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As part of Front Row's exploration of artistic risk, we asked artists and arts producers from across the art world about the biggest risk they took in their career. What did it involve, why did they do it, and was it worth it?

Richard Armitage - actor

The actor Richard Armitage shares the physical and reputational risk of being waterboarded during filming for an episode of BBC One drama Spooks.

“One of my greatest career risks was something physical. It was a moment in Spooks. I was playing a character called Lucas North, and the character had to be waterboarded. Right at that moment in the media there was a big conversation happening about whether it was considered torture to waterboard somebody and I’d done a lot of research on it.

We decided with the stunt team that I would attempt to receive the full shebang of what the waterboarding might be, largely because I wanted to make sure that the effect of it looked real and not faked. I’m quite terrified of water, so how stupid of me to think that something like that would be worth doing on film. But again it’s that thing of I want everything to seem so real on camera and I wanted my reaction to be real; I didn’t want to have to act it.

So we set it up, obviously it was all to be handled safely, and I think I managed about three or four seconds of being waterboarded before I pulled the towel from my face. It was terrifying; it was panic inducing. At one point I think I was going to be tied down to the bed but I said I have to be able to have my hand free so that I can get out of it if I need to. But yes: it’s like drowning.

I think [I was probably a bit naïve about] the reputational risk of doing the waterboarding. I don’t remember instigating the idea – it was offered to me as, "Do you want to try it or not?" and I said: "Yes".

It was picked up in the media so it became more of a thing than it was on the day. We didn’t do it so that we could shout about it and say, "Look at this actor; he’s a method actor," and all of that stuff. Had I not been me reading about me in the paper I would probably have just rolled my eyes and said: “Why don’t you just act it, Armitage? Why do you need to go through that?” It is a bit insensitive to the people that suffer it.

On a personal level, if I weren’t an actor, I would say I’m glad that I know what it feels like now because I can definitely say that it is torture if someone’s subjected to that for a long period of time. I would say that’s definitely torture.

I wouldn’t say that I regretted it but I did feel like I’d walked into it as a bit of a hero and I walked away from it feeling that it was probably something that I shouldn’t have done. It isn’t something to be taken lightly and I suppose on a personal level, physically I was prepared to take the risk. Professionally, I did feel like a little bit of a silly actor for doing something like that, which would have been perceived as a stunt to bring attention to it. But in retrospect, years later, I look back and think that I’m actually quite glad that I know what that feels like.

The one tool that we have as actors and as human beings is empathy and the ability to understand what someone else is being put through. So on a personal level I’m glad I did it, on a professional level it probably wasn’t worth the risk.”

#richard armitage #armitage interview #lucas north #spooks #my screencap

Raiding my gif folder 14/?

↪ Richard + interviews

#richard armitage #raiding my gif folder #armitage interview #my gifs

Smiles...thighs...plenty to love about this interview.😍

My gifs.

#richard armitage #armitage interview #the stranger promo #my gifs

Richard’s interview on Daybreak 6th Dec, 2013, to promote the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I’ve seen one of my old posts reappear with the gifs all squishy. Time for a new set of this fabulous interview, with correct ratio aspect and taking advantage of the bigger gif size allowed now......Richard in all his gorgeousness.

My gifs from RichardArmitageNet video on YouTube.

#richard armitage #the hobbit dos promotion #armitage interview #romantic hero hairdo #my gifs #there's a christmas tree too