Sandy
A dashing, tousle-haired man clasps the hand of his bonneted sweetheart.
Yet despite the brooding features and determined jaw of Mr Darcy, the leading man is not Colin Firth – but his brother Jonathan.
The 43-year-old has worked solidly since leaving drama school. But while Colin is favourite to scoop Best Actor at the Oscars later this month for The King’s Speech, his younger brother’s career trajectory has been less spectacular.
Initially, Jonathan seemed destined for greater success. Colin went to the Drama Centre London but Jonathan attended the more prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama and toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1994, Jonathan won acclaim for his role in the BBC costume drama Middlemarch.
But in an ironic twist, its success paved the way for another adaptation, Pride And Prejudice, which made Colin a heart-throb and global star. Colin has since starred in Fever Pitch and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Last year he was nominated for an Oscar for A Single Man. There is little doubt that this is his year.
Meanwhile, amid roles in Midsomer Murders, Victoria & Albert, Pompeii: The Last Day and Far From The Madding Crowd, the project that would lift Jonathan to another level never came.
And on Oscar night, if Colin fulfils expectations, few would blame Jonathan for wondering what might have been if he too had once donned a wet shirt.
Acting royalty: This year Colin is hotly-tipped to win Best Actor for his role as King George VI in The King's Speech. Jonathan, right, gives a royal turn in Victoria and Albert
Posted in: 
