{"id":66882,"date":"2012-12-09T01:47:20","date_gmt":"2012-12-09T06:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=66882"},"modified":"2012-12-09T01:47:20","modified_gmt":"2012-12-09T06:47:20","slug":"richard-the-second-part-ii-of-theonering-nets-time-with-richard-armitage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2012\/12\/09\/66882-richard-the-second-part-ii-of-theonering-nets-time-with-richard-armitage\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard the Second – Part II of TheOneRing.net\u2019s time with Richard Armitage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Richard Armitage is a lucky boy; or so he says.\u00a0 I think those of us who had the chance to hear what he had to say at interviews this week were the lucky ones;\u00a0there are few interviewees who are as erudite and as interesting as this thoughtful actor.\u00a0 I already posted my \u2018one on one\u2019 interview with him, which you can read here<\/a>; below is the longer, \u2018round table\u2019 group interview which took place later that afternoon.\u00a0 Once again, Armitage was charm itself, giving each questioner his undivided attention, and each comment his full consideration.\u00a0 The half hour chat was filled with fascinating insights – revealing more about how he works; what it\u2019s like to act with Sir Ian McKellen; how they came up with the design of the oakenshield; where we might see a glimpse of Guillermo del Toro\u2019s influence in The Hobbit<\/em> movie; and even when Armitage himself thinks he looks his best!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve indicated the questions your TORn interviewer asked with \u2018GD\u2019 – the rest were asked by my colleagues at the session.\u00a0 The interview contains a minor spoiler.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Q. What did you like most about playing Thorin in the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: I really liked learning to fight in a specific way.\u00a0 I liked using that sword.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s shaped in the way that it is, it has a motion of it\u2019s own, and it\u2019s very hard to control, and once you\u2019ve got it moving it does its own thing; so that was interesting.<\/p>\n

Q. What was it like going from a BBC miniseries to one of the biggest movie trilogies ever? <\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: A hell of a lot more money!\u00a0 But not in my paycheque…\u00a0 [laughs]<\/em>\u00a0 Do you know what?\u00a0 I suppose, the amount of people who work on it, it feels bigger; but Peter makes it feel incredibly intimate. I guess the money that I\u2019m talking about, jokingly, actually just buys you more time – so there was much more time to experiment with the character, which I think is why many actors crave working in film – because you get time to develop your character further.\u00a0 And there is time to push yourself further with the character – and I really felt that Peter allowed me to do that.<\/p>\n

Q. Your first day on The Hobbit<\/em> set – how overwhelming was it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: My first day on the set, I wasn\u2019t actually filming.\u00a0 I had to stand up in front of the entire company, cast, and crew, and speak Maori to a line of Maori! – who were giving us a P\u014dwhiri, which is like a welcoming ceremony to bless the soundstage.\u00a0 So I was more terrified of that than actually the filming.\u00a0 But you know – you get on set and there are 200 people, and then behind the curtain there are another 200 people on computers – so it\u2019s bloody terrifying, but as I was saying, you know, when you actually get to the nucleus of Pete\u2019s film set, it\u2019s just you and him and another actor; and he keeps it so intimate and personal that you get through the fear.\u00a0 And then once you\u2019re inside of the character – especially if you\u2019re playing a character of relatively high status as I was – then you\u2019re just inside the character.\u00a0 But it was important to me to walk on set \u2026 that the crew believed that this character was potentially a king, so I tried to protect that as much as I could.<\/p>\n

Q.\u00a0 You play both the younger version and the older version of Thorin.\u00a0 How did you approach each age differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: I obviously started with older Thorin because we were going to see more of him; and also the younger Thorin didn\u2019t appear till much later in the shoot, even though he\u2019s first up in the movie. I always build a biography for the character, so I wrote a kind of story for Thorin, of where he\u2019d come from as a young man and the experiences that he\u2019d had at Erebor.\u00a0 But in terms of literally playing him, I wanted him to just move faster, and fight in a more inefficient way – I think as he\u2019s grown older his fight style has become much more efficient, he knows what he\u2019s doing on a battlefield.\u00a0 And I wanted his voice to sound lighter – and actually I wanted him to smile, because as an old man his burdens are so heavy, he doesn\u2019t really crack a smile too often – so yeah, they were the things that I wanted.<\/p>\n

