Colin Firth on the character of Lord Wessex: "All... all Lord Wessex is doing is trying to marry for advantage, which is all anybody ever did of that class."

Colin Firth on playing Lord Wessex: "I think whenever you take on a villain he very quickly have to stop being a villain to you. And I think if you judge this man according to the standards of his time, he is doing very little wrong.... I mean, if you read about people from this period, it's Dallas basically: it's JR - with different frocks. They are climbing over each other in pursuit of their own advancement. It seems to be without exception."

Colin on Tom Stoppard's script: "I think that obviously Stoppard's knowledge of the history - of the period - and the plays themselves, are so thorough that he completely with confidence is able to take liberty with it... without actually stepping outside of history."

Colin Firth on filming with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joe Fiennes: "I would say this has been one of the calmest and most relaxed shoots I have ever been on, and that has very largely to do with Joe and Gwyneth. I think the actors in the centre of it dictates the atmosphere to a large extent. They get on very well with each other, and I think the're both very good."