…it pours. The Stay Close marketing machine has kicked into action. After yesterday’s video interview via Hello! Magazine, today Reader’s Digest follows up with a print interview. This is already available as a digital download via Amazon Kindle, and can be obtained as a print copy on the Reader’s Digest website. Advertised rather sensationally as “We chat to Richard Armitage, aka Hollywood’s shyest leading man, about his most memorable roles and the real reason he keeps his personal life private”, it doesn’t in truth provide that much new stuff. We get a look back on his career from childhood to switching from musical theatre to drama school; his stand-out roles (with some mistakes – he *has been* in other period pieces apart from NS); some thoughts on his method of method acting, as well as the affinity he felt with Ray in SC (“Ray also has quite an artistic brain and an artistic mind, which I related to and enjoyed.”) As for the revelations regarding why he keeps his private life private… well, he keeps the reasons rather private, too 😂. But I actually really like the simile he has chosen to explain it, not least because it is illustrated in the article with a yet unseen photo by An Le.
“A painter doesn’t paint a portrait, put[s] it on the wall and stand[s] in front of it. They get out of the way.”
Well, seen from that perspective, he is absolutely right. Mind you, I think the metaphor is slightly mixed, because the cult of celebrity is something that comes with TV/film acting, whereas it doesn’t so much with fine art. But I get his point, and it goes without saying that I believe in his right to an undisturbed and non-public private life.
Anyway, my thanks go to the kind “Northern Bird” @knittastically on Twitter for the screenshots of the article. For your convenience here:
As for the new picture… sorry, I couldn’t resist…
Guylty Pleasure 
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 I like this interview very much. I already boguht the digital copy but I’m tempted to by a physical copy too….
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Oh please do buy a physical copy. If I have time, I’ll go into town and search for them, too. I don’t want to order it by post – too expensive.
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Nothing groundbreaking (and dare I say I don’t wholly buy his reason for keeping stumm about his private life—he could just say he doesn’t want to share and that is fine, but I guess this sounds more sophisticated), but I always enjoy him talking about his art and a new photo is always nice.
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He may have convinced himself that he is keeping his private life under wraps – for his art’s sake. What he says makes sense. But it’s an argument based on a rather high-brow kunstbegriff. It raises the question whether other famous performers, who *do* allow glimpses of their private lives, in effect end up obscuring their art? So maybe what he says is more of an excuse than a reason… However, I still like the metaphor 😉
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The confidence of the writer to state North and South is his ONLY period drama. (Do people research? Do they know what it is?) It’s a good write up and the painting metaphor makes sense. Love An Le’s pictures.
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I sometimes wonder about the research that some interviewers do. You don’t even have to search much on the internet; you could just look at his IMDb page, or Wikepedia. It’s quite obvious that there are other period pieces in his catalog. Sigh.
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I really laughed with the photo!!! it’s perfect, that expression. Thank you for sharing the interview.
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It perfectly illustrates his anti-publicity stance 😂
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My caption for that new Le photo is: You. Follow me home. Now!
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I think we’d all like that to be true. Too bad it’s just the opposite. Follow my work but leave me alone.
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Ah. Yes. Wishful thinking 😂
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I think the man has a right to a private life and not be hounded. (Not that we hound him about it.)
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Mentioning Budapest and not the circus and the elephants???? Sacrilege!!! *lol*
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