Colin Firth Attends ‘The Railway Man’ Premiere, Plus First ‘Paddington’ Trailer

Actor Colin Firth attended the New York premiere of his upcoming film The Railway Man, which tells the story of Eric Lomax, a British soldier who was taken prisoner by the Japanese in World War II and taken to a prison camp in Thailand. Firth escorted Lomax’s widow Patti down the red carpet premiere.

In the film, Firth’s character Lomax is one of many Allied prisoners of war forced to work on the construction of the Burma railway, where he is questioned and tortured by his captors. After being liberated, he meets Agnes, played by Nicole Kidman, and the two marry even as Lomax finds adjusting to civilian life to be near impossible. When one of Lomax’s captor’s is discovered to be alive, Lomax travels to confront the man, who has spent years trying to atone for his actions during the war. Starring with Firth in Railway Man is Stellan Skarsgaard and Hiroyuki Sanada.

Regarding the serious nature of the film, Colin Firth recently spoke to the New York Post, saying that making the film was an eye opener for him on World War II history. “I knew that it existed, and that it was singularly horrible,” Firth said. “But for me, and I think a lot of people, there’s a lack of knowledge about the scale of it. The only movie before this was ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai,’ and if you speak to veterans, they feel that’s a gross misrepresentation — it’s more of an adventure story.”

The film is being released by Lionsgate and will hit theaters this Friday, April 11. Critical reception for the film so far has earned it a 71% fresh rating on movie meter site Rotten Tomatoes, with praise for both Kidman’s and Firth’s performances. Firth recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and revealed that the giant Colin Firth statue that was erected last year in London’s Hyde Park is actually falsely based off of his version of Mr. Darcy.

“It never happened. I never got out of a lake in a white shirt,” said Firth. “They’ve turned me into Ursula Andress from the end of the Bond movie.”

Colin Firth is also starring in a children’s film slated for release this December, Paddington, based off the books of the same name. Colin lends his voice to the main character, Paddington the bear. The first teaser trailer was released last month by Studio Canal UK.