See Diary Part 9 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a couple of years ago:
I found this video of Richard Armitage discussing Guy of Season 1. I don’t know what happened, but he either completely missed on this character, misrepresented the character or the writers changed direction. Or, well, I just don’t know what else could have happened. But at this point it’s really hard to believe Richard Armitage was this off. He just seems too in tune with how things are perceived to miss this badly. Or was he just yanking everyone’s chain when he said he wanted to make them squirm. Maybe he didn’t mean squirm from disgust.
I’m intrigued by this complete miss. Must find out what happened. Can I ever really know what happened? It’s going to drive me crazy until I find out what happened!
Whether I ever find out, I just love the video. Richard Armitage seems like a really sweet person. I hate to use the word sweet because it has connotations of someone who’s benign. I could never associate the word benign with Richard Armitage. Maybe sweethearted is a better choice. I’m becoming so biased about this actor. Maybe he’s really a schmuck.
WARNING: Spoilers in this post — specifically in the video.
The sane side of me reared its ugly head and came up for air.
Last week I feasted steadily on the interviews for Strike Back. Oh, it was good, and I felt really satisfied at times, but the hunger was back the next day. Finally, at the end of the week, I was sick from consuming so much. I needed time to digest.
This is helping me get back to my crazy self:
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember having quite so much press hype to gorge on with Spooks 8, and I was darn near starved to death with Robin Hood 3. Plus, RA seemed to be merely doing his duty promoting those shows, but I wanted to hear more of his take on character development, his personal development, and life in general. There was only one interview during Spooks 8’s promotion that stands out (more on that later). This time around I didn’t know which one to consume first and they’re still coming fast and furiously. Throw in some titillating comments from RA about possibilities, and it’s enough to make me pass out. A Guy of Gisborne spinoff?! I think that was either a crack or a crumb. Not sure which yet, and I’m not really sure it was for us fans anyway. I tend to think it’s for potential producers. He does mention a lot that he likes to work. Is there a producer crazy enough or creative enough to bring a Gisborne spinoff to the telly?
On a more serious note, I love Maria’s treatment of some of the interviews. I’m still digesting.
But what I know today is RA reveals a lot about himself to the point that I feel like a voyeur and a child. Sometimes he has a childlike quality in his discussions that evokes that response from me. Oh, I don’t mean he’s immature. If anything, he articulates his observations as an old sage, but it’s couched in terms of childlike wonder and a candidness that is seldom seen in adults, and certainly not in adults who are in the media. Again, the media types only seem to spin themselves for our consumption, so any childlike quality is designed merely to endear us to them and not because they really love to discover things about life. Maybe that’s what’s happening and I just like RA so much I don’t want to believe I’m being played. See what a cynic I am. I can’t just enjoy this. I’ve got to analyze it to death. I’ve got to question my reaction and his motives. SO has said many times that I question everything that moves and if it doesn’t, I kick until it does to the point where I beat the joy out of it. Maybe he’s right.
Oh, and my apologies for so many food analogies. I started a new eating regimen to accommodate my new jacked up exercise routine. I’ve returned to eating six meals a day, and it seems I can’t stop thinking about food even when I want to.
Next up: my thoughts on Episodes 1 & 2 of Strike Back, which I really am writing for myself. If you guys get something out of it, then goody. Otherwise, it’s placed here so the family doesn’t have to listen to it. LOL!
I have often found myself asking that question when I read an interview with Richard Armitage. His answers are almost perfect. Oh, my bias is showing. But let me explain. He gives answers that I actually ponder far longer than my reading requires. He also seems to have his profession in perspective and isn’t quick to believe his own press. As if that’s not enough to convince me he’s got his head on straight, he’s willing to admit he is still learning and his perspective is subject to change — more to ponder. This kind of thoughtfulness and candor is refreshing with anyone no matter what they do for a living. But to find it in an actor?
I guess I’ve been prejudiced in thinking actors are mostly caricatures and somewhat superficial and almost never thinkers. At least that’s how it seems when they’re confronted with an interviewer. Some of them state the obvious and never anything of interest that a casual observer couldn’t conclude. Kind of like the typical interview with a footballer who’s asked post-game how his team got the victory. He often responds, “We scored more points.” I would think they were making a joke, but their demeanor doesn’t suggest they’re being facetious at all. They usually have a wide eyed look about it all. I’ve often wondered if these athletes realize we already know that. Similarly, actors seem to think that they’re letting us in on something, but the reality is that we mostly get to witness their posturing, the spinning of their personalities for public consumption and hopefully increase in ticket sales or ad revenue or whatever it is that puts cash in their hip pockets. Whatever is actually happening, I almost always come away with a hollow feeling.
