From the pages of the acclaimed comic book “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” movie stars Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine and Mark Strong along with up and coming young stars led by Taron Egerton, Sofia Boutella and Sophie Cookson.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn (“X-Men: First Class”), “Kingsman: The Secret Service” follows a suave veteran agent Harry Hart (Firth) who leads and trains a young protégé Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Egerton) into the world of espionage. Eggsy, a juvenile delinquent who can do parkour, pickpocket and drive a car backwards is introduced into the world of super-secret spy organization that recruits promising kids into the agency’s toughest training program.
The superspy romp is Firth’s first foray into the action genre, being widely known as television’s Mr. Darcy of the acclaimed “Pride and Prejudice” series, the movie introduced Firth to a lot of firsts when it comes to training. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Firth was quoted saying, “I was afraid it was ridiculous. I think what’s brilliant about Matthew is that he takes people’s expectations and likes to mess with them. When we first met the year before, he said, “One of the reasons I’m casting you is because you’re probably the last person anyone could imagine kicking people and kicking off the villains.” And that was the surprise he wanted to pull. And he said, by the way, “You’re going to have to do it. Are you up to it?” That’s one of the reasons he got me so early, to start training. He said, “You’re going to hate me by the end of it,” and sure enough, the Jackie Chan training team comes to my house and they get to work on me. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed myself so much in my life. I realized that I’d made assumptions about myself that meant I had probably been neglecting something that I might have enjoyed for years if I’d got to it earlier.”
Moreso, Firth’s training is a mix of Kung Fu, boxing and gymnastics, “Matthew had me on three hours a day of training, even when I went off to do another film. But it wasn’t eastern martial arts stuff. The guys that trained me were like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in that they all had a particular superpower. Brad Allan worked with Jackie Chan. He’s a kung fu black belt and one of the best in the world. That’s his skill. But I also had Rudi Vrba, a Thai boxing world champion, stuntman Rick English, and I had an Olympic gold medal gymnast, Damien Walters. I had a team of people at the top of their field with very special skills coming to me. It was slightly uncharted waters,” Firth shares of his training coaches and regimen.
Having an eye for upcoming young superstars who are first unknowns, director Matthew Vaughn who discovered today’s “it” and sensible young actors such as Chloë Grace Moretz , Sienna Miller and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Vaughn vouched on Taron Egerton being the lead teen actor in the movie as Eggsy, noting that Egerton has a likeability factor that was unique.
Suit up and gear up when “Kingsman: The Secret Service” opens October 23 in theatres nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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