GD: I read you were a fan of the Lord of the Rings<\/em> movies before this; so when you found yourself on the Bag End set with Gandalf, was that a \u2018fanboy\u2019 kind of thrill for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Yeah – I did actually have to walk on set before I was filming because I knew that I would be slightly mesmerised by everything.\u00a0 So I had a good sniff around for a couple of days, just picking up pens and looking at handcrafted paper and handwritten letters, because I\u2019d be like, \u2018I can\u2019t be thinking this when I\u2019m filming!\u2019\u00a0 But yeah, when that door opens and you step onto that set and you look at Ian McKellen, there is a moment of going, \u2018OK cut, can we just do this again – coz that\u2019s Gandalf and I\u2019m walking into Middle-earth!\u2019\u00a0 But it\u2019s so stimulating to the imagination, that you\u2019re given your character; because, stepping into that world, it\u2019s like you\u2019re walking into the movie!<\/p>\n

Q. Coming on to a set like this as the central focus, how did that compare with arriving on set at The Phantom Menace<\/em>, as a much smaller cog in another big, also\u00a0computer generated\u00a0movie?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: The same fear!\u00a0 I remember on Phantom Menace<\/em> having to attempt to cut Ewan Macgregor in half with a lightsaber \u2026 I didn\u2019t understand what I was doing or what was happening.\u00a0 I was looking around going, \u2018Where is the rest of the set?\u00a0 Have they not finished building it yet??\u2019\u00a0 So years later, I pretty much understood the filming process more clearly!\u00a0 But you know, going back to that idea – I really needed the crew to believe in my character.\u00a0 Sometimes we were called to set half way through the process of getting ready – so sometimes I was asked to go to set without the wig on – and I remember hating it, and wearing a hoodie – because I just didn\u2019t want Thorin humiliated in front of the crew.\u00a0 I wanted them to believe that when the King walked onto the set, that they felt a change in the atmosphere.\u00a0 It\u2019s like I didn\u2019t want anyone seeing the dwarf suit underneath, coz that\u2019s like Thorin being half naked – so I know it sounds stupid, but I was really protective of that.\u00a0 I could always gauge it because a lot of the time, leaving the set through the gates – I used to cycle to the studio – most of the crew didn\u2019t speak to me because they didn\u2019t recognise me.\u00a0 So it took a long time for them to go, \u2018Ah!\u00a0 That\u2019s the guy that comes in on a bike! That\u2019s Thorin!\u2019\u00a0 Which I always took as a compliment.<\/p>\n

Q. The original Lord of the Rings<\/em> film set has been described by those who worked on it as a family environment.\u00a0 As a new person joining that group, was that family environment still there?\u00a0 What was it like walking into that situation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA:\u00a0 Absolutely, in every respect, from the very beginning.\u00a0 Even from when we met for the very first time, and they hadn\u2019t given me the role – I was just auditioning.\u00a0 Part of that process of talking through the role was \u2018You realise you\u2019re going to have to come to NZ for two years?\u2019 – and I remember saying to him, \u2018What an awful offer that would be!\u00a0 How could I possibly do that?!\u2019 [laughs]<\/em> \u2026 But you know, from the beginning every family member that came – my family were invited to set, everyone\u2019s family was there – if possible, Pete would dress them up in costume and put them on the set, so they were taking part in the film.\u00a0 People that came back from the Rings<\/em> trilogy \u2026 it was like connecting blood vessels to those other films, so it was giving oxygen to our film.\u00a0 All I can say is, it fed us in every way that you can possibly think of.\u00a0 So yeah, there are people that I haven\u2019t worked with that I feel that I have worked with, people like Cate Blanchett – I never, sadly, had a scene with her.\u00a0 I\u2019m begging them to give me a scene with Galadriel! \u2026 But yeah, it was just incredible to have all of those people.\u00a0 And I think there was something in Peter, in the way that he draws in that loyalty, the way that those people come back to him again and again and again, that I just took a little bit of that and kept it for Thorin.<\/p>\n

