Actor. He was born into a family of academics. He spent the early part of his childhood in Nigeria with his Methodist missionary grandparents and returned to England at age five to study. He began acting very early, enrolling in the Drama Centre at Chalk Farm where he studied for two years. During the end-of-course performance, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he is noticed and called to perform in the West End in London. The play is Anotber Countly by Julian Mitchell, and Colin is to play the role of Tommy Judd, the best friend of the main character Guy Burgess, played by Rupert Everett. In 1984 the two were called upon to play their respective roles in the film version of the play of the same name. From this time Colin appeared in several television and film productions but success with the general public came in 1995 with the character of Mr. Darcy, played in the BBC-produced television series Pride and Prejudice based on the book of the same name by lane Austen. His major roles include: Bridget Jones’s Diary, the award-winning Shakespeare in Love, Fever at 90°, Valmont, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Love Actually, The English Patient, and the award-winning The King’s Speech.