It is still a little unclear as to why Colin Firth bailed on the production of Paddington Bear, but apparently the movie was in no hurry to replace him. Finally, after a month of silence, word has finally come out that Ben Whishaw will be taking over the role as the voice of the beloved bear.
After people thought Firth’s voice was a little too manly for the raincoat-clad, bucket hat-wearing lead, the production team and their star elected to undergo a “conscious uncoupling” as they put it, setting the stage for this replacement search. You may remember Whishaw from his most recent roles as Q in Skyfall and as a bunch of different characters in Cloud Atlas, and it seems his meeker voice and boyish British charm were enough to earn him the role.
Director Paul King said that "He breathes and he speaks and he sounds like Paddington, rather than the most beautiful chocolate-voiced man [Firth] on the planet."
He’ll need to learn his lines and get in the studio right away; the film is slated to come out on November 28 in the United Kingdom and will hit U.S. theaters on Christmas Day. In case you needed a refresher, here’s the trailer:
[via Indiewire]
