Colin Firth: I'd be hopeless spy

Colin Firth would be "hopeless" in a real life crisis.

The 54-year-old actor shows off his crime-fighting skills as agent Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service, which focuses on the spy as he trains a young protégée to follow in his footsteps.

Despite appearing prepared for all sorts of trouble on screen, Colin admits in reality it couldn't be further from the truth.

"I would never have seen it coming. You think if anything hasn't happened by now, past the age of 50... It's a chance to up yourself to a level of fitness that you didn't have when you were 20," he explained to British newspaper Metro of his training with director Matthew Vaughn.

"[In a real life scenario] I'd be hopeless."

His preparation went down well with his family. Colin's three children Will, Luca and Matteo, who he has with wife Livia, were able to watch their dad's transformation first hand and found it "funny" to see him getting beaten up.

Joining Colin in the film as trainee spy Gary is up-and-coming star Taron Egerton. He too had a vigorous workout regime to get into shape, hitting the gym at 8am every day so he'd look good topless.

"I'd never done that kind of training before but, for me, to see my body transform and then to have that there forever on screen is quite a nice feeling," Taron smiled. "For generations to come, we can all appreciate my abs."

Colin has had a busy schedule, recently wrapping up Michael Grandage's Genius alongside Jude Law. But there's one person in particular he'd like to work with again.

"Would I work with Tom Ford [director of A Single Man] again' Yes, I'm constantly nagging him," Colin smiled. "I think he would like to and the right thing will bring him back."