The scene in the BBC version of "Pride & Prejudice" has become known for the scene when actor Colin Firth, as Mr. Darcy, emerges from a lake, wearing a wet shirt, and now, a statue in London's Hyde Park recreates that moment, according to the Independent. The statue celebrates the launch of the UKTV channel Drama, a station that will air on Sky and Freeview in Britain.
The statue, which was installed on Monday, stands 12 feet tall out of the water at the Serpentine Lake, recreating the moment from the 1995 film based on the Jane Austen novel in a larger-than-life manner.
The sculpture took a team of three sculptors over two months to design, construct and paint. It's made of fiberglass and shows Darcy from the waist up. It stands among the swans in the lake.
"The challenge for us was capturing the spirit of Darcy as handsome and noble but also aloof and proud," Toby Crowther, the lead sculptor, said. They based the sculpture on Austen's depiction of the hero, with the film as inspiration. "The Mr. Darcy sculpture is a real mix of the many portrayals of Jane Austen's most famous hero."
The sculpture will tour multiple locations before being installed in Lyme Park, in northwest England, the location where the famous scene was filmed, where it will stand until February.
"Jane Austen spent a lot of time walking in Hyde Park and along the banks of the Serpentine, so we would like to think she would have approved of our new dashing Darcy," Adrian Wills, the general manager of Drama, the UK TV channel, said.
The scene topped a viewer's poll by the Independent as the most memorable TV moment ever. It turned Firth into a sex symbol. He later won an Academy Award for his portrayal of King George VI in the film "The King's Speech."
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