(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Colin Firth gets into complete knots over public speaking sometimes.

The 50-year-old British actor appears in new historical drama The King's Speech, which recounts the struggle of Britains King George VI to overcome his stammer.

Colin plays the lead role, and admits he could easily empathise with his characters speech impediment as he also finds speaking in public tough despite being an eloquent actor.

"Absolutely. I will sometimes get myself into complete knots. I will dry up - on stage, at a press conference, wherever, he confessed in an interview with the BBC.

"I think that losing one's fluency isn't to do with one's vocabulary or one's capacity to string a sentence together. A lot of very fine writers are terrible public speakers.

Colin has great admiration for King George VI who died in 1952 - especially after watching deeply moving archive footage. The talented actor tried not to copy the Kings mannerisms entirely as he wanted to make the part his own, although he tried to tap into the late royals kind nature.

"The footage of George VI was useful - not so much as material to imitate, but because I saw something in the quality of the man. There's a humanity and an unassuming decency about him which I tried to focus on," gushed Colin. (C) Cover Media