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  • Allocine interviews Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, and Martin Freeman.  Each actor talks about playing their character.  Armitage on Thorin: “He’s bringing his people home. He’s coming back to reclaim their treasure and to take his people back to where they belong. So for me, it’s a story of revenge and loyalty, trust and honor. That’s been an amazing thing to try and portray; that sense of a burning ember that’s dying and he has to go and rekindle it.”
  • Interview with Richard Armitage on HitFix
    Discusses singing dwarves, and finding classical inspiration for his character. Also talks about how they are filming the two movies as one long film and have not decided exactly where to split it yet.
  • Second part of the LaCosaCine coverage of the Press Conference Q&A with Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Philippa Boyens.
  • Gig Patta has three videos on YouTube which cover the same Q&A material with Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Philippa Boyens which thompsononhollywood posted to youtube (listed below), but with a bit of additional material at the beginning, and some extended interviews with Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen at the end.  The audio is still not the best, but clearer in places. Part 1,
    Part 2,
    Part 3

  • There is now additional coverage on Youtube of different sections of the press conference Q&A with Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Philippa Boyens by thompsononhollywood: Part 1 and Part 2 (audio is not great).
  • Peter Jackson, Ian McKellen interviews by AP
    Honest answers about whether Jackson wants to be at Comic-con, and why Ian McKellen would have felt a bit “perverse” about passing on the role of Gandalf again.  Also how Gandalf the Grey > Gandalf the White!
  • Peter Jackson on SiriusXM
    Talks about the challenge of adapting the book for screen and bringing in material from the Appendices.  Assures there will be “glimpses” of Smaug in the first film.  Explains how using 3D did not change his overall style of shooting. Mentions Howard Shore’s score.

  • Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Peter Jackson, and Philippa Boyens on EW.com
  • Ian McKellen on Access Hollywood
    Describes the difficulties of acting with the new technology required to make Gandalf appear the right scale with the dwarves.
  • Ian McKellen on Fandango
    Ian describes the agelessness of Gandalf, but that he will be getting involved in “relationships which might surprise the audience”. Oh?  Do tell, Ian!
  • Andy Serkis on The Hollywood Reporter
    Mentions the challenges of being a second-unit director.  Describes Gollum’s character in The Hobbit, and the differences in capturing Gollum’s performance between LOTR and Hobbit.
  • Peter Jackson on Crave Online
    Why he ultimately came around to direct the films from a sense of responsibility, and about why it’s important to the industry to make a film that is best seen in the theatre. Also how the Silmarilion will never be made into a film.
  • Richard Armitage on IGN
    Talks about playing an elf in a Hobbit play at age 11. Also about dealing with the scrutiny of fans during the production, and how they aren’t finished filming some of the fight sequences yet.
    He says of Thorin: “He’s the last of the line of Durin to reclaim their kingdom.  He has to do it for his people.”
  • Richard Armitage on Fandango
    Richard talks about how a 6′ 2″ actor can be cast as a 5′ 2″ dwarf!

Quickbeam: Hello there, Richard. How’re you doing, sir?
Richard Armitage:
How are you?
Quickbeam:
Good to see you.
Richard Armitage:
Good to see you, too.
Quickbeam:
You spent some time with our friend Larry Curtis.
Richard Armitage:
I did.
Quickbeam:
When he was visiting. It was a little while ago.
Richard Armitage:
Yes.
Quickbeam:
Actually I was there myself 3 or 4 weeks ago and you were very very busy.
Richard Armitage:
Was I? Oh no, I did say hi to you.
Quickbeam: Well you were very “in mode.”
Richard Armitage:
Was I in crazy mode?
Quickbeam:
Actually you were in “Robert DeNiro mode.” You were very focused. It was fantastic. And I had a nice talk with Mana, your double. He’s an old friend of mine.
Richard Armitage:
I so love that with my stunt double.
Quickbeam:
Isn’t he great?
Richard Armitage:
I watched footage and thought it was me. And it’s nice when you don’t recognize yourself. That’s when you know your stunt double is amazing.
Quickbeam:
He’s a tall drink of water, that guy.
Richard Armitage:
Yeah, I want to take his number. I want to work with him every time.
Quickbeam:
He’s very very cool. I’ve heard from listening to the conversations you had that you read the books when you were very young.
Richard Armitage:
Yeah.
Quickbeam:
Which fills my heart with joy. And the fans as well would like to know you have an organic connection to the story. We’re really looking forward to seeing the films and it makes all the difference that you know the story.
Richard Armitage:
Well I think that when you grow up with characters like this, they change as you get older, they evolve. Going back, I’m 40 years old and they were read to me when I was 7. And it feels different. These characters feel different. And then actually putting the costume on and trying to make that character live and breathe and walk and talk. It’s like you’re given this responsibility to every other person who’s read them, who’s just reading the books for the first time or who has read it when they were 7. That’s the responsibility and you have to own that for everyone. And I’ve tried to take that on, but I’ve only got my own imagination to work with. It’s served me well in the past so I think it will do again.
Quickbeam:
I believe it will. From what I’ve witnessed, it’s served you quite well. I was very impressed with everything the team was doing on the set. But let me ask you something about the staying power of myth. Why do these stories have such a holding power on us?
Richard Armitage:
That was one of Tolkien’s great achievements. He didn’t really create myths, he created legends. And that’s what his full intention was, to create something that felt like it was of this earth, not somewhere else in the same way C.S. Lewis did. If you read any of the early histories of the evolution series it comes through, you realize that you’re looking for something much deeper, much more English actually.
Quickbeam:
Yes.
Richard Armitage:
He wants to create a universe that you think may have existed. He created a religion of languages.
Quickbeam:
Seventeen original languages Tolkien invented. Which is crazy.
Richard Armitage:
And I think his passion for language and the way he used Nordic mythology is why the books feel so real and sustain over a long period of time. And will do. I would be very surprised if any of these stories get remade again. But I think Tolkien will be visualized on film. Maybe Silmarillion or something like that. I mean that would be a great honor to see that come to life.
Quickbeam:
It would.
Richard Armitage:
And it would be a tragedy if it didn’t.
Quickbeam:
Indeed. Well, Richard, thank you for your time.
Richard Armitage:
Nice to talk to you.
Quickbeam:
Congratulations on all your good work.
Richard Armitage:
Thank you.
Quickbeam:
Cheers. Well-done. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Richard Armitage. Thorin Oakenshield himself right here on TheOneRing.Net. You guys got to talk to him before anybody else. And look at that. A few yards away from us is Sir Ian McKellen.