Richard C. Armitage Quotes & Sayings

#1. When I told my mom I was going to audition for 'The Hobbit,' she said, 'Well, you've always loved Tolkien.' And she was right.

Richard C. Armitage

#2. I confess I've got a yearning to go to Los Angeles, but I can't work out if it is because a lot of British actors seem to go or because there's this perception that the bottom has fallen out of British drama, so therefore, it's the place to head for.

Richard C. Armitage

#3. You can't reject anything in your life as an artist. Everything has its use.

Richard C. Armitage

#4. To survive in a profession like this, you have to have absolute discipline and commitment, and I did not quite have it for musical theater.

Richard C. Armitage

#5. I was in a production of 'Macbeth.'

Richard C. Armitage

#6. I have a visual mind, so when I read a book, I get an instant picture in my head and it's very clear.

Richard C. Armitage

#7. You fight for certain roles, and you realise they're being filled by television and film actors, because theatre is constantly fighting for survival and they need names and faces and ticket sales.

Richard C. Armitage

#8. I wouldn't want a tattoo at all. They're difficult to cover up.

Richard C. Armitage

#9. The interesting roles have only come since I got into my 30s. But I didn't know that was going to happen.

Richard C. Armitage

#10. You can spend a bit of yourself when you give yourself to a character. At the end of a job, you have to remind yourself who and what you are.

Richard C. Armitage

#11. I'm looking forward to getting fat and old.

Richard C. Armitage

#12. The narrative that Peter Jackson has put into 'The Battle of the Five Armies,' it stands alone as a film. Rather than just finishing off the story, it's like a whole new adventure all of its own. I'm very excited about it.

Richard C. Armitage

#13. Since real spies are so good, you never really know what actual spying is. But I do think spying is a lot more dangerous than we are led to believe.

Richard C. Armitage

#14. Some of the mail I've had has been weird. When I played Guy of Gisborne, a woman crocheted a mini-version of me.

Richard C. Armitage

#15. My instruction to my parents is that I would rather they enjoy their retirement than leave me anything when they go. I am much happier watching them enjoying life.

Richard C. Armitage

#16. Tolkien made dwarf sign language because, you know, it's too loud to talk in the mines.

Richard C. Armitage

#17. I try to keep at a non-obsessive level of fitness. It's not about looking great, it's about just feeling good. So I do a lot of yoga. Bikram just blows my mind. It's mental as well as physical; if I don't train, I get very depressed.

Richard C. Armitage

#18. I'd like to act in a film without special effects.

Richard C. Armitage

#19. People get to know me slowly and over the course of time. I'll probably still be a newcomer when I'm 60.

Richard C. Armitage

#20. I never like to go out of character when filming starts. I fear that if I do, I might not be able to pick it up again.

Richard C. Armitage

#21. Small, slow growth is the best I expect from an investment. I'm a real saver: frugal - like my parents.

Richard C. Armitage

#22. I think that internal conflict works very well, because, after all, all the best drama is fuelled by conflict.

Richard C. Armitage

#23. My mum will not speak above a low whisper in public because she doesn't want to draw attention to herself.

Richard C. Armitage

#24. Once you don't smile on film, they say, 'Let's have that bloke who doesn't smile.'

Richard C. Armitage

#25. I think insanity is the hardest thing to play.

Richard C. Armitage

#26. I'm not interested in building wealth, which is kind of naive and probably frowned on, living in America. It's something that people don't necessarily understand, but if I die poor, I die poor.

Richard C. Armitage

#27. Whatever I lack in talent I have in stamina.

Richard C. Armitage

#28. I don't really like making too much of a statement with what I'm wearing.

Richard C. Armitage

#29. I'd like a bit of a crack at some kind of anarchic comedy, but whether or not I'm skillful enough at it all, we'll see.

Richard C. Armitage

#30. I read everything that Tolkien wrote, and also read biographies of him. I was fascinated by his experiences in World War I, which includes the loss of life of some of his very, very close friends. I think he writes about that a lot in 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings.'

Richard C. Armitage

#31. I was an estate agent for three years. That was pretty grim.

Richard C. Armitage

#32. If you're used to being a maverick, then people don't get surprised when you start acting strangely.

Richard C. Armitage

#33. Often you find the character through the things they say. How they talk about other people, how they describe themselves - which is very rare.

Richard C. Armitage

#34. Tolkien was, I believe, writing about his experience in the First and Second World Wars, where he would have spent a lot of time without any female contact. He was part of the fellowship of men who went to war, and I think, really, that's what he's writing about.

Richard C. Armitage

#35. I have an accountant, obviously, because I'm self employed, and I use an independent financial adviser. I trust my accountant because we have worked together for a long time now.

Richard C. Armitage

#36. I've become one of those actors who find it difficult to say 'no' when things are offered.

Richard C. Armitage

#37. I'm probably not very good at rom-com, being funny on demand; I'll leave that to the comedians.

Richard C. Armitage

#38. I think if I had come out of drama school and been an instant Hollywood superstar, I would be taking long, leisurely holidays.

Richard C. Armitage

#39. I didn't become an actor because I thought I'd make lots of money.

Richard C. Armitage

#40. I do believe in pensions.

Richard C. Armitage

#41. There's a very strong force in Tolkien's characters.

Richard C. Armitage

#42. I kind of got lost down a road of TV and film, so it's great to come back to theatre.

