Oscar Nomination

Acting royalty acting Royalty

What is it that makes Colin Firth, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench so good at playing our monarchs of old? Is it maturity, is it talent or is it just that they all have a crown fetish? From the Sixteenth Century up to the present day, many actors have tried to play royalty, and few have succeeded. Those that have are celebrated here.

A Single Man

Colin Firth’s performance – though well deserving of the hype – is just one of the many pleasures of fashion doyen Tom Ford’s directorial debut, based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood. Adapted for the screen by Ford and David Scearce, A Single Man is a haunting drama about a fifty-something scholar, who secretly says farewell to the people he loves as he contemplates suicide.