The English people, a lot of them, would not be able to understand a word of spoken Shakespeare. There are people who do and I'm not denying they exist. But it's a far more philistine country than people think.

He played a less debonair romantic lead as a laddish football obsessed teacher in 1997's Fever Pitch (1997). Firth — a supremely controlled actor who makes each developing fissure visible — show the adult Blake coming to terms with his contradictory feelings letting the love and the hurt pour out of him. He also said that while he no longer supports the Liberal Democrats he is currently without an affiliation.

Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that Firth became a household name. Firth has campaigned for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and is a member of Survival International. His films have earned more than $936 million from 42 releases worldwide.