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Colin Firth

( Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times )

In a brief quiet moment just after stepping off the stage holding his second award, Colin Firth took a breath and pulled out his cellphone. In the dark corridor, the glow from the screen lighted up his smile from below. "My wife," he explained as he tapped out a text message. "She'll be asleep, she didn't make the trip. But she'll see it when she wakes up."

Firth thought for a moment when asked what the biggest challenge of the role had been. "To make sure it was respectful and real and true to what people go through. It needed to be because nothing would matter if it wasn't."

-- Geoff Boucher