For Charlotte & fellow RA beard lovers . . . hirsute goodness

I heard from Charlotte Hawkins via Twitter the other day and she greatly admires the lovely background photo of our Richard. Obviously, it is a favorite of mine. He looks so suave and handsome in his hot pink shirt, its hue bringing out the color of that tempting lower lip. There is a slight intriguing furrow in his brow, lush lashes attracted displayed on those downcast eyes as he adjusts his tie with his beautiful hand (honestly. How can one human being have so many attractive physical features?)

And there’s the beard. Charlotte loves the beard, as do many of us.  I think even some of the Anti-Beard Contingent  have grown fond of the Bearded Beauty. Honestly, I love Richard’s looks in every phase: long hair, medium, short, clean-shaven, stubble, light and heavy and now the beard.  I’ve gotten so accustomed to him wearing those whiskers it will be an adjustment to see him clean-shaven/stubbled again, as if meeting an old and long unseen friend (“Why, hello, gorgeous jawline! Lovely to see you again . . .”) The man can rock so many different looks so very well.

I suspect the beard, like his darker hair color, will come and go and change as required for future roles. I confess I would be tickled pink to see him with the S3 Guy hair and his current beard. And maybe, just a teeny weeny bit of Guyliner? Masculine beauty to marvel at.

I am looking forward to seeing Mr. A on the big screen in a few months, with his flowing Thorin locks complete with those fetching little braids and his beard. He is going to be one handsome and regal dwarf king.  And I am loving playing with RA’s distinctive beauty in Photoshop, including his beardy goodness.  Ah, with Mr. A, it’s ALL good.  Beauty and charm and that natural elegance for all seasons.

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I’m feelin’ the need for some Sir Guy . . .

 

A villain we can relate to: Richard’s shades of grey

I was reading through some reviews of the movie Something Borrowed earlier and this comment by it_director jumped out at me in reference to the loathsome character played by Kate Hudson, supposedly the best friend of the heroine of the piece, played by Ginnifer Godwin:

“Yes, you need a villain, it helps make a story, but the best villains are people we can relate to.”

And I was working on this piece of fanart with John Mulligan at the time–well, the words seemed perfect for the sort of bad guys Richard gives us. Forget Christian and his all-over-the-map emotions in 50 Shades–give me Richard Armitage‘s beautifully, subtly nuanced and carefully crafted characters. No two-dimensional cardboard cutout villains, or for that matter, no boring, bland one-note good guys.

Richard looks for the good in the bad guys, and the bad in the good guys. He recognizes we all have our light and dark side, our strengths and weaknesses, our heroic and shameful moments. He delivers humanity to us in his performances, and that is part of what makes them so very compelling.

 

He keeps us guessing, he makes us stop and think; he touches our hearts and fires our imaginations.  Even when the script is dodgy, he makes it somehow believable.  Honestly, if Richard hadn’t been playing the role of Lucas/Bateman I think the whole ninth series might have been laughed off the screen.

(Oh, and by the way. Something Borrowed is not on my recommended list.  It seems to me Kate Hudson has ended up in a lot of mediocre movies. This was one more. There are some good performances, but too many wishy-washy and “morally fluid” characters for my tastes and the film seems to go on forever.)

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• Richard Armitage loves the baddies. And he keeps me from hating them. (thearmitageeffect.wordpress.com)

A Blue Monday post: Baby’s got blue eyes

I’ve always liked blue eyes. I was surrounded by them growing up in a singularly blue-eyed family, so I guess blue eyes make me feel at home.

Tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed men are my cuppa tea.  Married one, the love of my life. Have a mad, passionate crush on another one.

A man with an amazing pair of expressive, beautiful, eloquent blue eyes that are more changeable in color than my own (which take detours into grey and green, but never khaki!).  Pensive eyes, sleepy eyes, sorrowful eyes, keen eyes, eyes that plead and query and smoulder.

 

 

Sleepy, dreamy blue eyes with lids at half-mast. Irresistible.

 

 

 

Lucas’s blue eyes-intelligent,  sensitive, wary, the eyes of a man who has seen too much suffering in his lifetime. Unforgettable eyes.

 

The tough soldier’s eyes soften at the thought of his sweet little girl as he sends her a kiss from far away, the warmth of his feelings evident.

 

 

Those eyes . . .

 

Kohl-rimmed eyes. Smouldering, sexy and dangerous. Oh, Sir Guy . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard and his work: a miscellany of art & thoughts

Those beautiful eyes. The close-up of Richard taken from the DVD extras for Spooks S9. He displays an amazing eloquence with his eyes alone, doesn’t he?

Even after becoming “one of us,” as Robin referred to him, Sir Guy was still the odd man out, the outsider that wasn’t exactly embraced with open arms by the outlaws.  I suspect Richard’s experiences of feeling like an outsider in his youth helped him capture Sir Guy’s loneliness and his vulnerability.  I kept wanting desperately for someone to be nice to Guy. At least he had, albeit all too briefly, Meg as his champion. And I found myself warming to Robin-finally–as he did extend the olive branch to his “brother in arms.”

Well, many of us DO love to see those hands in action and/or watch him eat . . . if I were to share a meal with him, I fear I would be too busy trying to keep my eyes off his hands and mouth in action to eat my meal. Hmmm. If I could have dinner with RA often enough, maybe I would lose weight! 😉

It certainly had to brighten Katie’s day to look up and see her handsome hero bearing flowers and wearing that lovely smile. It seemed only natural for me to give Katie a role in helping John Porter in Truce. As for Porter–well, could he have been any more perfect? Not with Richard playing the role.

Oh, does the man know how to smoulder. I read a review for a new movie featuring Zac Efron and the critic said one problem with the romance part of the film was Efron “really doesn’t know how to smoulder.” Maybe he needs to take lessons from Richard Armitage.

I love how pensive he looks here. I think he is a man who gives a lot of thought to his roles and his responses when interviewed. His intelligence and depth shines through. There’s a lot going on beneath that handsome exterior.