Richard Armitage

At 52 years old, Richard Armitage has this physical status:

Richard Crispin Armitage (born 22 August 1971) is an English film, television, theatre, and voice actor.

With his first leading role as John Thornton in the British television show North & South (2004), he gained acclaim in the United Kingdom.

Thorin Oakenshield, Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit, brought him international renown.

In Arthur Miller's stage production in The Crucible, Francis Dolarhyde, John Ferguson in the British TV drama Spooks, John Porter in the British TV drama Strike Back, Daniel Miller in the British TV drama Robin Hood, and Guy of Gisborne in the British TV drama Robin Hood.

In the Netflix version of Castlevania, Trevor Belmont appeared. Armitage first trained in theatre and dramatic Art (LAMDA), and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

When he discovered that leading stage actresses were going to actors with name recognition who could bring in patrons to full theaters, he went back to film and television.

Armitage returned to the stage in 2014 after twelve years as a principal actor in a major production.

He starred John Proctor in the critically acclaimed and deserved production of The Crucible at The Old Vic, and was given an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor.

When doing work on Robin Hood's television show, he was asked to record audiobooks for the first season of that series.

Armitage has produced several audiobooks and has appeared on television and radio shows and advertisements.

Early life and education

Armitage was born in Leicester, England, the younger son of Margaret, a secretary, and John Armitage, an engineer. Richard has a younger brother named Chris. He attended Huncote Community Primary School in Huncote, Blaby District, Leicestershire, and started secondary school at the local comprehensive school, Brockington College in Enderby.

Armitage continued his musical interests at Brockington, including playing the cello in school and local orchestras, as well as learning to play the flute. He successfully persuaded his mother to enroll him at Pattison College in Coventry, an independent boarding school specialising in the Performing Arts, by fourteen, so he could concentrate on drama and dance.

Armitage has expressed gratitude for Pattison College's lessons and opportunities, saying, "It... instilled in me a discipline that has kept me in good shape." "It's never to be late, to know your lines, and to be professional." By the time he finished school, he had acquired A Levels in music and English, as well as acting experience in local amateur and professional productions such as Showboat, Half a Sixpence, Orpheus, and Underworld (as Bacchus) and The Hobbit (as an elf) at Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre.

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Career

Armitage, who graduated from Pattison College in 1988, joined the Nachtcircus in Budapest for six months to obtain his Equity Card, a legal requirement for entertainment professionals to work in the United Kingdom at the time. He returned to the United Kingdom for a career in musical theatre, as an assistant choreographer to Kenn Oldfield and appearing in numerous shows, including the ensembles of 42nd Street, My One and Only, Nine, Annie Get Your Gun, and Cats, Admetus and Macavity. Armitage was also interested in acting in dramatic theatre productions, including The Real Thing, Six Degrees of Separation, and Death of a Salesman.

He began to doubt that musical theatre was the correct career path for him, so he enrolled in 1993 at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to further study acting. "I wanted to do something a bit more truthful than musical theater." It was a bit too dramatic for me, and it was all about being on stage and showing off. I was looking for something else, so I went back to drama school."

He returned to the stage as a supporting actor in Macbeth and The Duchess of Malfi, as well as Hamlet and Four Alice Bakers with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, following a string of small appearances in television and film after completing LAMDA's three-year course. Use Me As Your Cardigan, a French actor, starred in the Charm Offensive's production of Use Me As Your Cardigan in 2002.

Armitage made his first major television appearance in the BBC drama Sparkhouse in 2002, as John Standring in the BBC drama Sparkhouse. "It was the first time I attended an audition in character." It was a small job, but it was something I really got into... I couldn't go back. "I knew I had to approach everything the same way." He played support in the television shows Between the Sheets, Cold Feet (series 5), and Ultimate Force (series 2).

Armitage's first leading role as textile mill owner John Thornton appeared in Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South, in 2004. The director and producers took a gamble on a little-known actor to play their leading man. He was the first actor to audition for the role and the last person to be cast. North & South were a hit unexpectedly. As a result of a lot of chatter about him and his debut as the new "Mr. Darcy" (referring to Colin Firth's "Mr Darcy" who some regard as the definitive romantic leading man), the BBC message boards collapsed shortly after the telecast). Armitage did not expect John Thornton to play the ideal romantic leading man role and was taken aback by the response. Rather, he said he felt personally connected to the position as his father's relatives had been weavers. Thornton's dualism drew him to the story, according to him. "The contrast between the wealthy, almost monstrous, entrepreneur, and this kind of fragile boy is something that is exciting to see."

In one episode of Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Peter MacDuff appeared as Peter MacDuff in Macbeth in the BBC's ShakespeaRe-Told series, and as a recovering gambling addict. In ITV's The Impressionists, a medical drama based on the London Air Ambulance, he appeared as Claude Monet, a young Claude Monet, and as Dr Alec Track in The Golden Hour, a medical film based on the London Air Ambulance. In the independent film Frozen, his first major role in films was in the independent film Frozen.