Q. I\u2019m wondering if the timing of this film coming up is why you gave up MI:5 [Spooks]<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: No, I\u2019d decided to leave the show to nothing.\u00a0 Three for me is the magic number and I\u2019d done three series – and I thought, \u2018You know what? If I stay I\u2019ll be too comfortable.\u2019\u00a0 You know, I was enjoying the character \u2026 I said, “OK stop, let\u2019s finish it there.”\u00a0 There was another series that I was involved with called Strike Back<\/em>, which was sort of beginning another franchise which unfortunately I had to walk away from … But the prospect of sitting in a cinema and watching another actor play Thorin, when I\u2019d been offered the role \u2026 sometimes that happens, sometimes you do have to walk away from roles and sometimes you can\u2019t make it work with dates \u2026 but I couldn\u2019t have lived with myself seeing someone else play it.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather have given up my career for that.\u00a0 And actually I said to Pete when I got down there, “If this is the last piece of work I ever do, I\u2019ll be a happy man; I\u2019ll be a happy actor.” \u00a0And I still feel that – if I never work again, I have had the most fulfilling experience any actor could ever have, with this role.<\/p>\n

Q. It seems, from previous interviews, that you hate being regarded as a heartthrob – so I wondered if you were happy to accept a role where you got to be scraggly and bearded, with messy dreadlocks, and have this be your big, international debut?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Do you know what? \u00a0I\u2019ve always said of myself, I look better in the dark and I look better dirty.<\/p>\n

[Editorial: I\u2019ll allow a pause here for those readers who need to recover from that sudden thought of a dirty Richard Armitage in the dark…\u00a0 OK, going on…]<\/em><\/p>\n

And I think it\u2019s true.\u00a0 It\u2019s not about what you look like – it\u2019s just the atmosphere that that creates.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ve got a face that suits a half shadow, rather than full daylight!\u00a0 [laughs]\u00a0<\/em> And you know, whenever I play characters that are a bit grubby and grunty, it just feels better.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m a Northerner, and I\u2019m always meant to have my hands dirty!\u00a0 But part of the thrill of playing Thorin was this transformation that he was going to go through.\u00a0 There are scenes where his face is beaten up…\u00a0 I love that.\u00a0 There was a story actually – I was working on second unit with Andy Serkis, and we rehearsed a fight with twelve orcs \u2026 You rehearse it at the right level, and then they elevate everybody because we\u2019re supposed to be shorter \u2026 and I ended up smashing myself in the face with a shield and putting my bottom tooth through my lip.\u00a0 My face swelled up and the blood was pouring down my face, and they were sort of trying to mop it up and put ice on it \u2026 and Andy came in with a mirror and went, \u2018Look at this!\u2019\u00a0 And I was like, \u2018Oh my god that looks brilliant!\u2019\u00a0 He said, \u2018Do you want to carry on?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Absolutely!\u2019\u00a0 It looked so good!\u00a0 And they ended up kind of taking close ups because it would have taken the makeup department a long time to create this – coz the blood was sort of moving down my face – so I was like, \u2018Yeah, shoot it.\u2019\u00a0 I was like [puts tongue in lip, affects muffled voice]<\/em>, \u2018Yuh sfhood id, cawwy on…\u2019\u00a0 So yeah, I love it – I like being grungy and dirty.<\/p>\n