But I’ve never felt that with Armitage. With him I actually have to think at times. Quite simply he gives food for thought, and it’s because his comments make it clear that he thinks and mostly like a sane person and not someone inside the show biz bubble. Even this seemingly benign interview is interesting. Mostly for its unfailing honesty about the hassle to continually keep up appearances almost 24/7. Yuck.
From Times Online
April 27, 2010
The inside track: Richard Armitage
Fresh from filming the TV drama, Chris Ryan’s Strike Back, Spooks star Richard Armitage, 38, gives us his health report
Melissa van der Klugt
I’m normally one of those people who, unless you shove a sandwich in my hand, would forget to eat. The last diet I went on was in training for Strike Back and it involved six small meals a day to keep my blood-sugar level high. It was carbs during the morning and two shakes a day. I kept this up for 18 weeks of filming in South Africa, because you’re often on your feet for 12 or 13-hour days.
For Spooks I lost a stone.My character had just come out of a Russian prison after eight years. I had to weigh everything I ate and not eat too late.
I am always jumping off things on set, on an adrenaline high. At the end of a take people suddenly run up to me waving cotton swabs because I am bleeding and I haven’t noticed. Strike Back was the most physical role I have taken on and I had to work hard with an ex-military instructor to build up my physical mass and strengthen my ankles and wrists so that I wouldn’t injure myself.
I follow the Alexander Technique for 15 minutes each morning. It’s a way of helping my vocal production and control, but when my stress levels are high during filming, it gives me a break. I lie on the floor with a book over my head while I focus on the exercise. On the shoot in South Africa I fell asleep pretty much every time I did it.
I don’t take risks enough in my life. As I’m always under contract, I’m restricted by what I can and can’t do with myself, so skiing is my nirvana. I have been skiing for the past few years and being in the mountains is very therapeutic. You’re up above the clouds, it feels remote. When you’re skiing just faster than is safe there is a thrilling combination of risk and freedom.
Read the rest here ( if necessary, click again to make legible).
A new interview with RA is in TV.com. He says some of the same things but it’s not identical to the Sky magazine interview nor the Premiere interview. But even if it were, I’d probably review it more than once. LOL! It’s a wonderful interview.
What I’m trying to figure out is if Heather spent only 10 minutes with RA or this is supposed to take 10 minutes to read. If it’s the former, wow! that’s a lot in 10 minutes. If it’s the latter, then they have some slower readers in their audience. LOL! Okay, I know it’s just a catchy title, but words should mean something.
10 Minutes with Strike Back’s Richard Armitage
by Heather Hughes TV.com Staff Writer 04/28/10 06:03 AM
British actor Richard Armitage has been propelled into the public consciousness in recent years thanks to major roles in BBC dramas Spooks and Robin Hood. Six years ago, though, he was better known as John Thornton in period adaption North and South. That was his first lead part in a TV show and now he’s hoping to emulate his success by starring in another book adaptation–this time fronting Chris Ryan’s multi-million bestseller Strike Back. Despite being busy on the set of Spooks’ ninth season Armitage took some time out to talk TV.com about his new show and what’s to come…
TV.com: I’ve just watched the first two episodes of Strike Back and it’s incredibly intense. What was that like to film?
Richard Armitage: Oh, brilliant. Yeah, it was fast, exciting, and exhausting. But I think we knew that it had balls, if you know what I mean.
You had specialist military training for it didn’t you? What was that like?
That was one of the best aspects of it, I think, because you can get your head into that. I trained with a military guy here in the UK and then one in South Africa, and then we had three SAS advisors that were there the whole time. I think that when you feel you’ve got the real deal giving you advice it stops feeling like you’re playing at it and it feels like you’re doing it very seriously. When you believe that an SAS guy could sit and watch it, and that it wouldn’t be too farfetched, then that does help you to get into character.
And it was written by Chris Ryan who’s a former SAS soldier, which must’ve helped with the authenticity?
Yeah, absolutely.
The show’s based on his a bestseller. Did you, or any of the rest of the cast, feel under extra pressure because of its popularity?
Well, I really like taking stuff from literature because I feel that when people read a book they have a kind of response to it. I have a visual mind, so when I read a book I get an instant picture in my head and it’s very clear. I think that bringing that into reality is much easier than creating something out of nothing. Because it was Chris Ryan’s novel and, like you say, he was the military man I felt like [my character] John was semi autobiographical. I was really going through the book looking for every detail that I possibly could. The pressure to get it right is a brilliant pressure and I think everyone thrived on that.
