RA-NDOM THOUGHTS : BEARDED, SMILING, THORIN IS READY TO LEAD THE QUEST

Incredibly glad to see you, Mr Armitage

Yesterday afternoon after reading about THE MAGIC IN THE HOBBIT  , I fell into a strange puzzled mood,  trying to figure out  how Richard Armitage would look  as Thorin Oakenshield in my mind. The  leaving of  director Del Toro seemed a lucky escape,  I thought, since

Instead of shooting in a real forest, del Toro says he wanted to shoot amid artificial trees that mimicked the drawings in Tolkien's book. That revelation and his departure will probably be a belated relief to the tourism industry. Other ideas included an armour-plated troll that could curl into a ball of metal plates. Dwarf Thorin  to be played by British actor Richard Armitage and likely to be The Hobbit's equivalent of Viggo Mortensen in the heroic man-crumpet department  was to have antler-like horns sprouting from his helmet.

Of course , everyone is ready to see beyond the surface when it comes to their beloved and  we would corageously bear a kingly beard disguise and some more hair,  but I was really worried about the ...antler-like horns sprouting from his helmet.

Herne the Hunter? No, thanks.
Then, last night , just when I was on the point of  turning  the tv on to see Richard's John Porter in STRIKE BACK, episodes 3-4,  on  FX -  the Italian satellite channel  airing the series these days - my always very well informed friend K/V warned me about the possibility to follow the Press /Media conference of  THE HOBBIT cast  live and there I was, both trying to work at the completion of my lesson plans for today and  with an eye to the updates appearing in real time on The Dominion Post . It was 11 p.m. in Italy but 10 a.m in New Zealand and already 11th February ! Well... the eye on the updates, became both eyes , and I got really distracted,  when  the first pictures started peeping from the site,  completing my notes or filling in my forms was definitely impossible!
Other pictures arrived, one by one,  little by little and ...the end of it was ... I  went to bed, reassured ( No antler-like horns sprouting from his helmet!) satisfied,   rather excited, with my tasks roughly completed but ... after  1 a.m.! Did I manage to sleep? Yep! Did I have sweet dreams? Yep! Handsome dreams, gorgeously bearded, with and impressive deep voice and stunning stage presence. Was I decently in me this morning once at work ? ...Mmm... Not exactly.

I like it a lot when RA bends his head like that and looks that absorbed...

Twinkling eyes and huge smile. What a pleasure to see him like that!

Jokes apart. I was and am so  glad we all could have a glimpse of how fit and relaxed Richard  is .in far New Zealand .  We have always seen him interviewed alone, face to face with his interviewer , so maybe it was strange to see him at the centre of that stage ,  one of many,  between the protagonist of the film and one of the pretty faces in the cast, focused on what was happening and said around him,  in control and relaxed, but still and silent most of the time. You, like me, didn't miss a single move , I bet, but it seems also others noticed his magnetic charm. The same people who expressed their perplexity for  Peter Jackson's choice of RA as Thorin. In fact,  I found  a very appreciative statement about Richard's presence at the conference on the same fansite http://www.theonering.net/ that had previously declared that

...the biggest controversy among fans with the casting of The Hobbit has to be the casting of Richard Armitage as Thorin... certainly not "grim-faced" as Tolkien described his dwarfs.

 Now they say:

 "Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas. He walked into the conference with a kind of testosterone charged lope. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble holding the audience’s attention." (from Thirteen  singing dwarves and a very funny hobbit)

Happy to hear it, guys. May I say,  at last ? And you haven't seen him as Thorin,  yet! Just wait on ...
If you haven't seen anything from the Hobbit conference, have a look at least at this bit with Richard's words , at least. It sounds as if  he is creating a new voice  for Oakenshield, even deeper than Gisborne's. Listen to how deep he can go with his extraordinary voice...

Richard Armitage Interview from bcc mee on Vimeo.

I had already read about his acting on a stage as an Elf in the Hobbit as a child, but listening to him recalling that first experience and reflecting on the great chance he has now to be in this film adaptation was touching. But why didn't he want to tell us about his 40  (not yet!) year's experience as a human being?  We would have gladly listened to him! Joking again,  and  wondering ... why journalists mostly ask silly, very silly,  questions?
Tell us something more about yourself?!? Do you think you are suited for the role?!?  Dear lady journalist, you could have done better.  I'll forgive you only because you were probably anxious and distracted by that muscle show off and those blue eyes. I can assure you, you can count on pretty good  working brain and great sensitivity when it comes to RA and you could have dared ask him tougher (more interesting?) questions.

Do you really want me to tell you about myself?

The 13 merry dwarves and the funny hobbit look like having a great time. They've been there together at the Hobbit camp for 4-5 weeks now,  horse-riding, preparing  the stunts, working on ancient dialects. Filming will start on March 21st and will go on for months. I hope we will hear more about their adventures soon.

RA playing hide and seek?

Relieved. " It is over, at last", he seems to think.

It is Friday, my friends, as in the old good times of my RA Fridays. Just by chance. Yesterday happened to be the right day to stir my  RA-NDOM thoughts and this is why I'm here just today. Pics, news, videos from the Hobbit Conference were an overdose of stimuli  as well as the  confirmation from Sky 1 that they still want  Richard Armitage as John Porter in Strike Back 2.  Though they introduced two  new  lead characters, we will have John Porter back. How much of him, it is not said.  Have a look at this announcement on Sky 1 site.
This week has also given us all waiting for Captain America -The First Avenger trailer, the chance to have a look at what it will be like. Just a quick glimpse at Heinz Kruger in the submarine. A precious fraction of a second.  

RA-ndom Thoughts over.  I wish you all a very good weekend! MG

The video is from bccmee's Vimeo Channel  

Pictures from http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/