Q. Your relationship with Gandalf in the film is almost antagonistic.\u00a0 What was it like working with Ian Mckellen, and getting to explore that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Ian McKellen is just such a delightful man, whenever I had to be antagonistic or aggressive to him, there was always a pang of guilt inside me – that\u2019s like \u2018don\u2019t be too rough on Gandalf!\u2019\u00a0 But that\u2019s part of the thrill of acting – you have to push those buttons in him, in other characters.\u00a0 It\u2019s fascinating how Ian works – because every take that he does is nuanced in a different way, that you can\u2019t quite detect what he\u2019s doing differently – there\u2019s just something in his eyes.\u00a0 I really found that inspiring.\u00a0 He did something on the first day which I\u2019ve never forgotten – and it\u2019s all about status, and it\u2019s something that every actor learns in drama school but noone ever applies, because it means being selfless – and Ian is a very selfless actor \u2026 When I walked in the door of Bag End, Gandalf – this monumental figure, for me – bowed his head to me, in reverence to Thorin Oakenshield, the legendary warrior.\u00a0 And I remember thinking, \u2018God, he\u2019s giving me my status\u2019 – and from that point on, I thought, well if Gandalf’s given it to me then everyone else has to give it to me as well – and you don\u2019t have to therefore play any kind of false weight or status, because he\u2019s given it to you \u2026 and he completely understood that.\u00a0 And he looks after everyone he\u2019s in a scene with, he absolutely looks after them. So it\u2019s such a privilege to say that I\u2019ve worked with him!<\/p>\n

Q: The first of Peter Jackson\u2019s production diaries showed the p\u014dwhiri.\u00a0 Did other aspects of the Maori culture touch the production?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Do you know, it took me about a week to learn that Maori, but that speech actually became part of my vocal work.\u00a0 Because I wanted to pitch my voice lower and create a resonance for the character, I built a program – I had a vocal warm up every morning. I used Shakespearean speeches to find certain things, but I also used that Maori speech every day, because I felt that there was something in that culture which was essential to the feeling of Middle-earth, the warrior.\u00a0 You know that thing that those Maori warriors do – there\u2019s something that they use to ground them, you see it on the rugby field, what they do – and I wanted an essence of that in the character. So every morning – or I used to do it in the evenings before work the next day, because we were up at three o\u2019clock, half three in the morning, so doing vocal work at half three in the morning is just not much fun – so I used to do it before I\u2019d go to bed \u2026 but yeah, I used that speech.<\/p>\n

[Having made it once round the circle, there was a pause whilst we all wondered if our time was up.\u00a0 We all looked round the clothing store where the interviews took place, to see if the PR folks were about to wrap things up.]<\/em><\/p>\n

RA: [laughing]<\/em> They\u2019ve just gone. They\u2019ve gone shopping – they\u2019re at the check out!<\/p>\n

[So we went round again…]<\/em><\/p>\n

Q. You\u2019ve played so many diverse roles, which part has been your favourite?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Without a shadow of a doubt, this one.\u00a0 [Points at one of the many Hobbit displays around the place, showing Thorin.]\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been challenged in a way that this role has challenged me.\u00a0 And I was saying earlier on, it\u2019s like every job I\u2019ve ever done has led to this moment; because I\u2019ve been able to take something from every piece of work that I\u2019ve done that has been useful for this role.\u00a0 So, I couldn\u2019t surpass that.\u00a0 And every expectation that I\u2019ve had, about myself, my own work, other people\u2019s work, of working with the director, has been surpassed.<\/p>\n

Q. Could you talk about your working relationship with Peter Jackson, and realising his vision for Thorin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Peter is a very, very gentle director.\u00a0 He\u2019s very succinct and you don\u2019t really know how he\u2019s directing you.\u00a0 You don\u2019t really know that you\u2019re being directed, because he doesn\u2019t point and shout and tell you where to stand; he kind of guides you down a certain road, and he often uses other actors to do it \u2026 so he\u2019ll have a quiet conversation with somebody who then walks into the scene and does something to you, but you don\u2019t know you\u2019re being worked upon – and it\u2019s actually Peter that\u2019s just using his characters to draw you down the line.\u00a0 As a visionary, the way that he describes the world that you\u2019re about to enter is like a child getting excited about something they\u2019ve just seen or imagined, and then of course he has his concept artists, who show you pictures – so I don\u2019t ever remember really seeing a greenscreen, because my head was filled with Pete\u2019s dragon bursting through the door, that he\u2019d just described to me – and so for some reason you see it.\u00a0 It\u2019s crazy – his imagination is so vivid that you see it!<\/p>\n

