Paddington Bear no more! Colin Firth revealed in a statement to Entertainment Weekly he's chosen to consciously uncouple from his involvement with the upcoming Paddington Bear flick, Paddington.
The Oscar winner, who amusingly borrowed the phrase from Gwyneth Paltrow, who famously coined it when she announced her separation from Chris Martin in March 2014, told EW: "After a period of denial, we’ve chosen ‘conscious uncoupling.'"
The Brit, who has quite the soothing voice, went on to say his decision to leave the film is "bittersweet."
"It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn’t have my voice,” the actor said. "I’ve had the joy of seeing most of the film and it’s going to be quite wonderful. I still feel rather protective of this bear and I’m pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him."
The feelings are mutual when it comes to Paddington director, Paul King.
King told EW: "I cannot thank [Firth] enough for his contribution to Paddington. We love the voice and we love the bear, but as our young bear came into being we agreed that the two didn’t seem to fit. So, with somewhat heavy hearts we decided to part ways."
The movie generated an Internet meme dubbed "#CreepyPaddington" when the studio released the first image of the bear standing in front of Buckingham Palace last week.
Bored with the initial photo, people began generating the creepy meme by pairing the childhood bear with scenes from horror movies like The Shining and The Ring.
A replacement for Firth has yet to be named; Paddington remains set for release this Christmas.
