Tall, dark, and proper English gentleman Colin Firth has made a career of charming leading ladies in films such as “Bridget Jones’s Diary”, “Love Actually”, and of course, the BBC mini-series “Pride and Prejudice. But his appeal came close to costing him a job in Helen Hunt’s film directorial debut “Then She Found Me“, which premiered on Friday in Toronto.

Hunt admitted to second thoughts about Firth, who plays the potential love interest, Frank, to Hunt’s main character April, a 39-year-old adoptee dealing with a failing marriage, the emergence of her biological mother, and her own thwarted wishes for a child.

“I think I was afraid, and he was afraid, that he’s so appealing that the minute he comes on screen you’d stop worrying about April. … If he showed up and was just so perfect and dreamy that all or her problems were over, the movie would have been over 10 minutes in,” Hunt said. “I actually wrote the part for someone much less tall, handsome, and appealing.”

Firth helped defray his charisma by adding an emotional fragility to his character, who struggles as a single parent, and while we wouldn’t want to give away any endings, it’s safe to say Firth’s charm manages to seep through.