Colin Firth: Acting isn’t a job for grown-ups

Colin Firth doesn’t feel like acting is a “job for grown-ups”. The King’s Speech star, 50, is unsure if he would choose to follow a career in Hollywood if he had made the decision later in life as he only fell into the profession as a teenager who wasn’t ready for adult life.

“It doesn’t seem very much like a job for grown-ups,” he said. “I honestly don’t know that I’d make the choice today to pursue it.

“Mine was the decision of a teenager who didn’t want to grow up and wanted to play-act.”

However, he does believe being older does make him enjoy his profession more.

“You have a past and, hopefully, a future, and thankfully that’s provided some interesting material. It’s given everything a new lease on life for me.”

Colin also hints some of his previous movies have not been good experiences because he has not got on with his costars.

Asked what it is like working with people he is unsure of, he said, “Misery. Utter misery. Because you are trying to manufacture something that’s supposed to be happening naturally. And I think everyone knows what that’s like, in some area of life.

“If you’re in sports and you’re just not on form that day. Or if you’re with your lover, and the chemistry is just not there. You can’t make things like that happen.

“And I’ll tell you, if the other people involved in the project are not that good, it doesn’t make you look any better. It’s quite the reverse, actually. You look your best when you’re working with someone better than you.”