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Mr Darcy is rubbish at romance

Dianne Bourne
8/ 9/2005

HE'S embodying the ultimate romantic hero on the silver screen as Jane Austen's Mr Darcy, but actor Matthew Macfadyen still can't understand why he might be seen as a bit of a heart-throb.

Matthew plays the smouldering Mr Darcy in the new blockbuster version of Pride and Prejudice opposite Keira Knightly as the object of his affection Elizabeth Bennet, below left.

But he still seems a little bemused by his sex symbol status and all the female attention.

He was courting his throngs of fans at Manchester's Filmworks last night, at the regional premiere of the movie.

Matthew said: "I don't mind the tag of heart-throb because I don't really know what it means. It doesn't change my life in any way.

"If I was Robbie Williams and couldn't walk out the door it would bother me, but to me it's just another tag.

"For a while I was simply known as Matthew `Spooks' Macfadyen, and now it will be this, but in the end it just goes away. It's exciting to take something like this on.

"The reason you become an actor is because you want to play parts like Mr Darcy."

Matthew attended the star-studded premiere last night with his actress wife Keeley Hawes and stars of the film Rosamund Pike and Jena Malone.

Matthew and Keeley famously met while they worked together on hit BBC show Spooks. But when asked if he was a true romantic in real life, Matthew came up with a typically Darcy-esque response.

"I think my vanity is that I think I'm more romantic than I am," he laughed.

"I think I'm terribly romantic but I'm not, as my wife tells me. It's a terrible admission I know, that I could do better!"