A Lot of Firth Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nigeria

Colin Firth would probably remember very little of his four years in Nigeria, where his father took up a role as education officer for the Nigerian Government. He was only two weeks old when he arrived, and four years old when the family left Africa.

Answer: He adopted the local working class accent.

Firth learned at an early age the advantage of 'blending in' with his peers. After experiencing bullying, he quickly adopted the local accent and idiom of the working class Hampshire students he shared classes with. He also learned that it did not pay to show any academic ability, and followed his schoolmates' lead by showing a lack of interest in his studies.

This changed with his last two years of schooling when he attended a college in Eastleigh. He was influenced by an enthusiastic English teacher, Penny Edwards, who infused him with a love of English Literature.

Answer: Another Country

The play "Another Country" is loosely based on the early life of the spy Guy Burgess (a leading member of the infamous "Cambridge Five" spy ring) during his youth at an English public school.

It explores the hypocrisy and the brutality of English public school life, where students who do not conform are harried and bullied (sometimes causing them to commit suicide).

Answer: A Single Man

"A Single Man", filmed in 2009, was based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood. Firth played the title role of George, an English college professor in Los Angeles. His longtime partner, Jim, had died in a car accident some months ago, and due to depression and loneliness, George has decided to end his life that evening.

A couple of unexpected encounters occur during George's final day, and a student prevents him from shooting himself. The film ends with a deeply ironic twist that is strangely satisfying.

Answer: Scarlett Johansson

Colin Firth plays the 17th Century painter Johannes Vermeer, and Johansson is the shy girl, Griet, who becomes a maid in his house.

Griet quietly assists Vermeer in mixing his paints, without the knowledge of his jealous and harsh wife, and he starts to paint her portrait, using his wife's pearl earring as a focus point.

Griet is ejected, penniless, from the household by a vengeful wife and with no support from Vermeer. Later the family cook finds her, bringing her a gift of the blue headscarf and the earrings she wore in the painting. The viewer is left to speculate that Vermeer sent them.

Answer: Tumbledown

In "Tumbledown" Firth plays a Scots Guards officer, Robert Lawrence, who is shot in the head during the Battle of Mount Tumbledown during the Falklands War. He is paralysed on his left side, and must learn to cope with his disability.

The film explores the uncaring attitude of the government and the general public towards soldiers returning injured, mentally or physically, from war. It highlights the struggles of wounded soldiers to cope with their new, limited options in life, and their battles with bureaucracy to enable them to find some recompense.

Answer: Prince Albert, later King George VI

The story opens with Prince Albert, Duke of York, (known to his family as Bertie) closing a major Exhibition, and giving a stumbling, stammering speech. His wife persuades him to seek help from an unconventional speech therapist, Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush) who demonstrates a technique of speaking while classical music plays through a headset. Whenever he is upset or self-conscious, the old stammer reasserts itself, causing great anguish, as public speaking is an important part of the Royal duties.

After his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicates, Bertie continues discreetly taking lessons from Lionel, who coaches him in his Coronation speech. The climax of the film is the famous address to the Empire in 1939 immediately after Britain has declared war on Germany.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

What woman will ever forget the aloof but totally dishy Mr Darcy, rising from the lake, shirt clinging to his manly body? (Swoon!)

This adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" won international acclaim, and was instrumental in making Firth a household name.

Answer: Hugh Grant

"Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001) is a romantic comedy following the life and love interests of an accident-prone young woman living in London. She is obsessed by her cad of a boss, Daniel (Hugh Grant), when she meets Mark (Firth), who was her childhood friend.

A series of hilarious disasters ensues, with the two men exchanging punches, and numerous misunderstandings. True love, however, triumphs in the end.

Answer: Survival International

Colin Firth has campaigned on behalf of tribal peoples for many years, and the organisation Survival International seeks to defend the rights of these people. He has condemned the Botswana Government for evicting the Gana and Gwi people from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which was their traditional home.

He has also been involved with Oxfam's "Make Trade Fair" campaign, and has been a supporter of the refugee Council, speaking out on behalf of endangered refugees forced to return to countries where they faced the likelihood of being murdered as dissidents.