You’ve starred in a couple of adaptations now. Is there one that you haven’t appeared in that you’d like to? Pride and Prejudice perhaps?
I wish! No, I’d like to do Crime and Punishment. I know it’s been done fairly recently but I love that kind of Russian, dreary, poverty-stricken grief.
[edit: if you’re landing on this page looking for 2010 pics of Richard Armitage at the BAFTAs, I have some here.
See Diary Part 7 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a few years ago minus five months:
I couldn’t stay away from the Robin Hood videos on YouTube. I just had to watch some of them. Someone had up several of the shows, so I started watching. Now I own the first season. That makes over a $100 I’ve now spent on Richard Armitage. I console myself with the fact that I’m getting my money’s worth — watching them every day. I also found this site called RobinHood2006.com which has tons of screencaps. Then I opened a Photobucket account, a paid one! to store my own copies. Let’s see that makes over a 100 bucks plus about $20 more I’ve spent, and I dare not add up the money I’ve spent on the songs to the fan videos I like. I’ll soon own the second season of Robin Hood. The only reason I don’t have it now is it’s not out yet in America, and I don’t have a DVD player that will play the stuff from the UK. What in hell’s name is going on with me? I’m a cheapskate, and now I’ve spent close to 200 bucks because of some British actor I had never even heard of until several months ago?!!
Then again, this picture explains it:
And this Guy of Gisborne, bad ass as he is, is, well, is, well, I’m not sure how to describe him. All I know is that he’s even more sexy than John Thornton. No, he’s equally sexy as Thornton. Then again it depends on my mood. And then there’s Harry. Harry’s my favorite, and Richard Armitage is one savvy dude to play love interest to the Vicar. How could I not like some guy who falls for the Vicar? Then I saw a wonderful video of him at the BAFTAs, which I’ve learned is sort of like the Oscars except it includes TV shows (more useless crap for me to remember). In the video he’s being interviewed about whom he would like to kiss, and he says Nigella Lawson (I already knew her ’cause I’m a Food Network junkie!) after she’s eaten a chunk of chocolate cake.
Uh, where was I? Had to swoon for a second thinking of Richard Armitage liking a full figured woman. Who IS this guy?!
edit: For Twinkling Moon and anyone else who wants to hear RA talking about Nigella Lawson. :D His interview starts about 2:15. Rupert Penry Jones is at 1:50. If you would like your own copy of this or some other footage at the 2007 BAFTAs, then see this page at RichardArmitageNet.com
Okay, I’ve read way too many of these RA interviews. Now I’m nitpicking everything this guy says. Phew. Must get a life. But I had to ask myself that question when I read this article:
Spooks actor Richard Armitage is set to return to the theatre after a hiatus of almost a decade, with plans for the performer to appear in a new production of Restoration comedy The Rover.
Armitage, who started his career in theatre, made his last major appearance on stage in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2000/1 production of The Duchess of Malfi at the Barbican.
He subsequently took part in a rehearsed reading of a new play presented by the Operating Theatre Company in 2002, but has spent the last eight years focused on television.
Armitage is now hoping to make a return to the theatre and he told The Stage he was particularly keen to do some comedy, because his most recent roles have seen him appear in action-based TV dramas, such as Spooks and Robin Hood. His latest is the Sky One series Strike Back, which is based on Chris Ryan’s book.
Read the rest of the article here and read more about The Rover here.
If you don’t understand my question, then read the Vulpes Libris interview. Even if you don’t care about understanding my question, then just read that interview for a real treat.
Here’s my gratuitous picture of the day. I think it has a 60s look.
But I can’t stand it; there’s too much to talk about, and this is the place for me to get it all out of my system. At least that was my original intent. Now? Oh, heck no!
Oh, God love him! Is he something else or what? Is he a bit of a writer and/or director in the making? Or maybe a lot of actors do this, and I’ve just never been aware of it? I don’t know, and really, I don’t care. This below is one reason I’ve got a thing for RA! I feast on this stuff. LOL!
Strike Back: Richard Armitage on John Porter
He’s an action hero, I suppose – But I’ve tried to make him as un-action hero like as possible because that’s an easy role to play and we’ve all seen the hero running out of a burning building carrying a child. I’ve tried to inject this character with something else that’s unique to his experience.
He’s SAS when the story starts and he has a wife and daughter. He’s been through the ranks and I’d describe him as a kind of killing machine who’s discovered quite a serious flaw whereby compassion kicks in and he allows his heart to rule his head. I think he has a conflict between operating within the theatre of war and then returning home to his family.
