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?