Armitage appeared in the BBC series Robin Hood, which was shot in Hungary, in 2006. "You must find the source of the complaint within Guy in order to maintain Guy's personality." He's always fought between good and evil, between who he wants to be and who he really is. He may have been a good guy, but he's forever tied down by his fatal flaw: he wants glory at any cost." "I love playing him, but with a character like Gisborne, it's over." As he approached the third series, he said. If he isn't getting what he wants, whether it's power, wealth, or the girl, that is the most interesting." Robin Hood's third and final series debuted on March 28, 2009.

Armitage appeared in a two-part special of The Vicar of Dibley from 2006-07 as Harry Kennedy, the vicar's new love passion (and eventual husband). In 2007, he reprised his role in Red Nose Day. Ricky Deeming appeared in the detective drama George Gently starring Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby on April 8, 2007. He appeared in Miss Marie Lloyd's first husband, Percy Courtenay, on May 9, 2007, on a BBC Four show. He appeared in Agatha Christie's book Ordeal by Innocence as the character Philip Durrant.

Armitage played Lucas North in Spooks, which began in 2008 in the United Kingdom on October 27th. Armitage notes that the character, who served in a Russian jail for eight years, has a personable exterior but is psychologically impaired. "I love movies that feature a mix of action and good characters." "Why Lucas is so fascinating because I get to play someone with a complicated personality who goes out and wants to save the world." During the filming of series 7 Armitage, he allowed himself to be exposed to waterboarding for a flashback scene. Armitage's last film, series 9, was completed in July 2010.

Armitage appeared in BBC1's Moving On as John Mulligan on May 20, 2009.

In May 2010, Armitage's Strike Back (also known as Chris Ryan's Strike Back) for Sky1 was starring former SAS trooper John Porter. Armitage's main challenge of the role was to demonstrate how the character coped with being a trained killer with having a family and family life. "I was attracted to the story of a man who makes a decision under pressure and the resulting decision has a knock-on effect on his whole life." "He goes on a hunt for atonement despite the fact that it cost the lives of three of his relatives three people..." There's rage and injustice at work. It's like, "I did the right thing but with the wrong result." By the time Sky1 and Cinemax decided to produce a second series of Strike Back titled Strike Back: Armitage had committed to Project Dawn and was unable to continue in the series. However, he appeared as a guest star in the first episode to end John Porter's fate.

It was his role as John Porter that led to his appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger. In London, American casting agents discovered posters of him as John Porter. Despite being anonymous to them, they offered Heinz Kruger the job as a Nazi spy because he seemed to be the part. After filming wrapped on Spooks, series 9, Armitage accepted and shot his scenes in the fall of 2010. In July 2011, the film was released.

In the three-film version of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson revealed Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield on October 21, 2010. Principal photography in New Zealand ran from March 2011 to July 2012, divided into three filming blocks with breaks in between, and pick-ups were shot in the summer of 2013. All three films were released in December, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014. Armitage thought it was a great opportunity as he grew up reading the books. In a production of The Hobbit at The Alex Theatre in Birmingham, Coincidentally, one of his first stage appearances was playing an elf. Thorin's character was described as "somebody who had doubts and he feared," he says, and there was a gentle side to him and a more vulnerable side to him. Balin's appearance in Bag End displays the character's inner sensitivity and fear of loss, "failing where his father and grandfather failed as well."

Armitage had been filmed in Detroit, Michigan, filming "Into the Storm" from July to September 2012. With two teenage sons, Gary Fuller, a high school vice principal, and football coach, appeared. In August 2014, New Line's film was released.

Armitage began an eight-week shoot in Leeds, United Kingdom, as part of Bernard Hare's book Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew. He played "Chop" (the author's name), an ex-social employee, sober, and heroin user in Britain's lower class, who befriends the kinder, drunken young delinquent Urban. Armitage spoke about his attraction to this role: "It ticks a few boxes for me:" It's based on a really interesting piece of literature, but it's also based on real people who have been working with us on set." On Saturday, Urban and the Shed Crew premiered at the Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF).

In Arthur Miller's production of The Crucible, Armitage next appeared as John Proctor. The production ran from 21 June to 13 September 2014, and Yal Farber directed it and appeared in the round. The project attracted an unprecedented number of 5-star reviews, and it was a commercial hit. Armitage was named Best Leading Actor in a New Production of a Play by Broadway World: Actors 2014 and a Best Actor nomination for an Olivier Award for his work. Due to worldwide demand to see the film, Digital Theatre brought The Crucible to cinemas and for digital download. It was shown at cinemas in the United Kingdom and Ireland on December 4 and 7, 2014, as well as further screenings in other targeted countries in February and March 2015. The film was not allowed to be shown in North American theaters due to copyright problems. On March 17, 2015, the digital theatre made the digital download available worldwide.

Armitage revealed in a September 2014 interview that he would film King Oleron in Alice Through the Looking Glass in London. In May 2016, the film was released.

