Firth's faithful to King's speech patterns

It’s rare for a non-disabled actor playing disabled to receive unqualified praise and support for the performance. But as Paul Carter discovers, Colin Firth has received unhesitating approval from the stammering community

It’s already established as one of the most successful British films of recent times. The King’s Speech is the latest in a line of movies that pushes disability into the mainstream. But for people with a stammer and the organisations that represent them, the film has proved to be more than just a piece of cinematic entertainment.

The film follows the story of King George VI, who took to the throne following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, brought about by his proposal to the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

However, George (or Bertie, as he is known to friends and family), has had a stammer since childhood, which greatly affected his confidence and public image.

With communication seen to be a skill of emerging importance for a 20th century monarch, and with the spectre of war with Nazi Germany looming large on the horizon, George’s wife, the future Queen Mother, enlists the help of a brash and unconventional speech therapist called Lionel Logue to help her husband come to terms with his stammer and deliver a speech to galvanise and unite a fractured and war-weary nation.

As with any film in which the role of someone with an impairment is played by a non-disabled actor, questions are bound to be raised over the ethics of such a casting. However, many people from the stammering community have reserved high praise for the level of realism that Firth brings to the role, and are simply pleased that the film has brought the issue of stammering into the mainstream.

Norbert Lieckfeldt, Chief Executive of The British Stammering Association (BSA) said he welcomed the release of the film.

“David Seidler the script writer, Tom Hooper the director and Colin Firth are to be congratulated on their realistic depiction of the frustration and the fear of speaking faced by people who stammer on a daily basis,” he said.

“Colin Firth’s portrayal of the King’s stammer in particular strikes us as very authentic and accurate.

“The film offers a golden opportunity to talk openly about stammering. Too often, stammering is treated as shameful and embarrassing, something that may not be talked about in polite company. BSA profoundly disagrees with this view and we welcome the opportunity for more openness around this potentially serious communication disability.”

A key aspect of the film that has pleased many people with a stammer is that it resists the temptation of showing the King losing his stammer. For many stammerers, intensive therapy can lead to them learning techniques to manage the level of their stammering, but it is rare for it to ever completely go away.

Lieckfeldt agrees: “The film is very clear that the King is neither ‘cured’ nor does he ‘overcome’ his stammer,” he says.

“Colin Firth, in an interview with the BSA, states that to show the King as having been cured would have been ‘a lie’. Rather, he says, the King is shown to ‘come to an arrangement’ with his stammer.”

And it’s not just in the UK where The King’s Speech has had an impact on those living with a speech impairment.

Jane Fraser, president of American organisation The Stuttering Foundation, calls The King’s Speech “A tsunami that has turned our world upside down."

She says: "This movie has done in one fell swoop what we’ve been working on for 64 years – raising awareness of the complexities of stuttering and the help that is available to those in need.

“The King’s Speech is more than entertainment to people who stutter. We have heard universal praise for both the movie and the actors’ performances from the stuttering community across the world.

“People who stutter have a movie and a hero they can call their own. We congratulate the director, producers, writers and actors for their work, and their humanity in helping millions of people who stutter with understanding and hope.”