RA FRIDAY - READY FOR JOHN PORTER?

Will Mr Armitage succeed in conquering the male audience his new modern drama is addressed to ? Will he manage to make them forget his being  considered a heartthrob? Because Mr Armitage's strategy in choosing roles lately has given many of us this impression. He wants to get rid of  the cliches attached to his career so far. The new Mr Darcy, the heartthrob, the bloke sent by Heaven and  so on ... We, all of us , who met and started admiring his talent as John Thornton in North and South, will keep our fingers crossed for him and his STRIKE BACK and will wish him the best of luck and great success.

...Get rid of the clichés but not of us, though!  Mr Armitage should know what he has caused in our lives since he has, by chance, entered them from a TV screen. He should know his faithful admirers have undergone radical changes in their tastes, habits and even attitudes  following him. They are flexible, very curious and patient, and they adore to widen their horizons. He will not get rid of his ... loyal "army" so easily. Chris Ryan - the author of the best selling novel on which this new drama is based - has never had so many female readers, for example. So, I imagine many of them will also see the six episodes of this action drama with their partners/husbands or alone.

I don't want to sound self-centred but I 'll give you an example of  how much a sensible ordinary woman , always by the book, rather rational and reserved, has  changed since she started following RA's career. If it is not clear I'm going to tell  you about myself.

I hate hammering advertising. I hate advertising in general. I feel it as invasive, as a sort of brainwashing my dignity and my independent will totally abhor. Why do I not only accept but even appreciate this advertsing campaign? Why do I, on the contrary, thank God for all this advertising stuff around the new  drama from British Sky 1? Why do I stare in admiration at the photo of the cast arriving at the Premiere (April 15th )?  I'm quite unrecognizable to myself . You know who is to blame for all this! I'm even a bit angry with my new self, the silly one, betraying the other's deepest and more firm convictions!    But what can I do, I must forgive her. She is really interested in the ...product. Sound schizofrenic? Maybe I AM starting suffering from a form of dissociation.
So, what I want to say is ... do you think his admirers - including me -  will be discouraged by the fighting , the explosions, the chasing or torture scenes in Strike Back? I don't think so.

All of you will have heard of  Sky1 Strike Back Premiere held yesterday afternoon. Richard Armitage left the set of Spooks 9 to be at View West End, London. While he  smiled at the photographers, hugged and joked with his colleagues, answered the reporters' questions, and seemed to have real fun , on the forums and sites RA dedicated pics and news came out one after another. Enthusiastic comments all over. The show business machine, the red carpet thing, the least interesting part in RA's job - to me, at least. But I find impossible not to get involved. He was there yesterday and  I wanted to see if he looked well (seems tired , doesn't he?), safe and sound, as fit and gorgeous as usual. So I joined the chorus of "Awwww"! and "I wish I was there"

Are you ready to see our lovely and caring Harry J. Kennedy transformed into a war machine? Broody millowner in love, John Thornton - still competing with Mr Darcy in many hearts -  transformed into a  tough and rough soldier in action ? I bet many of you are and can't wait for that!  May 5th is near, luckily. But only for British audience. The others we'll have to wait for the DVD released in June.

Anyhow, don't expect simply a Rambo all muscles and rage, Richard's John Porter will have a soul and a compelling background story .

Richard himself  - as he usually loves doing - underlines the complex human aspect of his character in a short  interview he released (you can listen to and watch it HERE or HERE) :

""He (John Porter) starts off as somebody that’s absolutely black and white, by the book, top of his field and then it starts to fall apart. He makes an error of judgement - it’s seen as an error of judgement by the people he works for- and it falls out as ending his career. He goes on a journey of atonement looking for the reasons why that happened, within himself, and in the world that he’s working in, because he always believes he made the right judgement."

I'm ready for John Porter. What about you?

new SB trailer

STRIKE BACK OFFICIAL SITE

Strike Back at Imdb

My previous posts about STRIKE BACK

1. My review of Chris Ryan's novel

2.Richard Armitage Strikes Back : One More John 

(including names and photos of the cast)

3. I know, I know, it's not Friday...