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Colin Firth No Longer Providing Voice of 'Paddington' in Family Film
by Ethan Anderton
June 17, 2014
When the most recent trailer for The Weinstein Company's family film Paddington arrived, it seemed a little odd that we didn't hear the voice of Colin Firth, or even see his name credited as the voice of the bear about town in London. But now we know why the trailer may have opted to only have the bear grunt and moan as EW has learned that Firth will no longer be lending his voice to the beloved children's character. Of his departure from the film, Firth says, "After a period of denial, we’ve chosen ‘conscious uncoupling.’” Simply put, Firth's voice just didn't fit as well for Paddington the bear as they hoped it would. More below!
Firth continued in a statement given to the entertainment magazine:
"It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn’t have my voice. I’ve had the joy of seeing most of the film and it’s going to be quite wonderful. I still feel rather protective of this bear and I’m pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him."
Director Paul King also seems bummed that Firth's voice didn't seem to jive with the character, "I cannot thank [Firth] enough for his contribution to Paddington. We love the voice and we love the bear, but as our young bear came into being we agreed that the two didn’t seem to fit. So, with somewhat heavy hearts we decided to part ways." It's not an entirely different situation than when Samantha Morton was traded out for Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Joaquin Phoenix's technological love interest in Her. The question is who will replace Firth? Twitter has some good ideas. Who do you think should voice Paddington?
5 Comments
1
Kurt Russell.
Astroboy3000 on Jun 17, 2014
2
It sounded strange in the preview. Like a wild bear, and I was wondering why.
OfficialJab on Jun 17, 2014
3
Andrew Garfield should do the voice.
DJ Jack Ryan Hardy on Jun 17, 2014
4
That would have been odd anyhow. Rupert Grint maybe?
DAVIDPD on Jun 17, 2014
5
How about Tom Hiddleston? We need someone who can sound earnest and innocent without really being a child (I just don't think a child or teen voice would be good for Paddington), and Tom can do vulnerable and gentle. We are, of course, talking about the portrayer of a character who tried to kill his brother, usurp a throne, then spearheaded an alien invasion of Earth and was responsible for hundreds if not thousands of casualties...and swooning fangirls everywhere seem to think he's just a misunderstood bunny rabbit. If THAT'S not an actor who can sound likable, I don't know who is.
Jennifer Schillig on Jun 17, 2014
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