RICHARD ARMITAGE

An Interview With Richard Armitage


Date: 25 July 2011
By ALICE WYLLIE


A SMOULDERING lead with an army of fans, Richard Armitage has gone from a Budapest circus to Hollyood success. But did he find fame and fortune by giving in to the dark side?


We do kind of like a bad guy, don't we?" says Richard Armitage with a distinctly villainous cackle, trying to get to the bottom of why film and television audiences love rooting for baddies, and indeed, why the 39-year-old actor is so often cast as one.

From MI5 agent Lucas North in Spooks to Guy of Gisborne in the BBC's adaptation of Robin Hood, his roles have always been distinctly dark, a theme which has only been strengthened by his latest forays into film, with roles including bad guy Heinz Kruger in Captain America: The First Avenger and the rather troubled king of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield, in Peter Jackson's still-shooting film versions of The Hobbit.

"Sometimes you know your villain is doing really terrible deeds but you want him to succeed because he's doing it with such finesse," he says.

"You want to see him get his comeuppance but you also want to see him pull it off. It's a real paradox. Perhaps we like it because we're not allowed to be bad in real life."

In "real life", Richard Armitage is one of the good guys. Atop Soho House in London on the hottest day of the year so far, on a break from filming The Hobbit in New Zealand, he's looking distinctly relaxed in jeans, wraparound shades and a rather Hobbitesque beard.

He's finding his time off enjoyable, if a little disconcerting. "It's a weird period," he says. "Not quite long enough to take other work but long enough to have a bit of a break. I'm deep into the second film and what's nice is there's time to actually take it apart.

"I'm kind of indulging myself at the moment, doing loads of research, finding stuff that isn't necessarily relevant, but it's a luxury. This question people ask actors - 'are you resting?'. It's such a weird expression. I don't think an actor can ever rest."

Regardless, he looks fairly rested today. The sun is shining, he's got some colour in his cheeks, he's been using his time off to visit the gym more frequently and looks in great shape.

Richard Armitage's appearance is interesting. On one hand, he's leading-man handsome. Tall, dark and, well, handsome, his looks helped land him roles including the brooding John Thornton in the 2004 BBC period drama North and South (not since Colin Firth emerged dripping from that lake were period drama fans treated to such a smouldering lead) and he has an online following of female fans, known as the Armitage Army.

But there's something about the arrangement of his features - the long, sloping nose, the sharp cheekbones, slim lips, pale blue eyes and fair skin - that's identifiably villainous.


Source: scotsman.com, RichardArmitage.net/Twitter.
Location: Scotland