Unless you’re under a rock in the RA universe, you know by now that our guy Richard Armitage is going to be playing Thorin Oakenshield in “The Hobbit.” What I found interesting is the filming schedule. Begins in February. What else do we know begins filming in February? Oh, I understand if you’re a novice at this Richard Armitage watching. So let me instruct you as an act of public service. ;-) You may not be aware that the BBC show Spooks will start filming in February, and RA plays one of the main characters, Lucas North. No, he’s nothing like Guy of Gisborne in this one. At least that’s what I have been thinking, but on second thought, he might be a bad guy (pardon the pun).
I’m trying to process the speculation about Lucas, and now? Is it too early to say he’s toast? I mean RA is good at running from location to location, but no one’s that good. London to New Zealand is still quite a trek (assuming the squabbling over labor is settled and it will be in NZ). Or maybe Spooks is going on location again? No, they’ve got their Greek God replacement, so I think they’ll stay home.
Whatever the case with Lucas North, I hope he goes down in a blaze of glory. Does it have to be a peaceful death? No offense to RA’s wishes. Somehow that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, and a peaceful death is harder to write, and well, do I need to explain why I don’t hold out hope for a well done peaceful death? Of course if it’s a violent death, then I suppose it will have to be a bomb. Maybe I can hold out for a death like Guy’s where he still gets to say a few words at the end. All I know at this point is that I’m on for the ride with Lucas, and I will enjoy it no matter what. But my most ardent wish is that he will come to his senses at the end and have a mad, passionate love affair with Beth. She can even be Alpha.
In the meantime, I’m salivating at the thought of SO, who is an LOTR fan, paying to watch Richard Armitage in a movie.
I finally posted my diary entry on ‘Between the Sheets’ (BTS) and granted, it was mostly a rant. I have many more thoughts about a lot of things including more on BTS. Heck, I have so many thoughts about so many things I probably couldn’t help but start a blog. I just wish I had the guts to publish more, and thankfully, all of my thoughts are not of Richard Armitage. Fascinating as he is, that would be dull indeed. But I must admit that I went through a period in my viewing of RA’s acting where I wondered more about him as a person and what motivated him. I am a human being who is intensely curious about many things not the least of which are people, so I couldn’t help but go there, and I still go there from time to time. Some of my diary entries tend to explore that a little more than others, and those entries are probably too candid for publication. I will attempt to edit them so they’re respectful but not so respectful they’re boring.
However I edit them, I do not want to lose my honest voice, but I would be lying if I said it’s not a temptation to do just that out of fear my thoughts might generate ill will. This is probably based on the experience that people do not like you if you disagree with them or say something even a little bit critical. I, on the other hand, almost love it when people disagree with me or criticize. It can make things very interesting, and it’s certainly when I learn the most. Perhaps this is a pitfall of being reared in a very antagonistic household where I could never make a statement without being compelled to defend it. The usual reaction to a declaration was, “I understand you think that, but why?” It was always why and a tendency to try to poke holes in what I was saying, so now I’m cursed to continue asking questions, but hopefully I don’t descend into ad hominem. Whatever the case, when someone questions my stance or flat out disagrees, I feel more at home. LOL!
And I have long since realized Richard Armitage was not conditioned to be a fighter as I’ve been. He’s more of a “lover,” or at least gives that appearance, and many of his fans appear to be like him, which puts me at odds with quite a few of them, and yep, I knew that when I started the blog. Apparently, I wasn’t daunted, and even though I tend toward antagonistic and snarky, I hope I have some courtesy.
I need a picture after that long-winded preface to coming entries:
If you want to see this picture in all its glory, click on it, and then zoom in. I feel like a little more objectification than usual. Maybe reviewing BTS brought that on. I encourage you to zoom in on this picture just to look at his mouth. I’ve made a big deal out of his jawline, but I’m not sure I could really tell you what I think of his mouth. Not ready to be quite that candid. LOL!
Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, and I can’t thank them enough for doing all that they do.
I’ve had a difficult time writing about Lucas North, and I had not fully understood why. There’s been the occasional post about Spooks and some RA interviews concerning Spooks, but mostly Lucas has been ignored. I wonder how many noticed the glaring omission of Lucas on the page Who is Richard Armitage? I didn’t even realize it until a couple of weeks after I posted, and since then it’s been my intention to make him part of it. But I’ve never been able to find a clip that I really liked — that really moved me.
