A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In 1988, a Pan Am plane exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland. Two-hundred and seventy people on board and on the ground were killed. The bombing remains the U.K.'s deadliest terror attack. It left behind devastated families, including the Swires, who lost their daughter and sister, Flora. In a TV series out today on Peacock - "Lockerbie: A Search For Truth" - grieving father Dr. Jim Swire is played by Colin Firth.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH")
COLIN FIRTH: (As Jim Swire) Hello. Jim Swire speaking.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Good evening, sir. I'm calling from Pan Am.
FIRTH: (As Jim Swire) Finally.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) We have confirmation for you. The passenger list has been checked and verified. Flora MacDonald Margaret Swire was a passenger on Pan Am Flight 103. I'm afraid there are no survivors.
FIRTH: (As Jim Swire) Are you sure? Are you completely sure?
MARTÍNEZ: When I spoke to Colin Firth earlier, I began by asking him about his memories of the day of the bombing.
FIRTH: What I remember at the time, we didn't - news didn't travel as fast. We didn't have something in our pocket that can tell you what's going on. I think I got it word of mouth first. And then I remember it being print...
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
FIRTH: ...And just being extremely shaken. I remember the image of debris. I remember the nose cone and just trying to make sense of the fact that this monstrosity had taken place at all.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you met Dr. Swire while you were preparing for this role. He would've been about 52 years old...
FIRTH: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...In 1988 when this happened. What kind of man is he? What's he like? And what was it like getting preparation directly from the actual character that you're playing?
FIRTH: He and his wife invited me to their house for lunch. And for me, I didn't really want to treat that first meeting as prep.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FIRTH: It was about just getting to know each other as graciously as possible and hoping that - you know, that some trust can be built. The sheer grace of the two of them is the first thing that strikes you, and I think everybody that meets them is struck by that. It was when I first knocked on the door - actually, it was Jane who answered 'cause Jim was across the street helping out a neighbor.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) OK.
FIRTH: But he came back and he had this energy, which was - kind of had a bit of mischief, quite boyish. He actually just got down to business and started asking me, you know, why? What drew you to this, and what do you think? And it was sort of the other way round than you'd imagine. The lighter stuff and the small talk and the pleasantries came later.
MARTÍNEZ: What did you tell them? What was the answer?
FIRTH: It was emotional impact. That's what drew me, and that's what stayed with me throughout. Back to your first question of how - my memory of how it made me feel when it happened and somehow being transported back to that by reading about Jim 'cause I didn't really know much about him. And then I realized this is the guy who took the replica bomb through security. I do remember that one of the relatives had done that to challenge the security systems at airports. And I thought, oh, it's that guy.
MARTÍNEZ: And that's just one of the ways, I think, Colin, that Dr. Swire went to extremes to find justice. I mean, it is so extreme that his wife - you mentioned Jane Swire, played by Catherine McCormack - confronts him about it.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH")
CATHERINE MCCORMACK: (As Jane Swire) You haven't stopped since she died.
FIRTH: (As Jim Swire) What else can I do?
MCCORMACK: (As Jane Swire) For now, take a step back. You have me. You have two other children. Be with us.
MARTÍNEZ: Why do you think some parents go to such extremes when they lose a child? Is it that they lose something about themselves that maybe they become a new person, or what do you think it is?
FIRTH: It's very difficult to talk about how other people process grief. And if I speak for Jim Swire, I can only really speak for my Jim Swire, you know, the character that we created.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FIRTH: I can't be an authority on the man himself. My sense of it was that he was trying to make sense of the unfathomable. I mean, I think that we all experience that aspect of grief - that something that is so alive, so real and so important can suddenly not be there is incredibly hard to make sense of. And so I think, yes, there was the obvious pursuit of answers, whether it's airport security. Were warnings ignored by government? Could it have been prevented? That could create a sense of forward motion, which maybe makes you feel less paralyzed. But I think it's not just the search for judicial truth. I really do think that some part of you in your heart is trying to make sense of something that is inherently unfathomable.
MARTÍNEZ: And this is horrible for me to ask, Colin, but do you try to put yourself in a position where you could imagine what it might be like if you yourself lost a child?
FIRTH: Yeah, you sort of do, but it's a very difficult thing to actually do that. It's hard to even put into words why you don't want to do that, but it's enough to just peek at that to make it such an overwhelmingly terrible prospect. But I think it's part of the job. But I think everybody has imagined it. Everyone who has kids has imagined it, at least as far as it being a fear. And it's very hard - as you're hearing from me now, spluttering, it's hard to put it into words.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you think he needed to have that obsession, to have a purpose, to have a reason for waking up? Because I always think that maybe if there had been a satisfying conclusion to the reason why his daughter was killed that maybe something dies in him. Like, he puts her to rest, and maybe now he somehow is at rest.
FIRTH: I don't want to invalidate his rational reasons for continuing because he did change course. He was very instrumental in getting those - the men brought to trial - the two accused men. And you don't do that unless you're pretty determined, and you're hoping for - that you're on the right track. And it was sitting through every day of the trial that started to present problems to him, which reached a point where he actually passed out when the verdict was read 'cause it didn't feel right to him. There's a line in our show where his wife says to him if - I know you'll need to go - you'll want to go to the trial, but promise me that when it's over, we'll get you back.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FIRTH: And he promises that. And then because of the outcome, he can't do it. And then, you know, you'll see all the twists and turns as you watch his story.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Colin Firth. He plays Dr. Jim Swire in "Lockerbie: A Search For Truth." Colin, thank you.
FIRTH: Thank you so much. Thank you.
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