While many were skeptical about an English-language remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy when it was announced, things got interesting when Spike Lee signed on to direct. Then the director locked Josh Brolin as his star and many fans’ fears (mine included) were abased. The next question was who Lee would choose to play the incredibly nasty villain, as the crux of the movie hinges on the dichotomy between the protagonist and the antagonist. Rumors began to surface that Colin Firth, an odd yet exciting choice, had been offered the role.

There reports were unconfirmed at the time, but Steve recently sat down with Firth to talk about the upcoming spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and he confirmed that he’s been approached about the role but no decisions have been made just yet. In addition, the actor talked about his recently wrapped remake of the 1966 caper comedy Gambit. The film also stars Cameron Diaz and Stanely Tucci, and was written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Hit the jump to check out the interview.

When asked about the Oldboy casting rumors, Firth confirmed that he’s been approached but it’s still early days:

“Well I don’t like to discuss things which are in a kind of early stage of—we’re not that closely acquainted with things, but yeah there has been an approach about Oldboy. No decisions have been made yet by anybody.”

As for Gambit, Firth says that the notorious Coen brother dialogue was a bit tricky, and the tone of the project is very much a farce:

“Doing their dialogue is a challenge because they write, it’s a stylized and intricate series of monologues a lot of it. It was vigorous and it was a farce, and farce is [a] very, very difficult form to specialize in. Comedy can make you a little crazy actually."

Hopefully we’ll hear more on Oldboy soon, as I think Firth is a terrific choice for the villain role. Gambit should hit theaters sometime next year. Here’s the portion of the interview where Firth talks about Oldboy and Gambit, followed by the transcript. We’ll have Steve’s full conversation with the actor up soon.

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Collider: There are a lot of rumors that you might do Oldboy.

Colin Firth:  I’ve been hearing them, yes.

So, is that a possibility?

Firth: Well I don’t like to discuss things which are in a kind of early stage of—we’re not that closely acquainted with things, but yeah there has been an approach about Oldboy. No decisions have been made yet by anybody.

You just did Gambit, with a script by the Coen brothers. How was that?

Firth: It was wonderful. I mean doing their dialogue is a challenge because they write, it’s a stylized and intricate series of monologues a lot of it. It was vigorous and it was a farce, and farce is [a] very, very difficult form to specialize in. Comedy can make you a little crazy actually.