And even though I’ve made a few comments about Lucas, it’s been really difficult to be snarky about him, and if you’ve read this blog for more than an entry or two, you know that snark reigns here. I suppose that’s due to the very serious issues I grapple with on a daily basis. If I didn’t become snarky, it would probably eat my lunch. Well, that and SO is such a challenge. He’s persuasive, very good on his feet, and rarely can I put him in check with my words unless I say something like, “I’m pregnant,” to which he becomes speechless with a huge grin on his face. The rest of the time, I have to keep up with him, and I’ve loved learning to keep up with him. He is my Alpha male with a little Beta thrown in, but I love that he’s predominantly Alpha. That Alpha allows me, among other things, to be snarky with him. Alpha can handle it, but a male who is too much Beta is a drain. Too much Beta carries a neediness that’s just irritating and could never take a joke — not really. Plus, too much Beta just feels like a girlfriend, and I don’t want to go to bed with a girlfriend.
It’s only when Beta is juxtaposed with a lot of Alpha that it becomes fascinating and serves the wonderful purpose of also highlighting Alpha. This is what I loved about John Thornton. That big bear of a man had a sensitivity that allowed him to take note of Margaret’s movements serving tea or to make himself vulnerable to his mother after his rejection, or to develop a fondness for the Boucher boy who was learning to read. But first and foremost, John Thornton was a strong man. If he had not been, then his sensitivity would not have been nearly so dear. It was certainly this strength coupled with his appreciation of the finer feelings that wowed me. Lucas was none of that or didn’t appear to be. I’m not saying I wanted another John Thornton, but I did want to see something other than a guy who was a drain.
From the beginning Lucas was a victim, which would have been fine if he had been redeemed as a man. But as it was, he was not really treated as a man. That was reserved for Ros, and Ros had her own kind of domination over Lucas. It’s my opinion (yes, it’s just my opinion like most things on this blog) the inference that the relationship between Harry and Lucas is sexual is really about Lucas placing himself in a posture of subjection and being needy of Harry, needing Harry to affirm him like a father or as only a strong male can affirm another. All of that would have been great for laying a foundation to the redemption of Lucas.
But then we get to Series 8 where he reverts to being manipulated by his former captor and temporarily switches his focus for affirmation to Sarah, who no doubt was quite the Alpha — definitely a ball buster– and Lucas wanted it so badly. Then it was found out by MI-5, and Lucas is told to play her along, which puts him between his potential redeemers. That became so wearying and the neediness never more evident than when he’s on the floor with Sarah’s gun pointed at his head and he whispers, “Take me with you.” Phew, that has an ick factor. Bark off the tree. I HATE that scene, and it was also the one which made it clear that I liked Lucas even less than Sarah. So when he got to the scene where he said he was disgusted by her, I didn’t believe him. He was too wishy washy to be really disgusted — for long anyway. Sarah had something he wanted — some balls. Even Ros was the one who had to take Sarah down at the end.
All of this has had me dreading anymore Lucas love affairs. In fact, I read this article and found myself nodding at this comment, “His current camaraderie with Beth is much more interestingly and engagingly written than his love affairs have been, and I don’t think the “Who is John?” story needs a romantic dimension when Iain Glen and Richard Armitage seem to be doing brilliantly without it. However, a romantic dimension is what we’re going to get. Oh well.”
But I was wrong, and I’m so glad I watched anyway. He is no longer just a victim so desperate for affirmation that he subjects himself to domination by his superiors and love interests. It’s a somewhat unexplained change from the other series, but I love it. Becoming head of section D helps set the stage for a more forceful Lucas, and then as he encounters his past, it becomes clear he is becoming a man who has wants as well as needs, and his wants will not be denied. He makes it clear he will not be bullied by Vaughn, and then there’s Maya. He’s bent on getting to her, and nothing is going to stop him. Even when she’s resisting him in his home, he does not give up and then at the end the Alpha emerges to dominate Maya in the most elemental fashion. Maya definitely responded, and I couldn’t help but light up. Any female who is immune to that is either not paying attention or not attracted to men. LOL!
