Colin Firth's in-law battle

Jan 18, 2010, 6:04 GMT

Colin Firth faced a huge battle to win over his potential in-laws.

The 'Single Man' actor admits his Italian wife Livia Giuggioli's family were not initially convinced by him because he was English, was older than her and was already a father.

He said: "When I first met my wife's family, I'd shown up as this very, very dodgy commodity, attached to their darling daughter. When we got together, she told them, 'I've got this English chap now' - one strike against me. 'He's an actor - hmmm, oh, dear. 'He's nearly 10 years older' - oh, boy. 'And he's got a kid with someone else.' I had a mountain to climb to win everyone over."

However, the 'Love Actually' star - who now has two sons, Luca, eight, and six-year-old Matteo, with Livia - soon won them round and he now feels a special connection with Italy.

Speaking about winning the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival, he told Culture magazine: "Winning it there added to the joy, the charm, of the moment. It didn't just feel like any old award, put it that way.

"To be standing there with the award- well, everyone in Italy knows what that award means. And I had enough of the local lingo to express how I felt; there's no other non-English-speaking country in the world where I could have done that."