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

War Time Men

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

T Never Naughty

A charity donkey is where you sponsor a donkey in a sanctuary and give them three pounds a month to have some donkey nuts or something.

Richard C. Armitage

You Where UN

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

Richard C. Armitage

Will Whisper Want

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

Richard C. Armitage

Would Want Up

A full beard looks cool.

Richard C. Armitage

Cool OK Looks

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

T Shopping Shop

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

Woman Weird Version

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

You Vision Use

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

Time Age Yin

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

Richard C. Armitage

Wit Used Use

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

Money Us Tin

I went into musical theatre, which I'm not really cut out for - I'm not as skilled at it as other people.

Richard C. Armitage

Music Which Us

Whatever I lack in talent I have in stamina.

Richard C. Armitage

Whatever Talent Tale

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

Richard C. Armitage

Smile You Who

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

Good Anger You

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

War Life Experience

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

Men Waiter Wait

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

Richard C. Armitage

Which Ways Way

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

Art Yin Whole

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

Zero Wit Use

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

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

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

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

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

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

Everyone loves a good baddie.

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

I want to live in Middle-earth, actually.

Richard C. Armitage

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

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

I'm looking forward to getting fat and old.

Richard C. Armitage

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

Te Papa Museum is brilliant.

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

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

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

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage

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

Richard C. Armitage