Richard meeting fans at Comic-Con. Courtesy of cambear/RA Net.
Oh, yes, he gives me pleasure on a number of levels. The truth is, I don’t feel in the least bit guilty over my adoration, admiration and entire fangurl crush over Richard Crispin Armitage.
I can relate to Richard. He also came from a middle-class background, without the perks and privileges of the well-heeled upper class. He doesn’t have a college degree from a prestigious university as do some of his acting contemporaries. Doesn’t diminish him at all in my eyes.
He may be no intellectual, but then neither am I. I have no doubt, however, the man’s plenty smart. He’s a reader who keeps a stack of books by his bed. He also continues to blossom as a writer.
Richard puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into researching and preparing for his roles, reading background material and creating a backstory for his characters through detailed journals. He doesn’t mind going to scriptwriters and directors with his own ideas for the character and/or the production, either. And he throws himself into whatever is demanded of him, from horseback riding to weaponry skills to learning how to use a new head of hair to best advantage with a role (think of his extensions for S3 RH).
Richard practicing combat techniques with fellow dwarves for The Hobbit.
He puts his mind, heart and his soul into crafting each character, and it shows. Even when I hate what the scriptwriters are offering us–the downfall of Lucas North, for example–I cannot fault what he manages to bring to the screen. The man really can make a slk purse out of a sow’s ear.
I came to know him as an actor on the small screen–Robin Hood, Spooks and Strikeback, and all the DVDs of his other performances. But Richard also impresses on the big screen, as we have witnessed watching him blow audiences away with a magnetic, intense performance as Thorin, the charismatic, conflicted dwarf king without a throne, determined to reclaim his people’s homeland. A courageous warrior also dedicated to looking out for his two eager but inexperienced young nephews.
Richard is a detailed and consummate character actor inhabiting a handsome leading man’s face and physique. The fact his starmeter at IMBD shot from 68 up to 4 in a week is surely an indicator audiences are taking notice of his impressive performance on the big screen.
Of course, it’s not just his acting ability, considerable though it is, and his dedication to his craft, that make him so appealing to me. The fact he is blindingly handsome and devastatingly sexy doesn’t hurt one bit. Six feet, two-and-a-half (or three or–whatever) inches of long, lean, dark-haired, blue-eyed grown-up male with a dazzling smile is a welcome thing; but if all that male beauty possessed a huge ego, a self-absorbed, elitist spirit and a selfish, grasping nature, well, this blog wouldn’t exist.
Richard is described by those who know him as a man of integrity, a decent human being, sublime, self-effacing, quiet, unassuming, stoical, a true gentleman. It’s the good man I see shining through those blue eyes and those grins and smiles that cements my affection, admiration and respect for him. I do believe he’s what it says he is on the tin, as the saying goes. In a world full of B.S., I believe Richard Armitage is the real deal. He’s that nice, down-to-earth, hard-working boy next door who just happens to be drop-dead gorgeous and very bright and talented, too.
And when I say talented, I mean multi-talented. He dances, sings, plays several musical instruments, dabbles in painting, writes—and I am certain there are more abilities I just haven’t discovered yet. He can also build bookcases and lay flooring. He’s my sexy, Greek god-like DIY geek.
Speaking of geekiness . . . there is a certain goofiness about the man, a gorgeous nerdiness I find irresistible. He makes me smile. Makes me laugh. Makes me feel really good.
Richard letting out a big belly laugh during rehearsals for Vicar of Dibley.
He’s got a wonderful sense of humor and a deliciously naughty side under that quiet, gentlemanly exterior that I also adore. “Love on an Elevator,” indeed, Mr. A! As if you didn’t know what sort of thoughts that comment would elicit . . .
Richard Armitage inspires me, encourages me, teaches me, thrills me, moves me; he is the kindred spirit I’ve never met. He is my muse.
No, Richard is not my guilty pleasure. I don’t feel one bit of guilt over being an ardent Armitage aficionado.
And I am always ready for another serving.
All the shows are done now, we are pleased with results of DVD sales and also response of those watching themselves larger than life last night on the wall of the theatre, the sound pretty awesome coming through the theatre’s system. 
