Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage returns to the big screen this week as he reprises the role of Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Over the last few years we have really started to see Armitage's film career take off; The Hobbit trilogy is the biggest movie project for him so far.

Like most actors, he kicked off his acting career in TV back in 1995 with small parts in the likes of Boon, Cleopatra, Doctors and Casualty.

He would also make his big screen debut in This Year's Love in 1999, he followed that up with a small part in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

While he was finding his feet in both TV and film, he was also showing off his theatre skills with productions such as Hamlet, The Four Alice Bakers and Macbeth.

Throughout the noughties he really focused on TV work as he landed bigger and bigger roles in the likes of North and South, Between the Sheets and The Golden Hour.

But it was the role of Guy of Gisborne in the BBC adaptation of Robin Hood that introduced him to a mass audience.

Gisborne was a conflicted character who moved between being good and bad. Armitage stayed with the show until it ended at the end of the third series in 2009.

He went on to work on other BBC dramas including comedy Vicar of Dibley and Spooks.

Armitage joined the hit show Spooks in series seven as Lucas North; a man who had spent eight years in a Russian prison. He starred in the show until the end of season nine when his real identity was released.

While he has continued to work on TV and theatre projects in more recent years, but has taking on film roles.

He kicked that off with the role of Heinz Kruger in Captain America: The First Avengers, before landing the role of Thorin.

He took on the role of the first time last year in An Unexpected Journey. The movie was a box office smash when it was released as it went on to gross in excess of $1 billion at the global box office.

Now he is back for The Desolation of Smaug. The movie sees the journey of Bilbo, Thorin and the rest of the dwarves continue as they try to take back Ereborn.

However, the second film will see them come face to face with old foe Smaug; the dragon who took over their mountain and drove them out.

Into 2014 we are going to be seeing Armitage back on the big screen in Into The Storm. Directed by Steven Quale, the movie follows a group of students in the aftermath of a tornado.

Armitage is joined on the cast list by Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sumpter and Nathan Kress.

Armitage will also return to the role of Thorin for the final time with The Hobbit: There And Back Again.

Over the last few years Armitage has moved seamlessly between film, TV and theatre and enjoyed huge success. It is great to see him back on the big screen this week.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is released 13th December.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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