Any fans of Richard Armitage who feel they haven\u2019t seen enough of him on screen in recent years are about to get more than their money\u2019s worth in his latest outing, Obsession<\/a>. Although Armitage may have the press notes for the four-part Netflix<\/a> drama off pat (\u201cit\u2019s an elegant, high-end, Hitchcockian erotic thriller\u2026 apparently\u201d) we both know what all the talk will be about: the multiple sado-masochistic encounters between his character William \u2013 a surgeon, rich and married \u2013 and his son\u2019s fianc\u00e9e Anna, played by Happy Valley<\/a> and Peaky Blinders star Charlie Murphy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Obsession is the latest adaptation of Josephine Hart\u2019s 1991 novel Damage \u2013 that era\u2019s equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey \u2013 although you wouldn\u2019t know it from the film starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche that came out a year later and largely avoided the bondage elements.<\/p>\n There is no such omission in the new version. Over four hours, Armitage\u2019s character swiftly sabotages everything in his life to pursue a torrid affair, revealing significantly more bare flesh than Armitage proffered when he broke through in the 2004 period drama North and South and then stole hearts in series such as Robin Hood and Spooks. If his legions of fans are more than ready for such fare, what about the man himself?<\/p>\n \u201cI knew that it would be intense before I even read the script,\u201d he remembers. \u201cEveryone was asking, \u2018Is this a temperature you\u2019re comfortable with?\u2019 I said, \u2018Bring it on. Let\u2019s not be British about this.\u2019 That prudishness is, I think, not cool. I love watching French movies where they\u2019re more like: \u2018This is the body, this is the body moving in life, this is the body in intimacy\u2026\u2019 This is a great opportunity to look at human interaction in a really intense way, which becomes a fatal attraction. It\u2019s almost like a man who has experienced heroin and cannot walk away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n The series rides on the frisson between Armitage and his co-star Murphy, which it transpires blossomed on and off screen. \u201cI went in for a chemistry read, she came and gave me a big hug, everyone else went into blurred focus,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI deliberately kept a slight distance as I didn\u2019t want to be comfortable around her, but we created a cocoon for ourselves to talk, discuss, rehearse, find our way through the physical stuff.<\/p>\n \u201cI confess I did fall in love with her. We were filming one of the final scenes and she accidentally said my real name, and I was broken. We\u2019d been looking after each other, and here she was saying goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n The obsession of the title is William\u2019s undoing, but it\u2019s also his epiphany. \u201cI want the audience to put themselves in the shoes of that character and ask, \u2018What choice would I make?\u2019\u201d says Armitage.<\/p>\n Has he ever jumped off a similar cliff? \u201cYes,\u201d he says calmly. \u201cBecause I\u2019m an actor and a bit of a romantic, your antennae are always out for the moment that everyone talks about where a person takes your breath away. You do dive in \u2013 or I did.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughs at himself. \u201cNobody died. If I could turn back the clock, I\u2019d make a different choice. There must be people out there who\u2019ve made those fatal choices. When you\u2019re young you dream about that sensation of being swept off your feet. People struggle with commitment because they\u2019re waiting for it. Those who have been swept away, they\u2019re either drowning or they\u2019ve found dry land.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Similar passions were evident but suitably buttoned up in Armitage\u2019s breakout role as brooding mill owner John Thornton in the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell\u2019s North and South. Hailed as the \u201cnew Mr Darcy\u201d, he moved on to Spooks as tall, dark and brooding hero Lucas North. However, according to the actor, primetime stardom was never the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cI was never interested in being TV\u2019s Mr Armitage,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI didn\u2019t set out to pursue fame or fortune, it was for the thrill of storytelling. Going into television was only in order to get more challenging roles on stage. I wish I\u2019d done more theatre; I still hope I might get the chance to do more. With theatre, you\u2019re on a runaway train. I love that feeling of \u2018I\u2019ve started, I cannot stop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n When I last interviewed Armitage \u2013a far more circumspect version at the centre of a billion-dollar Hobbit franchise, in which he played the Dwarves\u2019 leader Thorin Oakenshield \u2013 I got the impression that he\u2019d enjoyed laying low in New Zealand, where the films were made. \u201cI was hiding,\u201d he agrees. Even though as a star of the world\u2019s biggest film series, the industry was surely his oyster? \u201cKind of,\u201d he pauses. \u201cBut the oyster is slowly closing. It\u2019s a moment in time.<\/p>\n \u201cI came late to the whole profession. I never had any illusions. I thought, \u2018This is a very short window, make the most of it, at some point the phone will stop ringing. Make sure you don\u2019t shut anything down, keep every door open \u2013 writing, theatre, and your ties to your homeland. Your roots are here. You will return.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n One of those strands is audiobooks. \u201cA lot of people turn their noses up, but I thought, \u2018They might not want your face any more, but they\u2019ll still listen to your voice,\u2019\u201d he says. Indeed, his distinctive baritone is a rare and beautiful thing. Does he sing in the shower? \u201cOh yes, I look after my voice. It\u2019s a tool and if [you] sound a certain way, people will either draw you in or push you away.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the purity of his instrument, Armitage\u2019s success in the audio sphere has led to his own work being commissioned. \u201cI have four books planned, and the first one is probably going into development for television.\u201d<\/p>\n Has the fact that he\u2019s Richard Armitage got anything to do with that? \u201cPossibly,\u201d he concedes. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that if my name wasn\u2019t on the cover, they might still enjoy the story. Losing myself in the writing process is the most pleasurable thing I\u2019ve experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n He won\u2019t have to give up the day job any time soon, though. Off the back of two hit Harlan Coben-penned Netflix thrillers, The Stranger and Stay Close, he\u2019s about to star in a third. Is he Coben\u2019s muse? \u201cI\u2019m one of the Harlan Coben ensemble. I don\u2019t think I should do any more. Three\u2019s enough, if not too many!\u201d<\/p> The 51-year-old splits his time these days between New York and the UK and, on a rare day off, is to be found \u201cskiing, going to the theatre, listening to music, eating. I tend to go the gym a lot\u201d. He came out relatively recently, with a lack of attention that would have been unheard of when he was first in the public eye. Is he glad he waited?<\/p>\n \u201c[Coming out] happened when I was 19 \u2013 to anybody who mattered \u2013 and I was always waiting for that question to punch me in the face, and it never did. I thought, \u2018Are people being polite, or is it that they don\u2019t want to know?\u2019 I don\u2019t know that I ever wanted to put myself in front of the work I was doing, anything about my family or personal life. I just thought, \u2018Let the work speak for itself.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI love the conversation with the younger generation. I love the idea that whatever gender, sexuality, the fluidity of who you love, how you identify, is not fixed. That was always a thing: if I declare who I am and my sexuality, then I\u2019m saying it\u2019s fixed and I don\u2019t know that, or if I might feel something for somebody further down the line. I doubt it, but I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s more relaxed now. As a writer and producer, I do wonder if anybody has to be defined by who they\u2019re in love with.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back on his Robin Hood and Spooks days, Armitage has always convinced as a dashing, presumably straight, hero. He says now, \u201cI\u2019ve always been very clear with myself: this is them, this is the bit that\u2019s me. I think it helps you be an actor, because there was never a crossover. Also, I would always ask the question of the character: is Lucas North 100 per cent straight? I would say the answer\u2019s probably no, it\u2019s got to be. Sexuality is currency in drama.\u201d<\/p> ![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/03\/Obsession-FirstLook-ed9cc40.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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