Armitage spent four weeks filming Sleepwalker in the greater Los Angeles area in October 2014. Armitage plays Dr. Scott White, a senior MD at a sleep research center, in this psychological thriller. On February 4, 2017, the book was published.

Armitage was portrayed by DeLaurentiis Company in the television version of Hannibal's script and co-produced by Bryan Fuller on January 13, 2015. Dolarhyde is a serial murderer, a character type Armitage had a keen interest in portraying. He filmed the series in Toronto, Canada, from January to April, and the series aired from 4 June to 29 August 2015. Armitage appeared in the last six episodes of season 3, receiving widespread acclaim, and a number of award nominations, including two wins.

Armitage joined his fellow Pilgrimage castmates who had just started filming in Connemara, Ireland, two weeks before wrapping on Hannibal. He plays Sir Raymond De Merville, a 13th-century French Norman who is set on deposing a monks teaming up a monk escorting a sacred relic from Ireland to Rome. The cast and crew continued to film in Ardennes, Belgium, one week earlier than the film wrap at the end of May.

Armitage would appear in Clearance, the first English language film directed by Finnish director Aku Louhimies, and it would film in South Africa in November 2015. It's a drama about a kidnapped mining expert named Ray (Armitage) and his pregnant mother (Naomie Harris) who have been kidnapped in South Sudan.

Armitage's next projects, according to a June 2015 interview, include an Edith Wharton film and a true Irish tragic drama. The Irish drama, according to per agent David Higham, is most likely to be the Irish drama.

Armitage announced on July 12, 2015, he was about to start filming Brain on Fire in Vancouver, Canada. Tom Cahalan, the protagonist in Susannah Cahalan's sudden descent into madness and the eleventh-hour diagnosis by one doctor, was given by subpoena by various news outlets. Filming began on July 13, 2015. On September 14, 2016, Brain on Fire premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Armitage's Daniel Miller was the lead role in Berlin Station, the original spy series for Epix. His character, a cerebral analyst from Langley, is a newly minted undercover CIA officer charged with Berlin's discovery of a mole. The series premiered on Epix in Berlin from November 2015 to April 2016, with some additional filming in the Canary Islands.

Armitage was cast as Kenneth in the American premiere of Love, Love, Love by playwright Mike Bartlett on July 13, 2016. Armitage's first leading role in a dramatic performance on an American stage is love, passion, and passion. The intimate Laura Pels Theater in New York City ran from September 22nd to December 16, 2016.

Armitage co-starred in the heist comedy Ocean's 8 (2018).

Armitage had joined the cast of Julie Delpy's film My Zoe in February 2017. In it, he would play James, the ex-husband of Delpy's character Isabelle. Their unhappy marriage may be over, but they are still in touch with each other as they co-parent their daughter Zoe. Isabelle takes responsibility for her own family's unintended death as tragedy strikes this fractured family. Armitage appeared on The Lodge in February 2018, which premiered in early February. In Netflix's latest mystery thriller miniseries The Stranger, which is based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same name, Armitage plays Adam Price. Rotten Tomatoes has rated the series as 86 percent.

Armitage made his first appearance in a video game in 2022, as Daemon Prince Be'lakor in Creative Assembly's real-time strategy game Total War: Warhammer III. Armitage's debut novel, Geneva, a thriller, was published by Audible in October that year. Armitage and former Spooks co-star Nicola Walker narrate the audiobook.

Armitage first began to voice work while on the television show Robin Hood in 2006. Armitage had requested Armitage to record the audiobook versions of the first four episodes of series one when the BBC was releasing novels. Armitage has also done a significant amount of voice work in recent years, including reading poetry for various radio stations and starring Robert Lovelace in BBC Radio 4's production of Clarissa: A History of a Young Lady in April 2010. Many audiobooks have been released, including six based on BBC's Robin Hood, Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North, three Georgette Heyer books for Naxos AudioBooks (Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle, Venetia, and The Convenient Marriage), and Prince of Denmark, Prince of Denmark, David Copperfield (Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle, Isborn), Robert Hood's The Lords of the Prince of the Prince of Naxo a Novellavised Home From Hell, Empire's Children, Too Poor for Posh School, The Great Sperm Race, Forest Elephants: Rumble in the Jungle, Surgery School, and Elsa: The Lioness That Changed the World He has narrated television documentaries such as Homes from Hell, Empire's Children, Too Poor for Posh School. He narrated an episode about the Royal Navy's HMS Ark Royal in 2011. You Cannot Be Serious, and the Fraud Squad were both academic units. He has also done voiceovers for several television and radio advertisements, and lead actor Trevor Belmont appeared in Netflix's animated film Castlevania.

Armitage was hoping to be involved in a Richard III drama. Armitage was born on the 70th anniversary of Richard III's assassination of Bosworth Field, where he was killed, "I think it is a great story, a socioeconomic drama, a love tale, and a dynastic tragedy." He believes that the story has the potential to be told as a twenty-episode miniseries. Since 2010, a script has existed since 2010, and "a lot of people [are involved] are involved [in making it], but there is no one that will step on the gas."

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