FDS: Richard Armitage’s Over the Shoulder Smoulder at Comic Con 2015, July 12, 2015 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #783)

Any time the exquisitely talented British actor Richard Armitage looks through the camera to his fans/admirers, I hear the collective gulp.  And I know that I go weak at the knees. Sighhh!

In the image at right, Mr. Armitage was at Comic Con International 2015 San Diego on Saturday July 11^th promoting a recent television project that he was involved with. The producer of that project was wearing a jacket comprised of scene illustrations from the original Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope in 1977. RA tried the Star Wars jacket on, and the rest is history. Thanks to Teresa A for pointing me to this delicious portrait of Mr. A!

And when Richard Armitage casually does that over the shoulder smoulder with smirking smile of his as he does in this portrait? I’m just a melted puddle of womanly essence at his feet.

And Richard Armitage looks so rock star Elvis like in this portrait. Richard is in the building!

Okay, we have to take a short break and indulge our love of film star Richard Armitage, with the fabulous video “Richard Armitage – Film Star 2” by GizTheGunslinger:

Of course, Richard Armitage has a Star Wars films connection. He had a small role as a Naboo pilot [right, courtesy of RANet] in one of the later pre-quel Star Wars trilogy of films titled Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace in 1999.

So the reuniting of Mr. Armitage with a piece of his past in him wearing the Star Wars themed jacket was a winning combination –even if the jacket illustrations referenced the first pre-quel trilogy of Star Wars films that he wasn’t in.

 

And in the interest of full disclosure, I also have a Star Wars memory–if not, a connection. In 1977, just after I graduated from high school–and before I headed to university that Fall–I worked the concession stands that Summer at one of our local movie theatres situated in an indoor mall that was showing Star Wars. Star Wars was the number one selling film for 24 weeks straight!

The Star Wars movie ticket price in 1977 was $3.00 per person–of which, the movie theatre only got 30 cents, only 10 percent. This was an unprecedented distribution deal up to that time. So movie theatre owners had to make their money on the concessions. And did they ever! The crowds were enormous and snaked around to the other wing of the indoor mall, for all showings for 24 weeks! And after they were in possession of their ticket, movie theatre customers would then dutifully stand in line for their soda and popcorn–even missing the beginning of the film. I would beg them not to miss any part of the Star Wars film and dash back to get their popcorn later. It’s a wonder that I didn’t get fired for that piece of advice–which theatre goers rarely took. Ha!

So in June 1977–in the heydays of the Star Wars juggernaut–I was but a maid of seventeen.   And Richard Armitage? Well, in June of that year, he was still five–years old. I could have baby sat little Rich for his parents –if we had lived in the same town, let alone, in the same country. Of course, with Richard and I now as adults, our 11 year and 9 month age difference is not quite as great. In my dreams. Ha!

And I would love to have Mr. Armitage’s impressions of seeing Star Wars when he was a kid, and then getting to be in one of the movies later. I’m guessing that appearing in Star Wars as an adult might have been similar to his experience that he related with reading The Hobbit as a child and then being in the film as an adult.

But his feeling of karmic destiny was undoubtedly on a greater scale for The Hobbit films, since Richard Armitage was one of the lead actors in The Hobbit trilogy of films, portraying Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain (my fan made poster edit of Richard as Thorin in The Battle of the Five Armies, right; original Thorin image courtesy of RANet).

So 38 years later after the first Star Wars in 1977, Richard Armitage is an award honored international film, tv, and much lauded  stage star. Bravo! Gosh! Little Rich Armitage turned out well!