Richard Armitage on Obsession: 'I knew it would be intense before I read the script'

Obsession is the latest adaptation of Josephine Hart’s 1991 novel Damage – that era’s equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey – although you wouldn’t know it from the film starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche that came out a year later and largely avoided the bondage elements.

There is no such omission in the new version. Over four hours, Armitage’s 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?

“I knew that it would be intense before I even read the script,” he remembers. “Everyone was asking, ‘Is this a temperature you’re comfortable with?’ I said, ‘Bring it on. Let’s not be British about this.’ That prudishness is, I think, not cool. I love watching French movies where they’re more like: ‘This is the body, this is the body moving in life, this is the body in intimacy…’ This is a great opportunity to look at human interaction in a really intense way, which becomes a fatal attraction. It’s almost like a man who has experienced heroin and cannot walk away from it.”

The series rides on the frisson between Armitage and his co-star Murphy, which it transpires blossomed on and off screen. “I went in for a chemistry read, she came and gave me a big hug, everyone else went into blurred focus,” he recalls. “I deliberately kept a slight distance as I didn’t want to be comfortable around her, but we created a cocoon for ourselves to talk, discuss, rehearse, find our way through the physical stuff.

“I 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’d been looking after each other, and here she was saying goodbye.”

The obsession of the title is William’s undoing, but it’s also his epiphany. “I want the audience to put themselves in the shoes of that character and ask, ‘What choice would I make?’” says Armitage.

Has he ever jumped off a similar cliff? “Yes,” he says calmly. “Because I’m 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 – or I did.”

He laughs at himself. “Nobody died. If I could turn back the clock, I’d make a different choice. There must be people out there who’ve made those fatal choices. When you’re young you dream about that sensation of being swept off your feet. People struggle with commitment because they’re waiting for it. Those who have been swept away, they’re either drowning or they’ve found dry land.”

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Similar passions were evident but suitably buttoned up in Armitage’s breakout role as brooding mill owner John Thornton in the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. Hailed as the “new Mr Darcy”, he moved on to Spooks as tall, dark and brooding hero Lucas North. However, according to the actor, primetime stardom was never the plan.

“I was never interested in being TV’s Mr Armitage,” he remembers. “I didn’t 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’d done more theatre; I still hope I might get the chance to do more. With theatre, you’re on a runaway train. I love that feeling of ‘I’ve started, I cannot stop.’”

When I last interviewed Armitage –a far more circumspect version at the centre of a billion-dollar Hobbit franchise, in which he played the Dwarves’ leader Thorin Oakenshield – I got the impression that he’d enjoyed laying low in New Zealand, where the films were made. “I was hiding,” he agrees. Even though as a star of the world’s biggest film series, the industry was surely his oyster? “Kind of,” he pauses. “But the oyster is slowly closing. It’s a moment in time.

“I came late to the whole profession. I never had any illusions. I thought, ‘This is a very short window, make the most of it, at some point the phone will stop ringing. Make sure you don’t shut anything down, keep every door open – writing, theatre, and your ties to your homeland. Your roots are here. You will return.’”

One of those strands is audiobooks. “A lot of people turn their noses up, but I thought, ‘They might not want your face any more, but they’ll still listen to your voice,’” he says. Indeed, his distinctive baritone is a rare and beautiful thing. Does he sing in the shower? “Oh yes, I look after my voice. It’s a tool and if [you] sound a certain way, people will either draw you in or push you away.”

Besides the purity of his instrument, Armitage’s success in the audio sphere has led to his own work being commissioned. “I have four books planned, and the first one is probably going into development for television.”

Has the fact that he’s Richard Armitage got anything to do with that? “Possibly,” he concedes. “I’m hoping that if my name wasn’t on the cover, they might still enjoy the story. Losing myself in the writing process is the most pleasurable thing I’ve experienced.”

He won’t 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’s about to star in a third. Is he Coben’s muse? “I’m one of the Harlan Coben ensemble. I don’t think I should do any more. Three’s enough, if not too many!”

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 “skiing, going to the theatre, listening to music, eating. I tend to go the gym a lot”. 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?

“[Coming out] happened when I was 19 – to anybody who mattered – and I was always waiting for that question to punch me in the face, and it never did. I thought, ‘Are people being polite, or is it that they don’t want to know?’ I don’t 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, ‘Let the work speak for itself.’

“I 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’m saying it’s fixed and I don’t know that, or if I might feel something for somebody further down the line. I doubt it, but I don’t know. It’s more relaxed now. As a writer and producer, I do wonder if anybody has to be defined by who they’re in love with.”

Looking back on his Robin Hood and Spooks days, Armitage has always convinced as a dashing, presumably straight, hero. He says now, “I’ve always been very clear with myself: this is them, this is the bit that’s 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’s probably no, it’s got to be. Sexuality is currency in drama.”

What about roles going forward? “I’m not panicking about that. Maybe I would have been in my 20s, but I would hope that people starting out on their career have the courage and bravery to be who they are.”

And he’d do nothing differently himself. “Some actors want to put themselves on screen, I never did. All I’m interested in is the work. If the article is about you and not the work you’re promoting, you’ve done something wrong.”

Despite having so many projects on the go, Armitage remains pragmatic. “I always have my eye on the fact that I’m in decline.” Smiling, he continues: “The oyster’s still closing. All it takes is someone to take a dislike to you, or the wind to blow in the wrong direction and your ability to earn money is over. I’m exploring lots of ways to satisfy my creative need, which might not be on film any more. As long as I can keep telling stories in whatever form, I’d like to be somebody who creates work for people.”

In the meantime, millions of people are going to see his bare bottom in their living rooms. Armitage cries, “God help me!” But it’s clear he’s not really bothered. “Just be a bit French about it, I say. Laissez faire.”

Read More:

• Obsession cast: Full list of actors and characters in Netflix series
• Obsession ending explained: What happens to Anna and William?
• Netflix's Obsession fails in what it sets out to do as an erotic thriller
• Richard Armitage reveals all about Obsession: 'Let's not be British about it'
• Who is Charlie Murphy? Meet Obsession and Happy Valley star
• Richard Armitage on Obsession: 'I knew it would be intense before I read the script'

Obsession is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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