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"The screenwriter of The King&amp;#039;s Speech has revealed that he originally wanted Paul Bettany to play the lead role of King George VI. David Seidler, who penned the script for the BAFTA-nominated picture, told the New York Post that the film&amp;#039;s eventual lead Colin Firth was not his first choice for the part. However, Seidler admitted that he soon realised Firth was the &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; actor to play the stammering monarch. &amp;quot;When I initially wrote the screenplay, I immediately had Geoffrey Rush in mind for [speech therapist] Lionel Logue,&amp;quot; Seidler said. &amp;quot;But I thought Paul Bettany would be the actor to play the king. &amp;quot;I wanted Paul, but I was lucky that it was decided the role would go to Colin. As soon as he read for it, I knew he was perfect.&amp;quot; Firth recently picked up a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination for his performance in the film. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a299023/kings-speech-writer-wanted-paul-bettany/>