Richard Armitage Talks "The Hobbit"

Dark Horizon has an interview with Richard Armitage by Garth Franklin. In it he mentions the Armitage Army and that he can see why Richard has such a loyal following for he describes Richard as having "sharp features, a great head of hair, icy blue eyes and other impressive assets and looks very much a star." I wonder what those could be?

  Richard stated that he was as surprised as anyone to get the role of Thorin because he did not pursue it. "It absolutely came to me," he said, "I didn't really-- I knew 'The Hobbit' was being made, but I never would have connected myself  with a dwarf. I figured why would they want a six-foot-two guy to play a dwarf ? " Richard was even had to wear lifts to make sure he would be the tallest dwarf at 5'2". So I guess that means he was my height or maybe a little taller.

  He was so apprehensive the first month of shooting 'The Hobbit' that he didn't even unpack his bags the first three weeks and he was so certain that he was going to be put on a plane and sent back home. Poor baby.


What was a surprise for Garth Franklin is that for his size Richard is a demure man. Plus he is soft-spoken and reserved "but in an honest and almost a shy way that makes hm endearing." Yes we fans have always found Richard to be endearing. 

  And just in case you didn't know, Richard grew his own beard "Once we decided what the beard was going to be like, I realized I could probably grow it myself," he says. "When it comes to the action stuff, and especially water and any kind of battle cry , it [ a fake beard] just starts to lift, and there's much less fuss with this. It looks better, I think."

Anyway that is just a small taste of what is in the Dark Horizon article. It is a good read with the writer commenting on how it was Guy of Gisborne that made him aware of Richard. Richard, himself talks about after his nervousness calmed down how excited he was to shoot because of the scenery on top of a mountain. Plus he seems to have liked having bleeding teeth and blood dripping from his mouth. Oh and there is the "slow motion sprint through the fores which was on fire." Am I the only one thinking 'Baywatch' with that quote? Later on in the same paragraph Richard is being shaken in in a rig but Peter Jackson wanted to push things and so Richard was shaken even harder than before and that is done and they look at the playback and it looks good, but Richard is thinking "Okay, get me back in there and do it again. Shake me harder," he says with an adventurous smile." I'd like to shake his world in more ways than one.

 I did the pink so my thoughts would be easier to read and the red quotes are Richard