Ben Whishaw replacing Colin Firth as voice of Paddington Bear

LONDON, July 17 (UPI) -- British actor Ben Whishaw is replacing Colin Firth as the voice of the iconic Paddington Bear in the upcoming live-action film.

Firth left the production in June, saying he and the producers agreed he wasn't finding the right tone for the polite, yet ever-in-trouble bear from Peru.

Whishaw, 33, will provide a more youthful voice, Producer David Heyman said.

"What we needed was a slightly more open, and younger, voice," he said.

Whishaw, who played the gadget-loving Q in Skyfall, said he initially wasn't interested in the gig.

"I resisted a little bit, because I had a bad experience doing this kind of work in the past and I thought I was no good at it. But  I was persuaded to go, slightly grudgingly," he said.

Paddington, which stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Waters and Peter Capaldi, is set to be released in late November.