One Month of Blogging!

As of yesterday, The Richard Armitage Fan Blog has been around for 1 month! Thank you to all of those who have commented, contributed, or simply dropped by for a glance. Also, a big thanks to those who have added this link to their own sites as well~ it is greatly appreciated.

It has been a blast posting things and meeting new people online who share my admiration for the talented and
drool-worthy RA. Please continue to stop in for a visit! Remember, any comments/suggestions are welcome.

I'd like to draw your attention to some new additions to the blog. There is an "Enjoyable Blogs" section on the right panel underneath "Other Sites Worth a Look." All of these sites are dedicated to either RA or period movies/literature. If you have an RA site or blog and would like me to add your link here, please leave a comment or send an email.

Keep on keepin' on... and here's to more to come! :)

Lucky Leading Ladies

To go along with our most recent poll question...

here are a few of the fortunate women who have shared the screen with Richard Armitage.

Carol (Sarah Smart)
~Sparkhouse

Margaret (Daniela Denby-Ashe)
~North & South

Alice (Amanda Root)
~The Impressionists

*Amanda played Anne in the BBC's "Persuasion," 1995.

Maid Marian (Lucy Griffiths)
~Robin Hood

Meg (Holly Grainger)
~Robin Hood, Season 3

*Holly played Richard's step-daughter in "Sparkhouse."

Geraldine (Dawn French)
~The Vicar of Dibley

*Dawn played the "Fat Lady in Painting" in "HP: Prisoner of Azkaban."

Ros (Hermione Norris)
~Spooks

Ellie (Christine Tremarco)
~Moving On: Drowning Not Waving

And soon to share the screen with Richard...

Mimi (Lara Fabian)
~Charlie *to be released in 2010*
*Lara is an award winning recording artist and has been featured on the soundtracks of A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Final Fantasy and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Mike Ogden ~A Private, but Nice Chap.

Don't bother trying to add Mike Ogden as a friend on facebook because he'll decline you faster than you can say Guy of Gisborne, and he has reason. He's the writer/director of the WWII film "Charlie," set in Italy, starring Mr. Armitage himself ~scheduled to begin filming early next year.

After he declined my friend request, Mike was kind enough to leave a message saying that he couldn't add friends to his personal account (probably because of crazy RA fans, whoever they are...) but encouraged me to join the online forum.

Pushing the bounds, I responded by wishing him luck, telling him about this blog and asking him a bunch of questions about the film. I know, I know... obnoxious of me, but I couldn't resist. (I mean, this guy is going to be making a film with THE Richard Armitage after all, and it will probably be amazing! Plus, how many times do you have contact with someone who knows RA personally!?)

Mike wouldn't give me any info about the movie, but again told me to check out the "Charlie" website and join the forum where my type of questions have been asked and answered. I did, and think it's a great site to visit and join! I recommend you do the same: http://www.charliefilm.co.uk/

Reading the storyline, it sounds like a great, heart wrenching movie.

Although nothing has been finalized legally, Mike assures RA fans that Richard is "madly keen to play Charlie, it has been offered to him, and he has accepted."

I have to say, as bothersome as I probably was to Mr. Ogden, he was very polite and I was impressed and grateful. If you read this Mike, I wish you all the best with your upcoming project and can't wait to see the end result! :)

PS: My facebook name is R.a. Fanblog and my "Charlie" forum ID is Natazukii for any of those wondering.

A Must Read

If you want to laugh out loud, click HERE to read this fan's post

about RA in "North & South."
So. freaking. hilarious! I'm sure a lot of us can relate... I know I can! :)

Just be sure to come back and vote on the latest poll.

Better Late than Never.

Americans will have their turn! BBC America will begin airing the 3rd and final season of Robin Hood September 12th. You can visit their link HERE. Although most of us know how things end, and the writers were probably high, Season 3 has its perks... aka: Sir Guy of Gisborne!

Sadly, those of us who don't have BBC America will still have to wait for the DVD to be released to view it somewhere other than YouTube.

Second Poll Results

Question: Favorite R.A. Physical Trait?

The winner, with 51% of the vote was his... VOICE.

Yes, he does have a lovely voice... so let's listen to him read a poem, "Night Watch for England," shall we?
*Be sure to pause the background music (bottom of screen) before viewing this video.*

Thanks YouTuber, DanielleRCA!
Personally, his heavenly voice was my #1, followed closely by those pretty peepers! (Guyliner and all...)

Poll Results:
Eyes- 12 (29%)
Hair- 0 (0%)
Voice- 21 (51%)
Body- 2 (4%)
Smile- 5 (12%)
Other-1 (2%)

Whaaa??? Nobody loves his hair? C'mon, people... RA has some nice hair! (I guess his voice, eyes and smile are just too much competition for those lovely locks.)

Be sure to vote on the next poll!

Long Live King Richard!!!

Our favorite actor is turning 38 on Saturday, August 22nd!

RA, if you ever read this... Happy Birthday from all of your fans! Thank you for brightening our lives with your talent. Have a wonderful year~ we look forward to seeing more of your work!

Attention all period piece loving fans!

Here is a great blog to check out:

http://enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com/

Not only is it dedicated to the wonderful costume dramas we love,
but there are several posts about our favorite actor, Mr. Armitage.