Preparing for the role…
I try to create a biography for every character I play. In the book, but not in the script, Porter has a problem with alcohol, so I’ve used that much earlier in his life. I wanted Porter’s father to be military, and this period of delinquency comes from Porter being absent when his father died. So his route into the military was to do with atonement for his father’s death and honouring his memory.
I thought I could rationalize! But it seems others are raising the bar.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I really don’t see SB as the typical “action” movie – and no RA is not clouding my judgement. I haven’t read the book yet (on my list – gotta get through “The Pillars of the Earth” first) but I would be interested in watching SB even if RA was not in it – the politics, the moral dilemma, the facing one’s past are all interesting to me – and a few sexy scenes and the occasional kicking in of doors is good too! And when you think of it, many of these same themes appear in period dramas/books as well…
Maybe I’m just being fooled by the trailers – heaven knows that happens all the time – but I just wish I had a chance to see SB when it airs in the UK…now where did I put “Pillars”…”tyme4t’s comment on “What makes a bunch of prissy period drama lovers become action fans?”
I must keep up!
She makes some good points. Period dramas and action flicks do have something in common, and I can name it in one word: romance. It’s the romance that we all love. I’m including the men. It’s romantic to them for some guy to kick ass whether it be a foreign enemy or one at home. But it doesn’t really matter if the enemy is personified as long as some guy is conquering something including something in his past. I don’t care how macho or seemingly mild mannered the man is, they all seem to love this, and a lot of women love it too. I know I love to see someone overcome something or someone (bad guy or problem guy). Really love it when it’s a good guy making things right even if it’s not all tied up in a pretty package at the end. It’s usually better if it’s not all tied up in a pretty package.
But I think most of us also love a good chess game even if it’s not on the chess board. That is fascinating, and what tyme4t was probably getting at with politics, moral dilemmas, etc. There’s an air of romance about catching someone before they catch you and especially if you’re having to deal with your baggage while doing it. Actually, that’s only romantic in a book or a movie. In real life it can be a bitch to deal with baggage while you’re trying to do something significant. I think that’s one reason it’s romanticized in books ’cause maybe we can fantasize that it’s romantic when we’re going through it. I would venture to say that all those SAS are turned on by the same thing — the romance of what they’re doing, the romance of the chase, and there doesn’t always have to be a girl involved. When it’s not about country of course. Whatever the case, I don’t think it’s all about patriotism.
Just for grins I did a search on Chris Ryan and the word ‘romance’. I actually came up with something. He wrote a romance novel. LOL! It’s under the pseudonym Molly Jackson (isn’t Chris Ryan a pseudonym?). Maybe that’s old news for some of you, but I got a chuckle out of it. I don’t know if the book is was worth a flip. It didn’t seem to have many reviews. But something motivated him to write that book, and I don’t think it was money. He’s too well established in his genre to venture out just to make money. No, it was something else. Not sure anything he’s said publicly would shed light on the reason, but it would be interesting to know his reasons (more useless crap for me to remember). All I know right now is if Chris Ryan wrote a romance novel, it’s not a far stretch to imagine him watching some period dramas. Yep, he’s one of us. I’ll claim him. :D
After reading up on Chris Ryan, I feel like he’s a buddy. We share similar tastes in drama, and on a much lesser note, two of his creations have featured RA. So I have to put up his picture.
In the “Strike Back” Premiere clip, Andrew Lincoln and Andy Harries, the producer, talked about Strike Back competing with America’s offerings. That’s great! I LOVE competition. It usually (not always but usually) gets the cream to rise to the top. Love it; can’t say enough good about it.
Given that, I can think of a really good way for the Brits to compete with us Yanks, and I’ll be glad to help them. If they could figure out how to get the shows to us more quickly, then I can assure I would do my part by watching many times in order to help their ad revenue or however it is they make their money. I’ll even tell lots of people about the shows! Could we just have access to Sky Player? As it is, I buy the stuff as soon as I can, and sometimes (I hate to admit it) I cheat and look at it before I can buy it. But I always buy these things I’ve looked at through other means than traditional broadcasts or dvds. It would be great to do it another way. Aren’t we in a global economy? What’s the hang up?!
I will probably rant more about this later.
I hope someone is listening.
Oh, I guess I can’t make this a complete tangent, since I want to comment on how RA has really put himself outside his comfort zone. Doesn’t he dislike going in the water? That’s really going in the water! Or is that a stuntman? On another note, how interesting that I know all of this useless crap.
RAFrenzy 
