Richard Armitage has revealed he feared he'd get fired from The Hobbit while shooting on location.
The actor, known for playing the role of Thorin Oakenshield in the film trilogy from JRR Tolkien's books, has shared his anxiety at the time of filming. Back when the film was shot in New Zealand in 2011, Armitage became convinced that production had "made the wrong choice" when casting him.
"I remember getting to New Zealand to shoot The Hobbit and not unpacking," he told Radio Times. "I genuinely thought I was going to be fired and sent home because they had made the wrong choice."
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Speaking about what is possibly one of the biggest moments in his career, Armitage looked back on reading Tolkien as a boy, saying: "Not in a million years would my nine-year-old self, reading the books, ever have imagined that he'd be starring in the films!"
Armitage is one of the stars of ITV's tense new thriller Red Eye. He plays Matthew Nolan, a medical doctor who's arrested on suspicion of murder upon his return to the UK from China, after being involved in a car crash.
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He is then brought back to Beijing by DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi), but something goes awry on their flight when someone gets murdered on board. Nolan and Li soon come to realise they've become caught in a bigger conspiracy.
"There is more to him than meets the eye, and because we've held back and we haven't told his whole story. That to me is fascinating," Armitage said in an exclusive chat with Digital Spy, keeping the door open for a possible second season.
"And like I said before, it starts as a man accused of a crime being renditioned back to Beijing, and by the end, it turns into an international crisis."
Red Eye premiered on ITV1 on Sunday, April 21 and is available to stream on ITVX.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
