After the major hit that was Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was a no-brainer that New Line Cinema would have the director back to helm a new set of films covering another time in Middle-earth. But similar to Amazon Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, The Hobbit movies, which came out in the early 2010s, just weren’t as good as they could’ve been.
Though we have no indication that would make us believe The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage doesn’t like the movies — in fact, he seemed to enjoy filming them — apparently working on the series has soured him from the genre altogether! We shouldn’t expect him to take on any other fantasy roles anytime soon.
The Hobbit’s Richard Armitage: Fantasy is “not my thing”
During an interview on the Radio Times Podcast, the Thorin Oakenshield actor, when discussing what he’s watching, was asked if he has a “telly turn-off.” And though he prefaced his answer by saying he doesn’t really have one, he managed to think of something on the spot that he admitted some might “hate ” for saying:
"I think after maybe two and a half years of Middle-earth, I’m not drawn to fantasy so much anymore. I’ve seen [it], I’ve done it, it’s not my thing."
It’s a surprising answer, but to each their own. We certainly cannot expect the actors who bring some of our favorite characters to life to love the stories and genres as much as we do, though it’s more fun when they do.
Amazon’s highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings show premiered last fall and while it became apparent very early on that they spent a ton of money for it to look awesome, the overall story was a disappointment. The series received generally positive reviews from critics, but understandably J. R. R. Tolkien fans were not pleased with the unnecessary changes made to his world. It’s difficult to figure out who the target audience is, but I think it’s safe to assume it’s not Armitage.
If fantasy is your thing and you’re looking forward to the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it’s expected to be released sometime in 2024.
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