Richard Armitage reveals that he could relate to the self-doubt of his character Thorin in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
The actor is one of the new faces that ventures to Middle Earth this week as he plays the leader of the dwarves in the new Peter Jackson movie.
And Armitage admits that he knew there was a responsibility to get this character right and it took him a while to believe that he could really do it.
Speaking to Flicks and Bits the actor said: "There is always building within him this paranoia that he's not a good enough leader, and that weighs him down. I have experienced that same feeling as an actor in this role."
"I was aware of taking on the responsibility of that character, so there was something I could latch onto there, as one of the people who loved The Hobbit book and had envisioned that character.
"It took me a while to be convinced that I could do it, it wasn't until I saw some sketches, this one particular pencil sketch... there was something about this character's eyes and the way that his hands are crossed, I thought, 'I think I can do this, I can pull this off'."
Armitage is joined on the cast list by Martin Freeman, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish and Aidan Turner while Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis reprise the roles of Gandalf and Gollum.
The role of Thorin is set to be the biggest movie role of Armitage's career to date after making his name in TV with Strike Back and Spooks.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released 13th December.
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