Colin Firth was a relatively popular actor even before he won an Oscar for The King’s Speech, so it’s not hard to guess that his stock rose afterward. However, Firth says that while he’s certainly more in demand it doesn’t make the roles he’s offered any less of a chance when he accepts one.
He explains, “Life as an actor is a constant roll of the dice. It was a roll of the dice before I won an Oscar, and it is still a roll of the dice. Three scripts landing on my desk turned into 300; that also means three bad scripts turned into 300 bad scripts.” He later adds, “Things are a bit busier in terms of what the possibilities might be, but in the end you can only do one movie at a time.”
Naturally even if a script is good in Firth’s estimation that is no indication whether or not the film will actually do well. In fact, sometimes he looks for a film that is a toss-up, like his current movie that is now in limited release, Arthur Newman. He explains, “I still love doing a film that could go either way: It could end up fascinating, or it could end up disappearing. I’m always attracted to a big risk.”
