KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
Colin Firth star
What drew you to join The Secret Service?
I think to a very large extent, in terms of style, the character of the spy movies that I fell in love with has its roots in the ’ 60s. It’s The Man From UNCLE, it’s the Harry
Palmer films, it’s John Steed’s Avengers, those early Bond films. It’s the guy in the suit who seems slick and cool and capable, and is very, very contained, but you cross him at your peril. He’ll get you with the umbrella or a slick move or a gadget or something. It was all that. I’d been waiting for the offer on Bond for long enough, but it was Matthew Vaughn who decided that it was a good combination. He likes to take your presumptions about people and then flip them on their head, so he came to me and said, “I think you’re the last person on Earth anybody would expect to kick anyone’s ass, so I think it would be a big surprise. But I would like you to do it, so are you up for it?”
You’ve played lots of iconic roles like Mr Darcy and King George VI, but what was it like to be the action star?
It was great fun. In terms of what’s different I’ve never had to do anything this physical unless you include pulling Hugh Grant’s hair! That was probably what first hinted at me as a killing machine! The training was extraordinarily intense and unfamiliar to me. It was long and incredibly gratifying, and by the end, I wished I’d done more of it. It was a good six months of three hours a day with extraordinary people – we were working with the best in the world, basically, gymnasts, Thai boxers, martial artists of all kinds, special forces…