Ten Things You Never Knew About Colin Firth

Colin Firth made women go weak at the knees when he emerged dripping from a lake in the BBC's Pride And Prejudice. Despite trying his hand at all manner of other roles (including ten in the last two years alone), he remains etched in the national consciousness as the dashing Mr. Darcy and his modern-day Bridget Jones equivalent. But the brooding hero is nowhere in sight in latest outing Mamma Mia!, which sees him camping it up to Abba in sequined spandex. As the musical extravaganza opens in cinemas across the UK, it's time to learn more about the thinking woman's leading man.

1. Colin's parents were college lecturers who raised their young family in Nigeria for four years before returning to Hampshire. They later moved across the pond to St Louis for a few months when Colin was 12.

2. Colin was never destined to follow his parents into academia and has the school report cards to prove it. After he managed a paltry 3% in one exam, his chemistry teacher wrote: "I originally awarded Colin 2% for writing my name at the top and 2% for writing his name. I’m afraid I had to subtract one point for misspelling my name.”

3. Talking of names, Colin doesn't think much of his own moniker. "Well it doesn't exactly have a ring to it, does it?" he says. "It's more the sort of name you'd give to your goldfish for a joke."

4. Colin has 18-year-old son Will with actress Meg Tilly, who he met on the set of Valmont in 1988. He spent two years living in the wilds of Canada working as a carpenter and "changing nappies", but says he wouldn't "recommend it as a career move" in retrospect.

5. Not everyone was convinced that Colin had the makings of literature's ultimate leading man. When he first landed the role, his brother incredulously remarked: "Darcy? But isn't he supposed to be sexy?" Charming!

6. When Colin met Italian producer's assistant Livia on the set of Nostrom, she didn't have a clue who he was. "I remember saying to her family in Italy 'You know, I'm a heartthrob'," he recalls. "And they all threw their hands up and said, 'Get outta here'." The couple wed in 1997 and have sons Luca and Matteo.

7. Colin is keen to shake off his leading man image and sink his teeth in to a more unsavoury character. The "stuttering masturbatory village pervert" is a role that particularly takes his fancy.

8. Despite his sex symbol status, Colin insists that women rarely send him knickers through the post. "But I've been sent shoes," he says. "I think that is even stranger than underwear. I have been sent socks and ties. And a carving of a bird." A carving of a bird? We're saying nothing.

9. Although Colin has struggled to shake off the Darcy tag over the last 13 years, he acknowledges that the role has done wonders for his career. "I dare say it will be my saving grace when the only employment available to me is opening supermarkets dressed in breeches and a wig," he concedes.

10. He may be all suave and sophisticated now, but Colin didn't always cut such a stylish figure. He admits: "I used to wear Rupert trousers. Yes, big flared tartan trousers. Revolting. And, God, my Seventies hair's enough to spend my life apologising for. Vermeer hair. I burnt a lot of my photos from the time." Yikes!