COLIN FIRTH - FIRTH HOPES TO LOSE MR DARCY

COLIN FIRTH desperately hopes the new PRIDE AND PREJUDICE movie will help him shed his image as JANE AUSTEN heartthrob MR DARCY.

The British actor made his name playing the dashing hero in a 1995 TV version of the period drama and has struggled to shake off the image, despite high profile roles in LOVE ACTUALLY, THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and the new sequel THE EDGE OF REASON.

But he hopes a new movie, starring KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and MATTHEW MacFADYEN in the lead role, will help.

Firth, 44, says, "Mr Darcy became a bit of a monkey on my back. and I'd like to pass the baton on to someone else."