Award winning actor Colin Firth has confirmed that he will star in a sequel to The King’s Speech, The Queen’s Lisp, in which he plays the young Queen Elizabeth II as she struggles to overcome a terrible speech impediment.
‘Playing The Queen will be the biggest challenge of my acting career,’ said Firth, ‘Judi Dench has done it, Helen Mirren has done it, but until I play this role then I simply cannot be taken seriously as an actor.’
Set in 1952, the film tells the moving story of Elizabeth who ascends to the throne but is unable to speak in public without pronouncing her sibilants as interdentals. The reason for her lisp is unclear although, according to the film, she has been traumatised by her husband, Philip, who continually says inappropriate things due to a tragic case of Tourettes.
In a desperate attempt to overcome her lisp the young monarch visits an unconventional speech therapist, played by Chris Eubank. Ironically he can’t even pronounce the word ‘therapist’. Eubank helps her to conquer her lisp by teaching her to box and fight like a warrior.
‘The Queen’s Lisp will be a mixture of Royalty and Rocky,’ said Firth, ‘but as I train for the biggest fight of my life, running through the snow in a delicate lavender dress with matching bonnet and boxing gloves, I really hope to play the part of Her Majesty with the reverence and humility that it deserves.’
Historians have been quick to point out that Queen Elizabeth II has never had a lisp or trained as a boxer. However, director Tom Hooper defends his vision. ‘The Queen’s Lisp is based on a true story,’ he said, ‘Ok, so it’s not 100% historically accurate and it never actually happened, but dramatically it’s true.’
The Queen’s Lisp has already been nominated for twelve Academy Awards despite the fact that it hasn’t even been made yet. ‘This film has everything,’ said Firth, ‘royalty, boxing, a speech impediment and a man in a dress. They may as well just give me the Oscar now.’