But don’t take my word for it; you can watch for yourself:
In case you need that in slow motion, I have a slideshow as well. Feel free to snaffle any of it.
I also have to give Richard Armitage his due. Some of his lines in the scene with Laila Rouass are hackneyed. C’mon, prison, “a photograph of you,” “all those years trying to forget,” and “I had to see you?” Sounds like a David Allan Coe song. But RA pulls it off! Sorry I couldn’t help the David Allan Coe reference. It was probably brought on by Lucas’ western shirt.
Also, my short hiatus has me really maudlin to the point I feel a fake fan letter coming on.
Dear Richard,
See how easy we women are. We love it when a man exerts his dominance. Not in a brutish way but in a calm, assured way. That’s definitely what Lucas did at the end of Episode 3.
Just get ready for women to swoon over that scene as much (and maybe more) than the ending of North and South, and if you hate that sort of thing, well, I guess you should stop making shows that have those kinds of scenes.
What I love is that no one had to shed their clothes. Yes, I’m a prude. Of course I’ll have to see what happens next week. ;-)
is in this video below if you haven’t seen the first Spooks episode of Series 9. So don’t say I haven’t warned you. But if you don’t care or if you’ve seen it, then enjoy:
I think Juliet ought to have an award for this video. Wonderfully done! and so quickly.
….eventually or maybe not. I toyed with again getting on my soapbox about the spoilers for Spooks, but I caved the day before it aired. Yes, I am weak. So very weak, but then I had an enormous temptation, or maybe I was just looking for an excuse to fall off the wagon.
Someone sent me the audio of RA’s interview with David Stephenson. I’m so glad! It was a pleasure to listen. Thank you, friend for sending me that file, and unless David is under a rock about now, he had to know that file would be passed around. It’s profitable life was no more than a day. I just happen to have a great scruple about these things, so I’ll hop over there sometime and buy it for a pound and happily help with overhead. But I hope my friend doesn’t let this talk of scruples keep her or anyone else from sending me things in the future. LOL!
After I was done listening, I read the print article. Wow. What a difference. I realize Mr. Stephenson has only so much space to write, and he must capture what he feels is salient for readers, and I really appreciate the way he writes. Please keep it up! But the casual reader does not get to really appreciate RA’s wonderful sense of humor. You must listen to the audio for that.
Once I got done listening and reading that interview, my appetite was pretty whet, so it was easy to just gorge myself on the rest of the interviews. Some were a rehash with a few extra comments. In particular RA mentions in one of having performed astral projection, and my first thought was he might need some pants that don’t ride up for that. I was going to make hay out of this until I had my second thought — wondering which Avengers fly. Yes, yes, I admit I’m not up on my Avenger characters! But I may have to bone up in light of today’s developments. Look at the last few lines of this interview from a couple of days ago. That tease!
No spoilers (that I know of) in this article linked below. Well there was one comment that some may consider a spoiler, but then again, it’s one you may want to know and possibly fantasize about before it happens.
But I have a question for all of our British cohorts. Is it the norm for British actors to talk about food this much? Or am I imagining that Richard talks about food a lot? Yes, that’s two questions. Oh, I’m not down on RA if he’s into food. I’m a huge, a big, uh an enthusiastic fan of food myself, so maybe it’s just me who thinks there is incessant talk of food. When I first came into this fandom, I remember hearing about him watching Nigella Lawson and fantasizing about kissing her after she had eaten a chunk of chocolate cake. I used to think it was because she was voluptuous………..excuse me, that thought still makes me dizzy. So I used to think it was Nigella’s figure that generated the fantasy, but now I’m wondering if that chunk of cake may have been a big part of it.
And speaking of chocolate, it seems that our Richard was once again asked about his fans. You’re wondering what chocolate has to do with his fans? You must be new. Aside from his voice being like chocolate if chocolate made a sound, can I see a show of hands of those who want to be schooled in the history of the chocolate pants? Never mind; I’m not quite sure of the history myself. I’ll just share with you that somewhere along the way some fans sent him some pants made of chocolate, or maybe that was just a crack from a reporter (see tenth paragraph). Whatever the case, it seems that Richard and pants of varying kinds go together as topics of discussion. Recently someone sent him a pair of pants “that don’t ride up your bum.” The good news is that I’ve put my bs detector away while reading some of these interviews, so I can go happily along wherever Richard leads. But damn I wish my imagination weren’t so vivid. Truly, I sometimes curse it. I won’t share all of my thoughts, but I must admit that I saw him on the floor in a Bridget Jones’ position when he mentioned these corrective pants.
