Leading Man Richard Armitage Casually Drops That He’s Gay In New Interview About “Obsession”
Richard Armitage has come out publicly as LGBTQIA+ in a recent interview with Radio Times. Armitage has a starring role in a new Netflix series Obsession and he opened up about his thoughts on his full-frontal nude scene, his acting career and putting the work first, and his queerness.
Armitage will be in Obsession where he talks about embracing his character
Armitage is best known for his roles in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and films such as Ocean’s 8, Into The Storm and The Man From Rome. The upcoming series Obsession will star Armitage as a surgeon who begins an intense infatuation with his son’s fiancé, reports Radio Times.
Speaking about the role, the 51-year-old actor reveals he felt comfortable with the full-frontal scenes by channelling his energy into his character. “So, ‘This is William’s body, it’s not your body.’ It doesn’t cut you off from it but it frees you up a bit more. It makes it a safer territory because you’re not discussing your body parts, they belong to somebody else. You hand yourself over,” he says.
He further reveals personal details about his sexuality
Many know Armitage for playing straight, leading man roles in either drama or fantasy roles. It comes as a surprise to many fans that he is openly gay. In his Radio Times interview Armitage casually drops the fact that he’s gay and it’s something he reportedly always expected to be asked about.
“[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,” he says. “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’.”
Many fans have expressed shock at this announcement despite Armitage claiming his queerness was never an active secret. One thing the actor does admit is that he feels declarations mean there’s a sort of finality about his identity that he doesn’t feel is quite correct.
“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,” he says. “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.”
Obsession is airing on Netflix and stars Meera Syal and Alex Ferns alongside Richard Armitage.