Q. Who is your favourite Lord of the Rings<\/em> character?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Grima Wormtongue.\u00a0 That\u2019s my kind of role.\u00a0 Yeah – I think that slimy, grizzly little \u2026 you know, I love it. If I was in Rings<\/em>, I\u2019d want to play that role.<\/p>\n

Q. What kind of physical training did you have to go through for your action scenes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: We trained physically with a Canadian actually, called Terry Notary, who taught us to move and walk like a dwarf, run like a dwarf \u2026 but in terms of fighting we all carried very specific weapons, hammers, axes \u2026 so the fighting was very styled around whatever weapon you were using.\u00a0 I talked about Orcrist earlier on … but I worked very closely with my stunt double. We trained with each other. We did circuit training with the stunt team pretty much every day \u2026 not necessarily when we got into filming; but it was intense.\u00a0 We worked out what our strengths and weaknesses were. The weight we were carrying meant that I had to work hard to strengthen my back and my arms, to wield the weapons.<\/p>\n

GD: When you were creating the backstory for Thorin, did you find a way to translate dwarf years into human years? It seems hard to relate his dwarf age and the point he has reached in his life to human terms…<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: I did try to do that, but it\u2019s sort of like trying to convert cash in a country that is prohibitively expensive.\u00a0 I stopped trying, because I just couldn\u2019t imagine \u2026 he\u2019s sort of about sixty in human years, but it doesn\u2019t really make sense.\u00a0 The thing that I was really interested in is that dwarves get harder with age.\u00a0 The best warriors on the battlefield will be the oldest men, which is kind of at odds with how human beings are. We see our younger men as fitter.\u00a0 But I remember, when we designed the oakenshield, it was something that I had in my head before I went down to New Zealand \u2026 I remember being a bit nervous about it and saying to Pete, \u201cLook, I\u2019ve got this idea for literally having an oakenshield.\u201d\u00a0 He said, “Well go and sketch it for me\u201d – so I drew it for him and he said, \u201cOK, I\u2019ll send that to WETA and see what they do.\u201d\u00a0 And they came up with this design \u2026 but I remember saying to him,\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s the same piece of branch that he used at Azanulbizar to defend himself, and he\u2019s kept it and it\u2019s hardened with age.\u00a0 It\u2019s become like iron.\u201d\u00a0 And I think that represents dwarves – I think they just get tougher with age.\u00a0 They slow down, but they become more efficient, they become more stoical. So that was my way of dealing with the fact that I\u2019m not a sixty year old guy \u2026 that actually it would be possible for this character to fight on the battlefield, and still have the potential to be a King.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s maybe why they cast a 40 year old \u2026 I know it was controversial, that people thought that I was too young to do it, but that was the way it was…<\/p>\n

Q. Could you talk about the dynamic of working with Andy Serkis in second unit?\u00a0 And was there any residue of Guillermo del Toro\u2019s touch on the project by the time you joined?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Having Andy as Second Unit director was possibly one of Pete\u2019s best decisions, because normally a second unit is about mopping up odd shots where people pick things up from tables; but Andy\u2019s unit, it was as exciting to go and work on his unit as it was on Peter\u2019s unit.\u00a0 It was as creative; and I think there are some incredible shots that remain in the film that are all Andy\u2019s work.\u00a0 Also, his understanding of Middle-earth and being an actor only ever benefitted what we did – and he\u2019s as relentless and ruthless as Peter is.\u00a0 He pushes actors – and actually he has no sympathy for when you\u2019re tired – and that\u2019s what you want, you want a director who\u2019s like, \u2018I don\u2019t care how tired you are, we\u2019ll do three more takes.\u2019<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about the residue from del Toro because I never saw what was his and what wasn\u2019t, and I think that\u2019s right.\u00a0 I do suspect that there is a certain creature left in the film which is all del Toro – and I\u2019ll leave that for you to decide – but I think it\u2019s very, very evident.\u00a0 But it\u2019s seamless, because you know, they have similar tastes.<\/p>\n

