Richard Armitage reveals all about Obsession: 'Let's not be British about it'
The Netflix star has teased the "fatal attraction" behind his steamy new thriller Obsession.
By Lauren Morris
Published: Monday, 10th April 2023 at 9:00 pm

Richard Armitage is returning to Netflix for yet another big thriller, although it's not a Harlan Coben adaptation this time – instead, something much steamier.

The actor, who stars in Netflix's Obsession alongside Happy Valley's Charlie Murphy, has teased the "intense" drama, in which he plays William, a surgeon whose affair with his son's fiancée Anna (Murphy) becomes "a fatal attraction".

Speaking to this week's issue of Radio Times magazine, Armitage said that he wanted to avoid approaching the thriller with British "prudishness".

"I knew that it would be intense before I even read the script," he said. "Everyone was asking, 'Is this a temperature you’re comfortable with?' I said, 'Bring it on. Let’s not be British about this.'

"That prudishness is, I think, not cool. I love watching French movies where they’re more like: 'This is the body, this is the body moving in life, this is the body in intimacy…' This is a great opportunity to look at human interaction in a really intense way, which becomes a fatal attraction. It’s almost like a man who has experienced heroin and cannot walk away from it."

The actor, who is best know for his roles in The Hobbit, Hannibal, Spooks and The Stranger, added that he wants viewers to put themselves in William's shoes.

"I want the audience to put themselves in the shoes of that character and ask, ‘What choice would I make?'"

Based on Josephine Hart's novella Damage, Obsession follows William as he finds himself pulled into a self-destructive love affair with Anna, with her perspective at the forefront of the series.

Armitage and Murphy are joined in the cast by Extrapolations star Indira Varma, who plays William's wife Ingrid, and Ms Marvel's Rish Shah, who plays Anna's fiancé Jay, while Pippa Bennett-Warner, Sonera Angel, Anil Goutam and Marion Bailey also appear.

Obsession will stream on Netflix from Thursday 13th April.