s Lawrence is badly injured he struggles to come to terms with his new way of life, but receives little help from the government or from society in general. The film received nine nominations at the 1989 BAFTA TV awards, and Firth was widely saluted for his unflinching portrayal.

#5: Mr. Darcy
“Pride and Prejudice” (1995)

The early ‘90s proved a quieter period in Firth’s career, until this iconic role which earned him household name status. As Mr. Darcy in the BBC six-part adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic work, Firth established himself as a unique romantic lead. Charming, yes; good looking, certainly; well-spoken, very… But Firth’s character carried something else as well, an awkward aloofness which has since become his trademark. The story sees him work to woo Jennifer Ehle’s Elizabeth Bennett, winning the hearts of his audience in the meantime, sealing the deal with that scene. A wetter shirt there never was.

#4: Mark Darcy
“Bridget Jones’s Diary” (2001)

It’s said that Helen Fielding was so inspired by TV’s “Pride and Prejudice” while writing Bridget Jones that she just had to have a Darcy character for her own work. So, when the big screen came calling, Firth was one of the first names on the cast list. He’s one of two men duelling for Bridget’s heart in this definitive rom-com, the other being Hugh Grant’s insatiable Lothario, Daniel Cleaver. Next to Cleaver, Firth’s Darcy is uncomfortable, unfashionable, self-conscious and forever on the back foot. But he can grapple in the streets with the best of them, and he’s one half of one of cinema’s most memorable smooches.

#3: George Falconer
“A Single Man” (2009)

Taking the lead role in Tom Ford’s directorial debut, Firth fashions himself as a grieving widow in “A Single Man”, for one of his most celebrated performances. A film framed around the day leading up to George’s planned suicide following the death of his partner Jim, news of which he’s told over a heart-breaking phone call, Firth plays out his intense battle with grief and depression. But as he journey’s through his final day, seeing things as if for the last time, is there a chance that his mind can be changed? With plenty of close-ups, long cuts and poignant scenes, Firth lays it all on the table and we’re with him for every rise and fall.

#2: Harry Hart
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” (2014)

Pigeonhole this man at your peril. Firth defied expectation by stepping out as Harry Hart in “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, for a James Vaughn movie which took the typical spy film and turned it on its head. As a senior figure within a super-slick intel agency, Hart (AKA Galahad) takes the joy-riding Eggsy under his wing for this most stylish saunter through the life of an international badass. Armed with an umbrella and an unfinished pint of Guinness, he speaks like a gentleman, but don’t be deceived. Manners are important, but so’s being able to waste a room full of people at a moment’s notice. It’s not Firth’s only spy role, but it is his best.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Richard Herncastle
“Lost Empires” (1986)

Vince Collins
“Where the Truth Lies” (2005)

#1: King George VI
“The King’s Speech” (2010)

Today’s winning role also bagged Firth his first Oscar, as the actor famed for playing the gentleman rose to the very top of British high society. But his part as King George VI was no stereotypical portrayal of a decorated royal. Thrust onto the throne by the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, he must tackle a lifelong speech impediment in order to deliver radio addresses to his people. What follows is a testing relationship with his unconventional speech therapist, but one that promises results. A well-respected figure but vulnerable all the same, it’s an amalgamation of everything Firth is famous for, and it’s his finest moment on film.