Armitage: Dragon sickness felt real

Richard Armitage reprises his role as dwarf Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit sequel
17 DECEMBER 2013

Richard Armitage has joked that he didn't have to act out dragon sickness, because he experienced it with his Hobbit costume.

The actor reprises his role as dwarf Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's sequel, The Desolation Of Smaug, who is most prone to suffering from dragon sickness.

"That gives me dragon sickness, getting all the gear on," he quipped.

"When I was researching what dragon sickness might be like, I was like, 'It's going to be like drug addiction'... The body temperature raises, the heart beats faster and it's frenetic. I started putting the costume on and I thought, 'I don't need to act this. This is happening to me'."

Richard admitted he tried not to think too much about his "uncomfortable" outfit.

"It sounds like it was an ordeal, but I decided to try and put it aside so I could concentrate on having a good time playing this character," he explained. "It was mind over matter really. You can forget about how uncomfortable you are because he was so interesting. I didn't want to be thinking of an itchy, hot costume."

The 42-year-old said that filmmaker Peter couldn't hide his glee as he put the dwarves through their paces in the second film.

"I remember seeing Pete chuckling that particular day. It was as if he was putting the dwarves through every single possible test he could put us through. The glee and thrill in his eyes was really something else, that's all I'm saying!" he recalled.

But Richard enjoyed sitting in the river, adding: "As dwarves we spent the majority of the time overheating so to be immersed in quite cool river water was bliss. It was like going to dwarf spa."

:: The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is in cinemas now