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We’ve all shared the anguish of the King
COLIN FIRTH as Bertie (King George VI) and HELENA BONHAM CARTER as Elizabeth in The King's Speech
DID YOU KNOW? Actors Rowan Atkinson and Bruce Willis both had problems with stammering
As actor Colin Firth steps up to the microphone in a scene from The King’s Speech, it’s clear he’s gripped by fear. His character – the future King George VI – has to make a speech but he stammers. Terror creeps across his face and he’s frozen to the spot.
It’s a touching moment and shows the struggle he goes through as he tries to overcome his speech impediment.
The film has already captured the hearts of UK cinema-goers and the attention of the movie industry.
Firth and co-stars Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush have helped The King’s Speech achieve 12 Academy Award nominations plus 14 more for the BAFTAs. Its Hampshire-born leading man won a Golden Globe earlier this month and is a hot favourite to take home an Oscar.
But the many accolades and the millions of pounds the film has taken at the box office aren’t what matters most to Ester Berg.
When she saw the film, tears were running down her cheeks because she’d lived through every minute of it.
‘It made me cry because I am him,’ she says simply. ‘I go through it with him. I’ve been there and done all of that.
‘It’s the fear that we know we will mess up, that we know it isn’t going to work, that we will stammer.’
Growing up in Slovakia, Ester can’t remember a time when she didn’t stammer. She first saw a speech therapist when she was four and kept going as a teenager. But, frustrated that nothing was working, she gave up when she was 14.
What causes someone to stammer still isn’t fully understood. But Ester knows the effect that it had on her all too well – she stopped speaking.
‘I didn’t really express myself,’ she explains. ‘At school I didn’t do oral exams or presentations, I didn’t really speak.
‘People knew I stammered but they also knew that I wouldn’t speak even if I was asked something. I would pretend I didn’t hear, or I didn’t know. Rather than say anything, I would play stupid.’
Now living in Copnor, Portsmouth, with her husband and their two children, Ester finds speaking English rather than her native language, Slovak, helps her stammer less. There are fewer hard consonants in English and a wider variety of words to choose from.
But the fear of stammering has still stopped her from doing many things over the years.
‘I have studied for the past six years because I didn’t want to get a job because then I would have to go for an interview and talk to people,’ says the 30-year-old.
‘I would have to make calls and I was terrified of phones. I’ve always been affected by my stammer and it has affected the choices I have made.’
Like Firth’s character, Ester’s breakthrough came later in life. She saw a TV documentary about stammering last August and joined the McGuire Programme, a treatment course that uses breathing techniques.
She still stammers – there is no outright cure – but things she never thought she’d do have become possible. In October she joined a toastmaster’s club and in December she gave her first ever public speech.
For King George VI, making speeches was an unavoidable part of public life. But with the help of maverick Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, he managed to speak to the nation.
Like the King, Ester says she found it liberating to finally be able to get her words out.
‘I never thought I’d be able to do a speech but I did it without stammering a single time. It was amazing, like wow, now I can do it. It gives me freedom. The fear is almost gone and I’m becoming a normal person, not the weird, abnormal one.
‘In the film he realises he can do it and that’s like me. With the right technique and the right mind set I did it.’
Ester went to see the film – which is based on a true story – with other members from the stammering support group she attends. They’ve all been delighted about the attention it’s received: ‘It was beautiful,’ adds Ester.
‘It’s great that it’s on the big screen for many, many, people to see what we go through.’
JAMIE SIMMONS
Everyday acts most of us take for granted had become a real battle for Jamie Simmons.
As a covert stammerer he’d found endless ways to avoid certain words or phrases that might give the game away.
In a restaurant he wouldn’t order the dish he really wanted if he thought pronouncing it would cause him to stammer and he’d avoid picking up the phone.
The 30-year-old, from Petersfield, can always remember having a stammer. He saw a speech therapist when he was at school but had no further treatment until July 2007, when he saw pop singer Gareth Gates talk about the McGuire Programme during an interview, and signed up for a course himself.
‘I would use lots of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ and filler words,’ explains Jamie.
‘I was always deciding what I wanted to say and which words would be a struggle. It was difficult.’
Now Jamie does verbal warm-ups and uses breathing techniques. He takes his time getting words out and doesn’t feel pressured to rush.
