Who's Richard Armitage? (ASIA ONE SHOWBIZ)

By Esther Ng
The New Paper
Sunday, Dec 23, 2012

Who's that guy?

Like most British actors, Richard Armitage, 41, started his career in theatre, performing in shows like the musical Cats, as well as theatre productions Macbeth and Hamlet, before moving on to television and film.

Where have you seen him?

He plays Lucas North, a spy in the acclaimed British espionage series Spooks from 2008 to 2010. Last year, he played a German spy, Heinz Kruger, a character in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Why him?

Peter Jackson, director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, described Armitage as a "powerful actor with a wide range".

Considering the sum total of all the parts he has played in television and film - Cold Feet (comedy), Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (action, sci-fi), North And South (drama) - plus he plays the cello, the flute, and sings, you would agree with Jackson.

What's new?

Armitage hopes investors will come forward to fund the filming of Richard III, a project that he has been working to get off the ground for a few years.

Armitage intends to play the 15th century English king who was believed to have murdered his nephews in a bid to grab the throne. Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle on English soil.

Incidentally, Armitage was named Richard as he was born on the anniversary of Richard III's death on Aug 22.

READ MORE OF ASIA ONE SHOW BIZ: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Showbiz/Story/A1Story20121221-391021.html

Jimmy Nesbitt leaves the Hobbit set following the death of his mother

Published on Monday 11 June 2012 08:27

ULSTER actor Jimmy Nesbitt is reported to have flown home from New Zealand following the death of his mother May.

The star had been filming his latest movie The Hobbit when he learned that his much-loved mum had passed away.

May Nesbitt had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and died in hospital surrounded by her husband Jim and Jimmy’s sisters in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Speaking in a newspaper interview in 2010, the 47-year-old star of Cold Feet and Murphy’s Law said he was heartbroken that his mother’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she didn’t recognise him.

The father-of-two felt his celebrity status meant he could help raise awareness of the condition.

“For the first time in quite a long time I wasn’t able to get over and if you spend a bit of time away the deterioration is, in a sense, more marked,” he said at the time.

The actor said his 83-year-old dad and the rest of the family struggled to cope as Mrs Nesbitt’s condition began to worsen.

In the 2010 interview he went on: “As families of sufferers of Alzheimer’s will testify, you go through many stages. You do go through a terrible stage early on when it’s first happening because the sufferer is kind of aware of something happening to them and that can be scary.”


READ MORE:  http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/nesbitt-flies-home-to-mourn-mother-1-3936696