Exhibit A: "The Hobbit" press conference, designed to please. I confess I haven't watched the entire conference, only the bits with the Armitage. And those bits, I understand, slayed some of the doubting and passionate Tolkien admirers. To wit:
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.Some savage breasts have been soothed a little. Respective upholders breathed a sigh of relief. Who ever knew that simply getting a film realised takes so much outreach and needs so much approbation in its process these days? I surely didn't.
I felt quite alienated by the Armitage's performance at the conference, because it hit every perfect note and point. It was a revelation in its canniness and intelligence. It was not so much a manipulation as an attempt to allay the fears of the Lord of the Rings/Tolkien fans out there.
If the Armitage strode in with a "testosterone charged lope", it certainly wasn't RA's but it does feed into the film stereotype. Dare I say then, it was acTing?
And what about his answers at that press conclave (provided by the wonderful and exceptionally generous bccmee in her video and transcription of the Armitage's replies)? I think a lot of it is self-explanatory.
Reporter: Can you tell us about yourself?
Richard Armitage: Me as a person? Would you like to be a little more specific? I’ve got 40 years to talk about. (Yeah, I'm older and more mature than I look.)
Reporter: Why do you want to play this role?
Various reports from fans of all stripes mention his regal quietness, his dignity, his "gravitas", his presence. He was an unassuming presence far different from the chattering masses. And most importantly, fans were blown away by The Voice- a deep, gravelly voice. As if this mellifluous meister speaks like this all the time. No, he doesn't.Richard Armitage: I just think it’s just a really amazing opportunity to take a character from a book that I was brought to as a child. I mean my first experience onstage was in a production of The Hobbit. (Sentimentality, nostalgia, he grew up with the book in a visceral way, just like the fans; he is a fan and he "gets" it, just like the rest of us).
....Richard Armitage: ....So it’s kind of been in my childhood very prominently so to come to it as an adult, a middle-aged man, and have another look at it is a brilliant opportunity. (I can act 'old'. Really!)
He also wore a youngish and trendy cool G Star black shirt whose short sleeves just happened to cut across his rather mountainous biceps, and his beard emphasised the chubby cheeked broadness and stockiness of the dwarvian race, I imagine. Even the haircut was rather butch, its colour and the beard's warm and sympathetic.
And he seems to have passed that audition.
I rest my case.
Still, in a round about way he did save the day for the organic, for the actor's craft, beyond artifice and I love him for it:
Reporter: Richard, you mentioned about papier mache Gollum. Are you looking forward to acting against green screens?
Richard Armitage: .... But also I think with this film in particular there’s enough creative genius in terms of the art department and the technological department but at the same time I think we’re going to get out there in nature and really experience this possibly more so than a purely technical film which is really exciting. It’s a good marriage of both I think. (I'm not crazy about the green screen but I can live with it.)
The Armitage 'loped' en scène, found his mark, and basically projected what Tolkien fans needed to see and hear. Kudos to him. I'm not really thrilled about it because I had hoped to still see and hear his old endearing and stimulating self but I am not sure when that, if ever, is going to happen. Well, it's a whole new ball game and I am not surprised he is up to the challenge. It's still a scrabble for him, though, isn't it?
In stark contrast, Martin Freeman, simply by virtue of his Hobbit-like look, in my opinion, can unleash a million "f" words into the mix, all the while being himself, and walk away with a stamp of tacit approval which was there even before he took the stage.
Irony of ironies: the Armitage's desire was to not get trapped into pleasing his fans, because there lies futility. He is not wrong. Yet, he steps upon the stage, pandering to the Tolkien crowd, aiming to please.
Or perhaps, more importantly, to win the Tolkien crowd over with his pleasing. Perhaps that is the difference, between his approach to his very own fans, and other fans out there. Where is the challenge now, perhaps, in love that is not hard won?
