Richard Armitage Biography
Richard Armitage (Richard Crispin Armitage) was born on 22nd August 1971 in Huncote, United Kingdom. He is an actor popularly known for his role as popularly known for his role as Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit triology.
He attended Huncote Community Primary School in Huncote, Blaby District, Leicestershire and began secondary school at the local comprehensive school, Brockington College in Enderby.
By the time he finished school, he had achieved A Levels in music and English, and acting experience in local amateur and professional productions such as Showboat, Half a Sixpence, Orpheus and the Underworld (as Bacchus) and The Hobbit (as an elf) at the New Alexandra Theatre (aka “The Alex”), Birmingham.
Richard Armitage Hobbit/ Thorin
He played Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain or the Mountain King. He was the son of Thráin II, the older brother of Frerin and Dís, the grandson of King Thrór and the uncle of Fíli and Kíli. He was known for his deeds as leader of a company that infiltrated the lost Kingdom under the Mountain to take it back from Smaug and for leading
an alliance of Men, Dwarves, and Elves in the Battle of the Five Armies.
Richard Armitage Star Wars
He played Naboo Bravo 6 in starfighter pilot in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
Richard Armitage Age
He was born on 22nd August 1971 in Leicester, England to Margaret, a secretary, and John Armitage, an engineer. Richard has an older brother named Chris.
Richard Armitage Girlfriend – Richard Armitage Wife
His girlfriend is Samantha Colley who he met at the set of The Crucible where he played the role of John Proctor and she played the role of a girl who was love struck by Richard’s role and persuaded him to lapse.They got engaged in 2016 but they are not married yet.
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Richard Armitage Family
Richard Armitage is the younger son of Margaret, a secretary, and John Armitage, an engineer. Richard has an older brother named Chris.
Richard Armitage Height
He stands at 6′ 2½” (1.89 m).
Richard Armitage Nominations
- 2016 – Hannibal – Critics’ Choice Awards – Best Guest Actor/Actress in a Drama Series
- 2016 – Classic Love Poems – Audie Awards – Best Male Narrator
- 2015 – The Crucible – What’s On Stage Awards – Best Actor in a Play
- 2015 – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – SFX Awards – Best Actor
- 2015 – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Empire Awards – Best Actor
- 2015 – Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel – Audie Awards – Best Solo Narration – Male
- 2015 – The Crucible – Olivier Awards – Best Actor
- 2014 – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Empire Awards – Best Supporting Actor
- 2013 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – SFX Awards – Best Actor
- 2011 – Venetia – Audie Awards – Best Audiobook Adaptation
- 2009 – Spooks – Golden Nymph Awards – Outstanding Actor – Drama Series
- 2009 – Spooks – TV Quick Awards – Best Actor
Richard Armitage Audiobooks
- The Monster Collection
- Venetia
- The Convenient Marriage
- Sylvester
- David Copperfield
- The Turn of the Screw
- Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- Classic Love Poems
- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- The Chimes
Richard Armitage Movies and TV Shows
Richard Armitage Movies
- 2012: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- 2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- 2014: Into the Storm
- 2011: Captain America: The First Avenger
- 2016: Alice Through the Looking Glass
- 2017: Pilgrimage
- 2016: Brain on Fire
- 2005: Malice Aforethought
- 2015: Urban & the Shed Crew
- Miss Marie Lloyd
- 2007: Ordeal by Innocence
- 2005: Frozen
- 2017: Sleepwalker
- 2012: Pilsner Urquell Legends the Day Pilsen Struck Gold
- Macbeth
- Sparkhouse
Richard Armitage TV Shows
- Since 1999: Cleopatra
- 2002 – 2011: Spooks
- 2002: Sparkhouse
- 2003: Between the Sheets
- 2004: North & South
- Since 2005: The Golden Hour
- Since 2006: The Impressionists
- 2006 – 2009: Robin Hood
- Since 2009: Moving On
- Since 2010: Strike Back
- Since 2016: Berlin Station
- Since 2017: Castlevania
Richard Armitage Interview
Source: GQ.com
We were at the Jack Reacher junket yesterday talking to David Oyelowo, who was also in Spooks. Do you think there was something about that show, or is this just a great moment for British actors?
Richard Armitage: We were at the same year at drama school! I loved that show so much. I found it really challenging, it forced you to work at speed. I always said when they finished Spooks they should have made a movie of it. Actually my ultimate role is to play another spy…
One spy in particular?
