Colin Firth: The Thinking Ladies' Leading Man

Love Actually
Firth uses his nonverbal skills with impeccable comedic timing in this 2003 rom-com. Heartbroken from a recent breakup, his character, Jamie Bennett, retires to the south of France, where he falls in love with a Portuguese housekeeper (played by Lucia Moniz, above) who doesn't speak a word of English. It wasn't easy for Firth to relate to Bennett, as he sees himself as "sporadically romantic." In romance, he is more "interested in emotion, its complications ... I'm more interested in the obstacles and the impossible than I am in resolution and happiness."

• 2011 TIME 100: Colin Firth