5 MINUTES WITH RICHARD ARMITAGE

We sit down with Richard Armitage, aka Thorin Oakenshield, to discuss The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.
British actor Richard Armitage started his career walking the boards and on the small screen, but these days he is better recognised as the would-be King Under The Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and the second instalment, The Desolation of Smaug.
In the next chapter in the trilogy, Oakenshield and his merry band of dwarves, along with a pint-sized burglar, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), continue in their quest to reach the once proud stronghold of Erebor and reclaim the Arkenstone.
We sat down with Armitage to discuss working with Peter Jackson, atmosphere on set, and what to expect in The Hobbit: There And Back Again.
F3S: There is a massive dedicated fan base to both Tolkien and Peter Jackson. Were you at all intimated by the prospect of fulfilling fan expectations?
RA: It wasn’t something that I worried about. I was obviously very conscious of upholding the expectations because there are big expectations and such a huge fan base with his work and I’m one of those fans. I had a version of that character in my head so I just put aside any kind of fear and went for it.
F3S: Were you a big Tolkien fan before your were offered the part?
RA: Yes I was an avid reader as a child, and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were definitely there on my bookshelf. It had to be the first time I ever sat down and read a book on my own. I was also in a stage production of The Hobbit when I was fourteen so it’s been there in my mind and it was interesting coming back to it and remembering how I felt when I was a child; ultimately that’s what we’re trying to access as it’s very child-focused.
F3S: Whom did you play in the stage adaptation?
RA: Oh, I was a wood elf [laughs].
F3S: You mentioned that this one is a lot more child-focused, as well. There’s a slightly different feel to The Hobbit Trilogy compared The Lord of the Rings. Were you keen to develop this and get that across?
RA: I think it was the hardest challenge that Peter [Jackson] set. The Hobbit was really a blueprint for The Lord of the Rings; the attention that surrounded him when Tolkien wrote it I think that it was developing a whole new idea. But there’s more comedy in The Hobbit, it’s a simpler tale, there’s singing in there. So to try and balance that with the same tone that he had with The Lord of the Rings and to make it something that he was hoping for. It’s a tricky one because you have to have that level of gravity that The Lord of the Rings films has, but at the same time keep it in that child-friendly area.
F3S: Being set across three films how do you hold onto the arc of the character?
RA: It’s one of those things that are highly talked about as you rarely get to play a character over three movies but in a continuing story. It sort of helped working on TV where I’d have to prepare ten episodes over five months and keep a tab of where your character goes. It’s just about a lot of planning and figuring out the graph and arc of the characters; you know the climax of the character within the story. That’s what a negotiation is with the director.
F3S: You had to spend long day’s filming, with hours in make-up and prosthetics, how did you find that process?
RA: I guess 90% of the time was concentration because you’re in at 4am and out of the door art 9pm for six months every day; for 30 seconds of that you may be thinking ‘oh I need to deliver the performance of a lifetime,’ but you never know where that’s going to be or how it’s going to come on. You just have to be ready for it all the time, and that takes a lot of energy and concentration but, to me, that’s what I’m trained to do.

F3S: Was there a close-knit atmosphere on set?
RA: Yes and I think that’s one of the reasons why Peter [Jackson] wanted to shoot in his home town because it does feel like you’re making a home movie in his back garden for millions of dollars [laughs]. We would have script readings round the dinner table, and we were made to feel like one of the family, which I’ve had never encountered before. It makes you open up; it’s a much easier environment to work in and he inspired loyalty in his crew and his cast and I can’t say thank you enough.
F3S: How did you find all the special effects work?
RA: Well it’s just another skill really and use your imagination. You have to plan ahead and really think about what it is you’re going to say. You rely a lot on the art department and they give you some pictures of your scene and use that to describe to you. It’s good to stay in character that way and keep your head in that world; it helps you to keep imagining it and then when you finally realise it’s such a shock.
F3S: Thorin is such an interesting character, especially seeing his development from the first to the second movie, he seems very passionate about lineage, he has a conflicted relationship with his father; was that part of what really drew you to his character?
RA: Yeah, I mean he is probably one of the most complicated characters that Tolkien created. He’s in that state of conflict and he’s inherited a quest from his grandparents, that he probably doesn’t want to do, but he has to do it, he has to lead people back to his homeland. He’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder and he’s deeply suspicious of anyone who isn’t a dwarf (and rightly so). It makes him quite interesting character; he’s ultimately a good man, but he’s got a dark, complicated past.
F3S: Thorin seems less angry in Desolation, he seems slightly softer; can we expect another change by the time of the third film?
RA: It’s interesting, everyone has such different opinions, which I find fascinating; some people believe that he’s actually angrier in the second film than the first. I feel like there is a descent into madness in that film [The Hobbit: There and Back Again], which you just start to get the glimmer of in the second movie. One of the things I was really trying to achieve was that he isn’t a hopeless case, what is happening is beyond his control. For that, we have to forgive him, but it’s going to be interesting to see where he goes in the third film.
F3S: What are you hoping for in the third film?
RA: I think it will be, rather than a sense of loss, a big celebration. It’ll be a big party and there will be talking about all six films in the build up to the final movie and that was his intention. This is a prequel and there was once talk of a British movie but don’t I think that’s going to happen. I think there will be a lot of Middle Earth investigation at the end of this year.
F3S: What was Peter [Jackson] like to work with? He seems like such a passionate man and so involved with his work.
RA: He is. He is totally devoted to what he does and works 24/7 and would come to having this inspiration and four in the morning; he gets about 2 hours sleep and comes to work every day. He’s one of the most inspiring directors I’ve ever worked with and is very collaborative, very kind and generous and a little bit clingy which all adds to an exotic experience.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is out in cinemas April 7, 2014.

http://www.film3sixtymagazine.com/index.php/2014/04/02/5-minutes-with-richard-armitage/

Nichts großartig Neues, nur dass PJ "clingy" ist- und dass Desolation of Smaug am 7. April in die Kinos kommt, ist mir auch neu .

Danke für's Finden und Posten, Nimue!

Das Interview mag zwar nicht allzu viel neues enthalten, aber ich mag es sehr, wenn er über seine Arbeit spricht... irgendwie hat er die Fähigkeit sich immer wieder anders auszudrücken, sodass mir beim Lesen absolut nicht langweilig wird. Ganz im Gegenteil. Es ist immer wieder interessant seine Interviews zu lesen.