Learning to stammer involves muscle memory, says Colin Firth

The English actor is quite the talk of the scuttlebutts these days. Having won a BAFTA for the best actor for the film The King’s Speech already, Firth is now seen as a strong contender for the Oscars as well.

In the film, Firth plays the character of King George VI and has earned critical acclaim for his stuttering speech. Apparently, the actor had a hard time unlearning.

“I got a bit confused in my own speech patterns.” Explaining the process, he adds, “It is all muscle memory. If you train yourself to interfere with your rhythm of speech, something in your brain remembers that and follows it.”

Firth found it a bit too tough to play a character of the royal lineage from ther year 1937 and was hence pretty concerned in terms of how people would respond. Ask him what the most challenging bit for him in the movie was and Firth replies,“It’s funny to be a part of a story about a member of the royal family when none of us are members of the royal family or could possibly know what that is like.”

Also, the actor was very sensitive to the fact that the lineage lives on. “I did not quite ignore the fact that one of the characters was the reigning queen,” he adds.