December 5th, 2012 by Greendragon
The fortunate greendragon with Richard Armitage
On Monday 3rd December, TORn staffer greendragon (‘tis I!) was lucky enough to have a sit down with The Hobbit’s Thorin Oakenshield, actor Richard Armitage. A fascinating, erudite and humble man, he spilled the beans on his thoughts on bringing Thorin to life, shed some light on Peter Jackson as a true actors’ director and not just a technical wizard, and even dropped some hints about dwarf women and what lies in store for Thorin!
Let me start by answering the question which I know will be on the minds of many readers… Yes, he really is that handsome. Yes, he really is that charming; he has the ability to make you feel, as he talks to you, that you are the only person who matters. This skill in focusing and being ‘in the moment’ is an important part of the intensity he brings to his acting; and it gives him that reputation for making interviewers go weak at the knees. (I’m pleased to report that my knees were reliable throughout the interview!) And yes, he really was wearing black, leather trousers – Guy of Gisborne lives on!
Here’s what he had to say (contains only very minor spoilers):
We began our discussion talking about successful auditioning, and dealing with nerves.
RA: It’s bloody hard… Shall I tell you how I, when I finally started getting jobs… the one way I got through it was, I had to imagine that they’d said to me, ‘This person’s dropped out, we want you, you’re filming tomorrow – we just need to hear you do it now, but you’re going to be filming tomorrow.’ So it’s like, oh well they already want me, but I need to decide what I’m doing tomorrow, coz I’m going to be on camera tomorrow. So that’s how I get through an audition…
GD: Congratulations on the movie; it’s so exciting that it’s finally coming out!
RA: Thank you. You guys [the fans at TheOneRing.net] are so supportive.
GD: The tone for this movie is perhaps a little lighter than the Lord of the Rings movies; just as The Hobbit is more of a children’s book…
RA: It’s interesting, it’s a tough call, because the minute they get out the door at Bag End they face danger after danger after danger. It gets really dark. So I’m really glad that Pete took the time at Bag End just to enjoy the dwarves when they were able to be fun and relaxed. Because that’s the one thing I was really trying to fight for with Thorin, trying to find – was just a glimmer of humour, a chance for him to smile, coz it’s just not there. Otherwise he’s just this cantankerous old git.
GD: But the sadness and vulnerability which you bring to the role prevent him seeming too cantankerous!
RA: That’s interesting … coz the sadness is really at his own failing. I think there’s a certain amount of recognition of what he’s good at and what he’s not good at, and the fear that he’s going to go down the same road as his father who’s lost, they don’t know where he is. And it’s that fear that he’s going to go down the same road. The anger comes from Azog and the grandfather being beheaded, and then of course the unfathomable fear of what’s in that mountain… and leading his few friends, his own nephews, towards that fear – it’s just such a terrible thing to do. Because, you know, Balin and Dwalin and himself are the only people who really know what’s in that mountain, yet he’s got these kind of shiny faced dwarves all sitting around the table thinking about this gold, and in the back of his mind he’s thinking, ‘You have no idea what you’ll be facing – we’ve seen it – but you’re still going to come with me…’ That’s a really tough thing to ask – to know that you’re leading them into horror
READ MORE: http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/12/05/66668-richard-armitage-talks-to-theonering-net/
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