Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen both share the honor of starring as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice; Firth in the 1995 miniseries and Macfadyen in the 2005 film. Both beloved for different reasons, the Darcys have never united until now: the two co-star in a new Netflix film, Operation Mincemeat.
Amongst other plot points, the World War II spy drama finds Firth and Macfadyen in a love triangle with Kelly Macdonald's character. Yet, Macdonald said during press that the "real romance" was between Firth and Macfadyen offscreen. Firth echoed this, telling a reporter "We did sort of fall in love, bromantically."
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the Mr. Darcys opened up about their off-screen bromance and love for each other. Their friendship began, Firth said, because of "a tendency to wear the same clothes."Macfadyen added, "I would come dressed as Colin, and vice versa."
The clothing broke the ice, and soon, the two were making each other laugh on set. "It’s quite thrilling when you find yourself giggling, and you can make a joke, which isn’t a very good one, and you’re getting [a good response]," Firth said. "Matthew’s quite an easy crowd." Macfadyen replied, "Maybe your jokes are better."
On set, they didn't really discuss their shared experience of playing the Jane Austen romantic hero. "I remember saying there is this sort of weird pressure that comes with playing stuff like that. I think we touched on that briefly, but we didn’t talk about it," Macfadyen says.
Yet, during the Vanity Fair interview, the two complimented each other for their portrayals of Darcy.
Firth praised Macfadyen's ability to tell the whole story in just a two hour film. "It’s much more challenging to do it as a feature film. Because if you do a six-parter, you’ve got six hours to put it all in and let it unfold at a pace which is closer to that of a book. I think what was masterful about Matthew’s interpretation was that he did manage to tell that whole story in a more condensed form. And I think that’s very difficult because it’s so dependent on a slow reveal. You think he’s one thing, and gradually, we’ve lived with the doubt about that, and the perceptions gradually and slowly change."
"I think it was a huge achievement that that story was told [in that short time], and that Matthew managed to span the arc of that character," Firth added.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
