In praise of... Colin Firth

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/18/in-praise-of-colin-firth

Version 0 of 1.

A toast, marmalade optional, to Colin Firth, who has quit a film version of Paddington with a grace befitting this most cordial of bears. Firth was to voice the Peruvian refugee, but pulled out after he'd taped his part. "After a period of denial," he said, he and the producers had parted company. "I still feel rather protective of this bear," Firth continued, clearly having taken note of the luggage tag attached to Paddington's duffel coat, "and I'm pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him." The manner of Firth's exit mirrors that of Edgar Wright, the British writer-director who spent eight years working on a film of Marvel comic book character Ant-Man, only to withdraw last month, just before shooting began. Colleagues Michael Douglas and Simon Pegg have lamented his departure, but Wright himself has remained silent. To quit any sure-fire success takes guts. To do so with discretion takes class. Sowesters off to them both.