The King's Speech
2010 film by Tom Hooper · Released September 6, 2010
The King's Speech is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the new king relies on Logue to help him make his first wartime radio broadcast upon Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939. Seidler read about George VI's life after learning to manage a stuttering condition he developed during his youth.
Cast ages when filming began (December 2009)
- Colin Firth, as King George VI: 49
- Geoffrey Rush, as Lionel Logue: 58
- Helena Bonham Carter, as Queen Elizabeth: 43
- Guy Pearce, as King Edward VIII: 42
- Timothy Spall, as Winston Churchill: 52
- Michael Gambon, as King George V: 69
- Derek Jacobi, as Cosmo Gordon Lang: 71
- Jennifer Ehle, as Myrtle Logue: 39–40
- Anthony Andrews, as Stanley Baldwin: 61
- Claire Bloom, as Queen Mary: 78
- Eve Best, as Wallis Simpson: 38
- Ramona Marquez, as Princess Margaret: 8
- Freya Wilson, as Princess Elizabeth: 11
- Patrick Ryecart, as Lord Wigram: 57
- Orlando Wells, as Prince George: 36