In the meantime, I’m feverishly reading Blake by Peter Ackroyd. Phew, Blake would’ve had a field day with chocolate pants.
To keep from putting a dissertation in my comments section, I come with this post. LOL!
Here is how teasers can be done without giving away too much:
IT begins with a funeral. Most Spooks fans will know who for. And ends with…
Spooks series nine, episode one. BBC1, 9pm next Monday.
There is much to report about the return of Sir Harry Pearce in a terrific opening hour.
And yet most of it will have to remain unsaid to avoid spoiling the episode.
You want answers about Harry (Peter Firth) and Ruth Evershed (Nicola Walker)?
You’ll get them.
Just don’t be late for the first four minutes.
Swiftly followed by an all-time classic Harry scene, which confirms Spooks is back on top form.
Events of last year are still fresh in the mind as we learn the identity of one of the Nightingale conspirators.
Before heading off to join Lucas North (Richard Armitage) about to board a ship in Morocco and meeting Beth Bailey, played by Sophia Myles, together with Dimitri Levendes (Max Brown).
With The Grid in danger of turning into the Marie Celeste, the introduction of two new characters is nicely done.
This post is to also thank Ian Wylie for knowing his business.
Yes, I am like a dog with a bone, but on Monday, I will happily leave it behind. Until then, I am trying to stay on my spoiler fast, and I’m very grateful to Mr. Wylie for not helping me cheat.
And for those who don’t mind more information in teasers, I guess there is something for all of us to digest. :D
I’m beginning to understand how that feels. I just read RA’s interview on Digital Spy, and if you have a problem with spoilers, DO NOT read the interview at that link. If they don’t bother you, then click away.
Why didn’t they put a spoiler warning on that? I don’t want to know that much about the plot. I would rather watch it unfold than be told what’s going to unfold.
“I just don’t get why one would want to spoil the ending.”
Hmmm. Not sure what I think of that comment. The DS interview did not actually give away the ending, but it’s going to take some tension away from it. Dammit! I now know so much about the impetus of the characters that there will be much less wonder about them which has the potential to make it boring. This really frustrates me. Am I the only one who feels this way? Or do I just sound spoiled? ;-) Actually, that’s a sincere question.
If you do not recognize the quotes, they are from Richard Armitage in his interview with the foxes over at Vulpes Libris in July 2009. I would put the exact link, but I get irritated at the infernal ping backs. I guess I’m just irritated today.
Ali’s done it again, God love ‘er. RA’s latest interview, ‘A Life in the Day’ is up on RichardArmitageNet.Com. You can find the interview on this page. See I didn’t even make you wait to read all of my stuff before giving you the goods. LOL!
Random or not so random thoughts about this interview:
More talk about food. Lots of it. Yep, RA and I are kindred spirits. I love food too, and my mother also hates anything processed. She would have fainted if anyone had suggested she serve the processed food of the 70s. Thank you, Mom, I’m now the same, and I’ve still not eaten Hamburger Helper or instant potatoes (at least not that I’m aware of), but one of the kids bought some Hamburger Helper recently, and we have almost never heard the end of how terrible and expensive it is. Oh, where was I? Digressing as usual, but I really don’t want to do that, and I certainly don’t want to spend time talking about Hamburger Helper. Someone slap me for even bringing it up!
He has no ‘cleaner.’ I can’t help but imagine the underwear strewn on the floor. Cursing my vivid imagination, or maybe not. Oh, and not sure I like that word ‘cleaner’ since it sounds inhuman, like a device with a face on the front and a pair of big lips sucking up everything in its path. Of course my imagination is wondering what it would be like to be his ‘cleaner.’ And yes, he would probably have to shoot me, ’cause I would definitely read the scripts. But I wouldn’t tell anyone about them. Yes, I can keep a secret!! I’m also wondering how all of you are imagining it, well, about yourselves — if you’re wondering that at all. Oh, you’re not? What is wrong with you!! RA is not stupid. The whole ‘interview’ was designed to titillate us AGAIN, and it has. Well, I readily admit it has me. See how easy I am to manipulate, and damn, it feels good.