‘At home I would never like phoning for a takeaway for example. It’s something I always wanted to do and now if my wife says we’re having a takeaway it’s my job to order it.’
Jamie thinks The King’s Speech deserves to win awards: ‘I think it’s great awareness for stammering,’ he adds.
‘I thought Colin Firth did a marvellous job for someone who doesn’t have a stammer to come on and play the role so well, he certainly did his homework.
‘There are not many people out there who even want to talk about having a stammer because it’s almost like someone’s dark secret.’
TOM EARL
The last thing Tom Earl ever thought he’d say was that stammering was fashionable. But thanks to the spotlight The King’s Speech has turned on the subject, he laughs as he reveals his fiance now says it’s ‘in vogue’.
‘I think it’s a great opportunity to bring stammering into the public domain,’ adds Tom.
‘It very much stops it being a taboo, which it shouldn’t be. It doesn’t have to be the elephant in the room.’
The 30-year-old comes across as an eloquent and confident speaker. He uses breathing techniques, in part to alert others to the fact that he has a stammer, which takes away the fear of having to explain it.
In the past he used to spend lots of time and energy disguising the fact he stammers.
‘I remember going out with girlfriends to the cinema and back then stammering was something I hid at all costs,’ he says.
‘I didn’t mind stammering in front of the person I was buying the tickets from, so long as the person I was with didn’t see me going through that. So I’d send her off for popcorn and it would be a massive time issue to see if she’d be back before I was at the front of the queue. It was stressful. What people don’t realise is that talking never crosses their mind.’
Tom, from Chichester, adds: ‘You would literally sell your soul just to be able to speak like everybody else. I’m someone who has this issue but I’m doing something about it.’
MICHAEL MASLIN
As far as film reviews go, it speaks volumes. Michael Maslin has already seen The King’s Speech twice and can’t think of a single thing he didn’t like about it.
The 34-year-old has seen other films which featured a stammering character – in particular A Fish Called Wanda. But in that, Michael Palin’s stammering character Ken Pile is a figure of fun.
‘I could see the humour in it, but it was perhaps a bit too much mickey-taking,’ says the 34-year-old care assistant from Buckland, Portsmouth.
‘There’s a lot of humour in The King’s Speech. When Colin Firth stammers but can swear when he’s frustrated, that’s absolutely true. I’ve done the same thing.’
Michael didn’t start talking until he was four and can always remember having a stammer. He saw a speech therapist but found that as soon as he left the appointment, all his hard work would be reversed.
‘I can remember being at school and the teacher would take the register,’ adds Michael. ‘I knew my name was coming up and I could feel the panic because I wouldn’t be able to say the teacher’s name.
‘As I got older I knew I was avoiding certain words, certain people and situations.’
Michael joined the McGuire Programme and says the network of friends he’s made and the support group he attends has worked for him.
‘I always knew King George VI had a stammer and that it caused him great difficulties,’ adds Michael.
‘For a stammerer it’s frustrating to not be able to speak freely and say what you want to say.’
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anniboo
Friday, January 28, 2011 at 11:00 AMI went to see the film and thought it was great! I do not have a stammer myself, but my 7 year old son does. It is very difficult as a parent, to watch your child struggling and not being able to help them. One of the hardest things, was that when Josh went to speech therapy, which he did for over one year, he was fairly fluent while in the therapists office, but when he came out, he couldnt apply this to his everyday life, as i think he was too young to take it all in. Also, as he has a twin brother, the whole speech therapist appointments were difficult for him and caused him more distress, because he would have to leave his brother and friends who were playing adventure games etc, while he had to go to the speech therapist. This in itself made him feel different. This made him resent going, and he decided last year that he didnt want to go back, that he would fix it himself! Who knows if he will decide later if he needs to go back or not, but it has to be something that he wants for himself. His twin brother is so great with him, and although they fight at times, when Josh gets stuck on his words, Jonathan is so patient with him and i know this helps josh a lot. He is a confident happy child, and i never act as though this is something that isnt happening in his life, nor do i highlight it, but i do let him know that i am always here to listen and help him. The film is raising so much awareness, and for that i am totally delighted... I bet it has lifted the hearts of many :-)
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