Geoffrey was with us for only 4 weeks of a 7 week shoot. And the word somehow got around that I was inconsolable at his departure. And I would like to set the record straight on this matter. It is perfectly true that I had a moment of regret at the departure of a respected colleague, but there was nothing emotionally unstable about it. In fact the day after he abandoned us for his meaningless play in Australia, I strode off to the set with a huge smile on my face and the air of a man of ambition, brisk, and Tom Hooper, I saw him out of the corner of my eye, giving me an exasperatingly knowing look, and he said, “I feel exactly the same way.” And I calmly inquired whether he wanted to get on with the bloody scene. And we had a joyless morning. And I went back to my trailer and bit into my blue grey popping quills (I have no idea what that means) and I noticed a strange pair of underpants, and the next thing was an unfamiliar pair of socks and they made a trail towards the bed in the trailer and then I noticed to my horror that there was someone sleeping in the bed. The blankets were pulled up, and I approached with trepidation and I peeled back the blankets and I shrieked like a school girl, “It’s Geoffrey!” Or rather, someone had pasted Geoffrey’s face onto a mannequin. It was just some clever clogs’ idea of grief counseling. They thought it would help. And so never being one to let anything go to waste, I picked him up and propped him up at the little dining table in the trailer. And yet, I have to say, he proved a remarkably effective therapist during the ensuing weeks.
![raphmike:
[Black & White Photoshoots Spam] Helena Bonham Carter & Colin Firth.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leppy1DRmW1qa4ihzo1_500.png)