I’m also wondering if he did have a ‘cleaner’ if he would do what most of us have done who have had one and clean up before hand to keep from being embarrassed, and since he can’t do that, he doesn’t have a ‘cleaner?’ I need another slap because I also don’t want to talk about housework in this post. Back to wondering about being his ‘cleaner.’
I’ve always found it interesting that he is so cerebral compared to a lot of other actors and yet he is continually in very physical roles. Perhaps opportunity has dictated this or he really has wanted to stretch himself (no pun intended). Much more to mine with this later, and I’m sure I’m not the first, but that’s never stopped me.
I could make a lewd remark about him working out at the gym, but so far I’ve refrained from being lewd on this blog, and I intend to keep it that way.
Oh, he quoted one of my favorites! Macbeth! I would love to see him as Macbeth! I did catch him as Macduff in Shakespeare Retold and as Angus in the filmed version of it, which can be seen here. But I’m not sure I’m going to be satisfied until I can see him as the title role! Yes, I’m spoiled.
But as I leave the reading of this article, I wonder what’s on his iPod. That is my burning question. I damned near have a love affair with my iPod, and so I can only be curious about his. What does he listen to?! Yeah, I know about the affinity for Coldplay and Mahler. What else does he listen to? Since he’s being so open, maybe he’ll tell us in another interview? Or maybe he’ll shoot me if I keep being so demanding. ;-)
A couple of days ago I perused Servetus’ last(?) post in the Ugly American series. Lots to digest there. The list of “binaries” is interesting. It pretty much describes most people, which I assume was part of her intent as well as highlighting the contradiction of several. Stereotyping is so wearying. Not that I don’t think we should talk about it. It might be very productive to talk about it.
For most of my life, I’ve been on the receiving end of some very pronounced stereotyping. It has to do with where I’m from and how I speak. A significant number of people just can’t get past it. Thankfully, I don’t hold it against people when they shove me in a slot, but I did when I was a kid. In fact, it frustrated me terribly when people could only hear my accent and didn’t really listen to what I was saying. I was determined to work through this frustration and not respond in kind to others but will admit that I sometimes have to fight the impulse not to think someone is dull who immediately makes fun of my accent upon hearing me speak for the first time. For the most part, I have worked through any angst I had as a kid, and now it’s pretty much a non-issue for me.
Several things helped me work through it. I’ve stereotyped others and probably will again. This is not a defense of slotting people but rather an admission that it’s very easy to do, and this knowledge helps me be on guard not to do it and to be forgiving of others who do. Traveling quite a bit since I was a kid has been wonderful for giving me a broader point of reference when considering others and has also helped me to not stereotype as much. No matter where I go people are people. No matter which culture they are steeped in they have the same basic needs. But most important, I love people, and I want to hear what they are saying. This helps me move beyond someone’s cultural layers to the human being beneath.
And therein lies the problem with Sarah Caulfield. There was no human being there. What was it that Lucas fell for? I would love to hear the answer to that from the writers — or anyone. With almost no character development, Lucas met Sarah on the street and sort of grabbed her and kissed her. Maybe I’m too jaded, but there just wasn’t enough to make the bigger than both of us plot device work. The female would need to be drop dead gorgeous and oozing with femme fatale or a sexual game player for it to have worked. No offense to the actress who played Sarah, but she doesn’t fit that description, and in fairness to her, she had very little to work with. Some writing would have helped, but where was that? Not in this show. It’s a shame that there wasn’t more of a sexual dance between her and Lucas. There was only her Americanism, which is not enough to make someone sexual dynamite. But perhaps those in the UK see it differently. Perhaps just being an American woman is perceived as sexual dynamite? I doubt that, but then I’m not sure how American women are perceived by the British. However she was perceived, thankfully, she was put out of our misery by a bullet to the brain.
Despite feeling like my head was messed with in the last series, I’m still enjoying the PR machine for Spooks 9. At least the one that puts out yummy pictures of our guy. Surely many of you have seen this picture, but it’s too good not to repost:
It’s his eyes, and his mouth, and that he’s tall, and perhaps that he looks like a kid playing a grown up — more about this later, or this will turn into to two posts in one.
RAFrenzy 