Side note: Thanks to this blog, I found out about the upcoming movie "The Young Victoria" and can't wait to see it. Also, I just watched the 2006 "Jane Eyre" (had never seen it from beginning to end) and LOVED IT! I'd only seen Toby Stephens as RA's co-star, Prince John, so it was great viewing him as a romantic lead and boy did he do a good job!

Stunt Doubles

Here is a picture of Toby Stephens (Prince John) and Richard Armitage with their RH stunt doubles!

It's not the best pic... it looks like one of the doubles took out their point-and-shoot camera and said, "Group Shot!" to document the event. Both doubles are a tad shorter... but I'm sure that doesn't matter when they're jumping onto horses or in the middle of a fight scene. (I like the goofy grin on PJ Double's face. Gisborne Double looks ticked.) Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dig up the Doubles' names. Anyone know?

North & South Fan Video

YouTube user Elva75 created this great North & South video.
I love it because the music & editing gives it a modern feel (like it could be shown on MTV or something) yet it still has the period drama feel. Great work!!!

*Be sure to pause the blog's background music (at the bottom of the screen) before viewing this video!*

Replace that face! (What talented fans can do with photoshop.)

Too funny... I found these pictures on facebook. A few fans have photoshopped some of Richard's scenes and put their own faces in place of the actress. (Isn't that what we'd all love to do~ step into those actresses' shoes?) I love the creativity! Check out the original and photoshoped versions~

North & South Original: North & South Redo:~Amazing work! This looks SO real!

Vicar of Dibley Original:

~FYI, the actress who plays the bride in the Vicar's nightmare is Keeley Hawes, wife of actor Matthew MacFadyen. So she's married to Darcy PLUS gets to play RA's bride!? Holy luckiness!!!

Vicar of Dibley Redo:

~If I were her, I'd send out wedding announcements with this picture! haha.

Worth a look and two cents of your own...

As many of you know, Richard's birthday is coming up later this month on the 22nd. I was browsing some of the other fan sites and saw that
Richard Armitage Net (link on the lower right side of screen under "other sites") has a Birthday Tribute section, asking fans to describe a defining moment they discovered and became fanstruck by RA. I have loved reading others' tales of how Richard brightened their day with his talent. For some, it was watching Robin Hood with their kids, and getting attached to the baddie in leather. Others were hit by the "look back at me" moment in North & South. Some thought "Who is THAT!?" when Richard started telling a story on Cbeebies.
I left a comment of my own and suggest you all do the same... or at least enjoy reading others' thoughts. It's fun to find out how each person discovered the lovely Richard for themselves since not everyone has heard of him yet. (They don't know what they're missing!!!)
******************************************************
UPDATE:
The Armitage Army website (link also on bottom right) has a birthday tribute section as well, where you can post a message for RA himself. I wonder if he actually reads them? That would be awesome! (I know Richard has mentioned the "Armitage Army" on TV shows and stuff... so there's a good possibility.)

First Poll Results

The first poll question was, Who is your favorite RA character?

The winner (by one vote) is...

GISBORNE!

Here are the official poll results:
John Thornton- 10 (40%)
Gisborne- 11 (44%)
Lucas North- 1 (4%)
Other- 3 (12%)

Choosing between John Thornton and Sir Guy is such a hard decision, no? Thank you to all of those who participated in voting! Be sure to cast your ballot in the latest poll. I am curious, who was your "other" favorite character, for those of you who selected it? (Click on "comments" below- it is available to anyone, open ID and anonymous included.)

Also, if you have a suggestion for a poll question, let me know!

Destination: Gisburn

I have been informed by our RA-fan-friend, June, that there is a Gisburn in Lancashire, England. She said it's a "small village which is very near the site of the Lancashire Witches and Pendle Hill." (I have no clue to where she is referring, but you British folks will know!)

She also sent this picture of Little Guy surveying his "ancestral" land.

Here is a composite of the village itself.

Thanks for the info & pictures, June!

Too Adorable!

If you haven't already, you MUST watch Richard reading a few Cbeebies bedtime stories.
(I think we enjoy these more than the kiddos, right ladies!?) Besides listening to that heavenly voice, it's fun to see RA as himself instead of in costume. So cute!!!
*Be sure to pause the background music (bottom of the screen) before watching these videos.*

A-MAZ-ING!!!

Our fellow RA fan AlisaGB has shared some of her stunning fan art with us!

She has created wallpaper, signatures and avatars. Here are some of my favorites:

Aren't these awesome!? (My favorite is the Robin/Guy wallpaper.)

You can check out the rest of her work on image shack: http://profile.imageshack.us/user/alisagb/

She has also posted some great videos on YouTube, so be sure to visit her channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/AlisaGB

Thanks for sharing, Alisa! :)

Richard as Harry Kennedy

One of Richard's less-known, but very adorable characters is Harry in "The Vicar of Dibley," a British comedy. He's only in a couple episodes, but amazing! Check out a few of his scenes...
*Be sure to pause the background music (bottom of the screen) before watching this.*

Doesn't this make you want to watch the whole thing!?
I love RA's dark, brooding characters, but it's fun to see him play something light-hearted.
Click here if you want more info about the show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vicar_of_Dibley

Gisborne Fan Art

Fan art by photobucket user Flobbycow:

The blue eyes, the stubble, the floppy hair... nice.

FYI~

Did you know there is a Gisborne, New Zealand?

Sure, it was named after William Gisborne and not our Sir Guy...

but what Armitage fan wouldn't get a kick out of seeing Gisborne signs everywhere?

Here's one for the train station. All aboard!!!