No more Mr. Nice Guy when 'Robin Hood' returns

By John Crook
Zap2it
Updated: 09/16/2009 10:41:05 AM CDT


Robin Hood and his Merry Men aren't — merry, that is — as season three of the hit adventure series returns at 8 p.m. Saturday on BBC America.
Fans of the series still are reeling from the startling finale to the second season, when Sir Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) killed Maid Marian (Lucy Griffiths), the woman both he and Robin loved.
As season three opens, Robin (Jonas Armstrong) has cast aside that whole "rob the rich and give to the poor" thing in favor of a new, harsher motto: No more Mr. Nice Guy.
Yet, somewhat weirdly, the more interesting story this season may revolve around Gisborne, whose self-lacerating guilt over murdering Marian will send him on a remarkable new journey, reveals Armitage, whose multifaceted performance as a man he calls "an anti-hero" instead of a traditional villain has played a large part in attracting adult viewers to this family-friendly series.
"I was really shocked," the actor says of learning Gisborne was going to kill Marian. "It was also a shocking thing to do to the show, and I know that was exactly what the writers had intended when Dominic (Minghella, one of the show's creators) decided to do that. I found it very difficult to do for the character, because I had decided he was very much in love with Marian, that it was an obsession. But that became key to the doing of the act, trying to turn it into a crime of passion when the red haze falls. He was being provoked by her into an action that was so



despicable that what it gave us was a great springboard to start series three, his journey into self-torture. He is punishing himself for what he did."
That leads to some early scenes in which Gisborne, looking haggard and a bit crazed, acts more conventionally villainous than at any other time in the series, including using a child as a human shield in a fight with Robin. Intense moments like that were catnip for Armitage, he says.
"It was a real gift to play, because I wasn't looking to get any pity for the character. Because, frankly, I sort of despise him for what he did," the actor says. "But it's also interesting when a character can start to take responsibility for his actions and have an opinion of himself, almost as if he is stepping outside his body, and that's really what Gisborne does this season: He steps out of his old shell and starts to become somebody new because of that action."
As Gisborne embarks on this new journey of self-awareness, viewers get to see something that has been subtly hinted at throughout the series: that Gisborne and Robin come from a common place and share more than may be apparent at first glance.
"If you stay the course through series three, there is an episode where that point is put under a microscope and you see where they came from and that their lives were quite similar," Armitage reveals. "It's interesting when you're playing the nemesis of a character when that character can understand his opponent mentally and physically, when there's a real psychological understanding between the two characters. It makes the characters more interesting to play, and it also makes it possible for the characters to hurt each other quite badly. Marian was very much part of that."
Although Armitage doesn't want to reveal too much about his character's surprising new arc, story lines for the new season suggest Gisborne's relationship with Robin undergoes a major sea change, one that allows the actor to bring a new color to his sober-sided character: a sense of humor.
"That is the one thing that has weighed me down about this character, the way he always takes himself so very, very seriously," Armitage says.
"It's interesting toward the end of this series, as he takes this unexpected journey to becoming someone new, you really do start to see this dry humor coming out of Gisborne. It's in connection with Robin and the understanding between them. Gisborne starts to open up in terms of his humor with Robin, which is something I never expected, that he would have this sense of humor."
Armstrong is leaving the title role after this season, and Armitage says his own involvement with "Robin Hood" depends entirely on what the writers can come up with for his character.
"I do love playing him, but with a character like Gisborne, if you give him what he needs, then in a way, it's over," the actor says. "That character is only interesting when he isn't getting what he wants, whether it's power, money or the girl. You see toward the end of this (season) what the writers have decided to do with that situation, but it's been fascinating to play a character who is in so much flux. One minute he is sent in one direction, and the next, he's chasing his own tail. I'm continually fascinated with him."