Richard C. Armitage

#43. Light, trivial comedy does not appeal - it is not something I go to see.

Richard C. Armitage

#44. Te Papa Museum is brilliant.

Richard C. Armitage

#45. I think most five-foot-two people would be quite offended if they were to be called dwarves.

Richard C. Armitage

#46. Personally, I'm not interested in getting more money for what I do; I'm just interested in more money being put into the production.

Richard C. Armitage

#47. Give me a character that has an heroic quality, and I'll go there.

Richard C. Armitage

#48. Monet was like a conductor. He painted with quite a straight arm and used bold strokes.

Richard C. Armitage

#49. When you already have a following, people are more likely to employ you.

Richard C. Armitage

#50. I've never been that cute kid that was forgiven for being naughty.

Richard C. Armitage

#51. In school, I was a beanpole with a nose I hadn't grown into.

Richard C. Armitage

#52. It's bloody annoying being shy. I'll spend a whole evening at a party asking everyone else about themselves. I'm not being self-deprecating; it's because I'm too shy to talk about myself. So people come away from the evening actually having learnt nothing about me.

Richard C. Armitage

#53. I speak some dwarvish.

Richard C. Armitage

#54. Everyone loves a good baddie.

Richard C. Armitage

#55. It is possible to work out of New York on film and television and still not lose your connection to theater.

Richard C. Armitage

#56. I'm not a massive fan of 3D. I've seen some good 3D, and I've seen quite a lot of bad 3D. I think if a film is created for the shock effect of 3D, then it's a certain type of film that I'm not massively bothered about.

Richard C. Armitage

#57. I've done an awful lot of skiing all over Europe: I've done Italy, Austria, France. I skied loads in New Zealand - I did pretty much every ski slope I could find.

Richard C. Armitage

#58. I think my fighting skills have certainly been improved by working with Peter Jackson.

Richard C. Armitage

#59. I did quite a lot of menial jobs. I was a waiter, an inventory clerk touring round properties listing cups and saucers, and a laserquest marshal.

Richard C. Armitage

#60. As an actor, you're like, 'Yeah, I want that phone call from Peter Jackson saying, 'You're my first choice for Thorin Oakenshield.'

Richard C. Armitage

#61. It fills me with dismay sometimes when you look at the scripts that do come to you that are primarily focused on violence. There are so many other things to play around with.

Richard C. Armitage

#62. You know, to an extent, Method acting feels occasionally lazy.

Richard C. Armitage

#63. I can't bear shopping. I can choose clothes for my characters, but not for myself. I've got no dress sense. Or I've lost it.

Richard C. Armitage

#64. I have been to the theater more since I have lived in New York than I ever really did in London working on a television show.

Richard C. Armitage

#65. I'm a late developer in everything. I have a fast mind and fast metabolism, and I'm an intense worker, but in terms of life development, I'm way behind.

Richard C. Armitage

#66. Do people really think that about my nose? I spent my whole life hating it, so it's amusing that people like it!

Richard C. Armitage

#67. I think that when Tolkien created Gollum and the ring, he even expressed in his biography that he never really knew what he created until he went back and looked at it.

Richard C. Armitage

#68. I feel like my imagination was crafted by Tolkien. He seemed to tap into that childhood intrigue of secret doors and hidden worlds.

Richard C. Armitage

#69. You've got to have baddies that you can boo.

Richard C. Armitage

#70. I know what Twitter is; I don't use it. I don't use Facebook, so luckily, it does zero to my ego.

Richard C. Armitage

#71. Being thought of as sexy makes one employable, but it's not going to last forever, so I try not to think about it. It's like something that exists outside of me.

Richard C. Armitage

#72. I wouldn't even dare to sing like Ed Sheeran.

Richard C. Armitage

#73. I'm not much of a show-off.

Richard C. Armitage

#74. I don't think actors need to go on pedestals. I don't buy it.

Richard C. Armitage

#75. Adults will not necessarily laugh at the same thing as their children.

Richard C. Armitage

#76. The scariest stunt I've ever done was on 'Captain America.' We were doing some underwater sequence. I was in a submarine, and Chris Evans had to break the glass, and the water had to fill up quickly in the submarine.

Richard C. Armitage

#77. People like continuity, and the good old cliffhanger every week is something they enjoy. I enjoy it - I don't want to dip into just one episode when I turn on the TV.

Richard C. Armitage

#78. I am just not a water baby. I can swim, but I just don't.

Richard C. Armitage

#79. I can work hard and be disciplined like a soldier, but I could never reach their level of fitness.

Richard C. Armitage

#80. Someone told me a woman bought a dog so she could take it to the same park where I go running, but I'm hoping that's rubbish.

Richard C. Armitage

#81. I come from very conservative parents, and we weren't particularly wealthy, but we were comfortable.

Richard C. Armitage

#82. I have a bit of pride, which is always my downfall.

Richard C. Armitage

#83. I want to be strong enough to cope with the roles, but I don't want to be cast as the guy that takes his shirt off.

Richard C. Armitage

#84. I suppose I'm a bit mean. My face on camera doesn't lend itself to happy nice guys. I think it's just that my bone structure looks menacing.

Richard C. Armitage

#85. Trying to please everyone can be very hard, but, like 'Shrek' or 'The Simpsons,' 'Robin Hood' manages to entertain adults and children at the same time, but in different ways.

Richard C. Armitage