After slipping into a semi-comatose state for half the day, I’ve been trying to reach the state unemployment office again. And yet again, no luck. I’m feeling a bit like banging my head against the nearest wall. However, my head is feeling reasonably well right now, so I am going to resist the impulse.
Besides, I have no health insurance so poor Benny would be left having to patch me up. OK, Pity Party over for now. More of the pretty, pretty man in various roles . . . enjoy.
We have our favorite RA heroes–sweet, sunny Harry K.; brave soldier, loving dad and savior of reporters and orphans, John Porter; courageous and enigmatic spy who endured eight hellish years in a Russian prison, Lucas North (John who???); stern yet fair Victorian mill owner and true romantic at heart, John Thornton and the shy and steadfast farmer, John Standring. (OK, Guy is my hero, too, but he’s sort of an anti-hero, you know . . . and he’ll get his turn.) And there are more good guys, like Dr. Track and Thorin, but there are always more posts. 😉
Richard has played some very sweet, gentle, loveable characters. Here are a few of them . . .
Well, talk about a lazy Sunday. Last night was one where neither of us rested well. My eyes were on an itching marathon–even the drops didn’t help much–and inclement weather was on the move in our direction. Between Benny’s fractured leg of last summer and my bum knee and still healing tailbone, we tend to “feel it in our bones.” And–we aren’t as young as we used to be, alas. Except at heart. 😉
We were just starting to slip into sleep this morning when–the weather radio siren sounded and the thunder rolled.
Ah well, at least we didn’t get the large hail and damaging winds that could have come with the line of thunderstorms. I napped off and on all day. As I said, lazy, lazy.
Holliday as Lucrezia Borgia. Isn’t she gorgeous? (photo courtesy of Showtime)
Looking forward to a new episode of Game of Thrones tonight, followed by the second series of Sherlock on Masterpiece Theatre–I love this updated twist on my favorite consulting detective–and later, a new ep of The Borgias with lovely Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia. Lots of intrigue, mystery and treachery tonight with several of RA’s former and current co-stars–Martin Freeman, Lara Pulver (not surprised to see “Izzie” as a dominatrix, LOL) and Holliday. In the end, all roads lead back to Richard Armitage and his amazing array of chaRActers.
We all know Richard wore a wig in his role as Monet in The Impressionists. (And he still managed to be gorgeous. Said wig did not diminish those eyes or that smile.)
But there has been some discussion about his disheveled curls as John Standring in Sparkhouse. A wig? A perm? Or Richard Armitage‘s natural hair texture? Let’s take a look.
Sweetie John with his shaggy sheepdog hair. The extra length could be enough to unleash the natural tendency to curl.
Looking at some of his earlier photos, it looks as if his hair definitely had curl in it. Hair product could also enhance that.
Richard at 22. There appears to be a lot of wave in his shoulder-length locks from his Cats days.
Another early publicity still. Looks like curls to me.
Lovin' the little corkscrew curl falling over his forehead. Again, it appears a little extra length means more curls in Mr. A's hair. Or did he get a perm?
RA in rehearsal for "The Four Alice Bakers." Looks as if his hair has tendency to wave/curl here.
Speaking from my own personal experience with my hair and that of my husband, the shorter it is, the straighter. Give it a little length and the natural wave really starts to appear. Add in hair product and/or heat and humidity and the curlier it tends to get. When my husband kept his hair short as required by the military, it looked pretty straight a la Porter. A couple of weeks ago before he got it cut, hubby’s hair was out-curling Sweetie John’s. In fact, he suggested he might start putting it up in curlers for the fun of it. 😉
Here as Sir Guy in "Robin Hood" we see Guy sporting nape curls. It's the same look we see on John Mulligan.
Richard Armitage at the 2010 Television BAFTAs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In this shot taken a couple of years ago with short hair that is still long enough to provide a bit of floppy fringe, it looks pretty straight. However, sometimes hair does not curl an equal amount all over the head. My hair tends to be straightish on top and curlier at temples and the nape of my neck. The same might be true of Richard’s hair, which also looks rather fine-textured.
I am thinking that is Richard’s real hair as Sweetie John. It appears to be his natural reddish-brown–and it doesn’t look “wiggy” as his Monet and “Shaggy Porte”r ‘dos did. One thing is for sure, the man is a chameleon with his hair, too.
So what’s your opinion?
A big, burly, awkward man with a tender heart and a steadfast one, John Standring, Yorkshire farmhand, has loved Carol, the daughter of his employer, for years. But the object of his affection and devotion only has eyes for Andrew. John’s near-crippling shyness and lack of social skills make it difficult for him to connect with others.
But when he has the opportunity to marry Carol and help her save Sparkhouse Farm, he takes it–even though he knows she isn’t really in love with him. “Never think there are things you can’t tell me,” John, a gentle man with a true heart of gold, says to Carol, who is damaged from years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.
Sweetie John–the steadfast, solid, reliable man who settles for second best. It’s hard not to love him and root for him to have a happily ever efter. The role of John Standring was a supporting one, but it was also a major breakthrough for Richard. He said it was the first role he auditioned for in character, and his transformation for this role is amazing. It’s hard to believe this is the same fellow who within a year of Sparkhouse played flirty-girty lothario Lee in Cold Feet.
the armitage effect 