Richard Armitage: Oh no, god – that sounds awful doesn’t it? I think [Daniel Craig] has a few left in him. I do think with the Hobbit, it’s a quintessentially English writer writing about middle England and his experiences in WWI. Peter Jackson has really chosen British actors and British voices – which I think particularly is applicable to British actors, because they tend to have been through classical drama training and when you’re loading up characters in a lot of prosthetics and wigs, it’s the voice that cuts through all that. So you’ve got people like Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Ken Stott, Jimmy Nesbitt – all these incredibly identifiable voices. I think that’s probably why British actors are doing OK.
How much did you immerse yourself with all other books, the fan fiction and all that mythology?
Richard Armitage: I really stuck with the purist stuff. I stayed with The Hobbit and when that became not enough I looked at The Silmarillion and then The Book Of Lost Tales, as well as all of Christopher Tolkien’s stuff.
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It’s extensive and I never really got through all of it. But I steer clear from the fan fiction and the fan discussions because I’m one of them – and after this, my critique is now as detailed as theirs. But the thing is as well, when you get the phone call, you get so excited about getting the job, but then you get scared because this book has been around since the late Thirties, it’s been read to probably every school kid in England and beyond, has been translated into so many languages, so everyone has their idea of this story. So you have to take care of their idea of Thorin. But I had my version and Pete trusted me.
They digitally alter your height afterwards but you have to act it live. Did you have to spend 18 months talking to at Ian McKellen’s hat or Martin Freeman’s belt?
Richard Armitage: I feel like Ian felt that more acutely than anybody else. Maybe it’s that his face becomes emblazoned on everybody that encounters it because I remember less stressfully the experience. I seem to remember looking into Ian’s eyes more than anything, and into… obviously my character and Martin’s character are of the same height. But they stuck Ian on a box occasionally – when they couldn’t stick him on a box, I had to look at the top of his hat. But we’d rehearse eye-to-eye, so you just have to remember what that feels like. Maybe because Ian has an indelible stare which you can’t shake off.
Have you met many obsessive Hobbit fans yet? There’s actually a queue of two dozen people outside Claridges right now.
Richard Armitage: Is there? Oh, god! I’ve met a few. What’s nice is that there are people who have been around for the last eight years with the work that I’ve done and there are new people that will come along that are fans of the book more than anything else. Then of course Comic Con, where you’ve got this global reach and Tokyo was amazing – you’ve got people dressed up as Galadriel and little Japanese Hobbits. I had some beautiful artwork given to me by some people in costume in Tokyo. But the creation of Thorin is really the work of many people, not just me. I seem to exist inside of it, but hopefully that means that I can take him off and walk away from him and not really be too identifiable with it. He doesn’t look too much like me. So maybe I’ll still be able to sneak out the back door when I need to.
You grew the beard yourself – did you have to live with it the whole time?
Richard Armitage: Yes, for 18 months! Weirdly enough the beard I grew ended up turning out identical to the one that they’d made me. They did have to darken it a little bit, because mine grows out a little bit lighter colour. It was weird because I thought “Oh brilliant, I’ll just grow a beard and it’ll be less work.” But actually it became more work because they’d be trimming it every day, because it has to look identical. My beard goes fast, so I’d come back after a weekend and they’d say, “Argh, it’s gone crazy!” I really liked having the beard. It’s weird – I remember doing some photo shoot for some publicity and thinking, “This is going to look awful” but it kind of looks OK. I think beards are in. But the full beard, not some kind of facial architecture. A full beard looks cool.
The costumes weighed nearly 30kg. Did you have to do much training in advance?
Richard Armitage: Yeah, we trained with a weight belt to drag us down, to get our centres of gravity low. But when you put the costume on, you’re carrying 20-30 kilos extra, depending on your character.
It’s pretty heavy! I try to keep at a non-obsessive level of fitness. It’s not about looking great, it’s about just feeling good. So I do a lot of yoga. Bikram just blows my mind. It’s mental as well as physical; if I don’t train I get very depressed. But the training for The Hobbit was about stamina and back strength so that we weren’t injuring ourselves with the extreme circumstances. It would be good to go back and find that level of training again.
You’re a big skier. Where do you recommend?
Richard Armitage: Massive skier. It’s my huge passion – as soon as the winter comes, I’m looking around thinking, “Just get me up a mountain.” I’ve done an awful lot of skiing all over Europe: I’ve done Italy, Austria, France. I skied loads in New Zealand – I did pretty much every ski slope I could find. I skied down Mount Ruapehu and then we went back and shot there. So I was looking when the snow was gone and going “I skied down these paths. I know these paths well.”
You’re a stylish man but I know Martin Freeman is very into his clothes.
Richard Armitage: I take inspiration from his style. I spent most of the time dressed in Nike in New Zealand. He just has great taste and is into really fantastic tailoring, so I’ve had to step up my game for this press tour!