26 LEICESTER MERCURY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013 LDM-E01-S2 LM03w w w.thisisleicestershire.co.uk

Fans in clamour foractor to become king

BIG SCREEN: FILM AND TV STAR HAS SPOKEN OF INTEREST IN TELLING RICHARD’S TALE

by GEMMA PEPLOWLeicestershire actor RichardArmitage has spoken severaltimes about his interest inKing Richard III and ideas totell his story on the bigscreen or on the stage.

And his own army of fansfrom all corners of the worldare right behind him.

Roswitha Gerhart, who livesin Munich, Germany, has co-launched an online “suppor tn e t wo rk ” for a film or theatreproduction, and more than1,100 fans have signed up.

Richard Armitage, who mostrecently played dwarf ThorinOakenshield in The Hobbit,was named after the last Plant-agenet king, and has spokenabout his story in many public-ations – including the LeicesterM e rc u r y ’s More magazine lastmonth.

During the interview, he said:“I managed to get home and seemy parents in Huncote whenwe finished filming The Hobbitin New Zealand.

“It was just as they were find-ing the Richard III bones inthat car park. I’m excited tohear about the findings ofthis DNA, I’ve watched withi n t e re s t .

“Richard III, now that’s a play.I was named after him. Myf ather’s a historical fanaticabout his character and I’ve in-herited that enthusiasm, but Iknow by the time I get thechance I’ll be too old and tootall to play the role.

“I’d somehow like to realisethat part of history.”

Roswitha, who has been a fanof the actor since seeing him inBBC drama Spooks, said sheand other fans wanted to dosomething to show support.

“For some time, fans had beendiscussing Mr Armitage’s in-terest in King Richard III onblogs and forums, but withoutmuch or any support or in-terest from the industry,” shetold the Mercury.

“Another blogger and I got to-gether and we were brain-storming about how to dosomething to support the ideaand Mr Armitage’s interest inKing Richard III.

“We wanted to call attention

to his ideas and show largeraudiences that his fans andothers supported them.

“We came up with a petitionidea. We want to give him somebacking to show to investors, todemonstrate people around theworld are interested in a filmproject about King Richard III.

“The interest already iswo rl dw i d e. ”

Roswitha said she had beenfollowing the search for thebones of Richard III.

“Richard III strongly arousesmy sense of fairness andj u s t i c e, ”she said.

“In my view, film is the onlyway to truly show the scale ofthe subject – the significance ofRichard III’s grand ambitionsand the disastrous defeats.

“I know how hard it is to findbacking for ambitious projects– especially when they concernh i s t o r y. ”

http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com STARRING ROLE: Richard Armitage is interested in the story

INTEREST: King Richard III

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