Q. Working within a fantasy realm, you have so many choices about what you can do with a character; but at the same time, you\u2019re playing a character who is very well known culturally, so you have to stay true to that. How do you balance that myriad of choices with keeping the fans and scholars happy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: By always staying with the novel.\u00a0 I am one of those readers that read that book as a child, read it as an adult \u2026 I\u2019m one of the fans that doesn\u2019t want to see this character ruined by some idiot actor that thinks he knows better than Tolkien, so I always went back to Tolkien.\u00a0 I had the book with me throughout filming \u2026 if ever I got lost, I was always back in the book, so that\u2019s the only way I could honour the character.<\/p>\n

Q. Are you ready for the huge international awareness there is about to be of you, as an actor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Um – how do I get ready…? Tell me!\u00a0 I don\u2019t know!\u00a0 It\u2019s not something I\u2019ve ever thought about. I just do the work that I do and I try to do it well.\u00a0 I still hope that I can ride a subway – I think I will.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I look particularly much like the guy in that picture … seriously, I don\u2019t. I just hope that people enjoy the film, and maybe if I get recognised in the street, fingers crossed they might come up and say, \u2018You did a good job!\u2019 – that\u2019s all I hope.\u00a0 If they start throwing tomatoes at me, then I\u2019ll be in trouble.<\/p>\n

[GD interjects – \u2018You\u2019re a lot taller in person!\u2019]<\/em><\/p>\n

RA: [laughing]<\/em>\u00a0 I\u2019m taller – exactly! Yeah they won\u2019t even notice me…<\/p>\n

Q. You\u2019ve played soldiers before.\u00a0 How did the warfare in Middle-earth compare, and what\u2019s it like to represent that kind of epic battle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Again, it goes back to Tolkien.\u00a0 Tolkien wrote this in 1937.\u00a0 He\u2019d experienced World War I – he\u2019d lost very, very close friends at the Somme … I think that his experience of war is what he writes about; his fear of stepping out of his door and facing extreme danger.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know \u2026 I think that you just look at what\u2019s happening with troops [now] and you\u2019ve just got to \u2026 you can\u2019t represent what\u2019s happening now, but there\u2019s a universal understanding of ordinary man being called upon to do that, and that\u2019s what Tolkien writes about; and you just have to connect with it and understand it.<\/p>\n

Q. How does it feel to be finally sharing this film with fans and audiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Martin and I talked about this \u2026 because we both forgot that there\u2019s actually going to be a film at the end of it!\u00a0 The experience was so epic, and so fulfilling, I don\u2019t even think about the end product.\u00a0 The experience of making it was enough.\u00a0 And then, come Wellington and the premiere, it was like, \u2018Oh yeah! We\u2019ve got a film to watch!\u00a0 And look at all these hundreds of thousands of people who are going to watch it with us!\u2019\u00a0 It was a surprise! [laughs]<\/em>\u00a0 So … but I\u2019m really looking forward to 12th December when everyone gets to share it – because they\u2019ll start to understand what we went through.<\/p>\n

Q. Was there any prop or costume piece which you wanted to keep?<\/strong><\/p>\n

RA: Do you know, on the last day of shooting I was given Orcrist [pauses]<\/em> \u2026 and the Oakenshield [pauses]<\/em> \u2026 AND the key to the door [pauses, laughs]<\/em> \u2026 AND the map.\u00a0 So yeah – I pretty much got the entire kit.\u00a0 I can go on that journey and … yeah.\u00a0 I got it all.\u00a0 I\u2019m a lucky boy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Armitage is a lucky boy; or so he says.\u00a0 I think those of us who had the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":66883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22,1300,4,496,1292,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-hobbit-cast-news","category-hobbit-movie","category-production","category-richard-armitage","category-hobbit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/richard-a.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-hoK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66886,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66882\/revisions\/66886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}