David Seidler, the acclaimed screenwriter behind the Oscar-winning film “The King’s Speech,” has revealed the personal inspiration behind his work. In an interview with filmcritic.com, Seidler shared how his parents used King George VI’s speeches during World War II as a tool to help him overcome his stutter.
Seidler recalled how his parents would tune the family radio to George VI’s speeches, highlighting the king’s own struggles with stuttering. They would tell him, “David, he was a much worse stutterer than you, and listen to him now. He’s not perfect. But he can give these magnificent, stirring addresses that rallied the free world.”
At the age of 16, Seidler had a breakthrough moment, described as a “profanity-laden, F-bomb-filled emotional catharsis,” similar to the one depicted in the film. He decided that if he was stuck with stuttering, others would have to listen to him as well. Surprisingly, soon after this outburst, his stutter faded away in conversations.
Born in London in 1937, Seidler’s journey to writing “The King’s Speech” was a long and personal one. The screenplay had been in his mind for decades, but he put it aside until after the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002, who had asked him not to pursue it during her lifetime.
Reflecting on the process of drawing from his own experiences as a stutterer, Seidler likened it to remembering a bad toothache. He explained, “While you’ve got the toothache it’s all you think about, but as soon as you go to the dentist, and he or she takes away the pain, the last thing you want to think about was how that tooth ached.”
Seidler’s personal journey and the emotional depth he brought to “The King’s Speech” undoubtedly contributed to the film’s success. His story serves as a reminder of the power of perseverance and the ability to turn personal struggles into triumphs on the big screen.
