Comparative Smoldering: An earlier Richard Armitage the BAFTA Tea Party pics brought to mind
An early smolder: Richard Armitage on a red carpet, December 7, 2007.
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Richard Armitage, Los Angeles, August 21, 2013.
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For some reason this comparison has been in my mind since I saw the pictures the lower one comes from.
Me + Richard Armitage 
My how one does change over the years. The hair by itself speaks volumes and then there are the clothes. In that earlier photo I have no problem believing he dressed himself compared to the latest photo. He has learned a great deal in the span of that time though still not completely managing to be totally successful. Still it is more than enough. It will be interesting to see the comments that roll in with this photo. I very much prefer the newer photo in many ways because the clothes from what I can see are well just awful really. Personal opinion of course. He looks so beautiful now. One could say he was unpolished by then but I wonder what has been lost in those years and I’m sure you know what I mean Serv. In this business you don’t go through this process of change without losing something of yourself and I wonder how much he has given up.
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I do see that both pictures are very close, but I like the new one better. Love the stubble and when he wears blue. It makes his eyes pop. The hair is also a bit more curly, and he is oh so handsome.
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He looks deliciously the same yet different….wow, what a difference in just six years!
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I think so too, Lamaruca :)..maybe it’s because he doesn’t abuses his body with drugs and alkohol?
For some reason I prefer *smoldering* from the top photo ,he looks like a plain mortal in those days 😉
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I always thought he looked like he was wearing a pajama top in the top photo. It looks like he reached into his closet with his eyes closed and just pulled out whatever and put it on. I much prefer the newer photo. His masculine beauty has further matured and I think he’s gained greater confidence in himself at such events.
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I imagine he was trying to match the shirt to the maroon pinstripe in the jacket.
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I prefer the second photo but there is this tiny little hair sweeping across his forehead that is making me nuts.
Go Figure.
Is it just me or is he really a man whose hair is getting thicker and more lush as he hits his forties…what the h*** man, could you attempt some humanity on some level here…you’re killing me.
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I think all that hair dying and/or stress might have thinned it. So maybe he and the follicles got a rest. Or it was “helped” along. Anyway, it’s delicious now.
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It’s also possible the texture of his hair is changing as he grows older*and more grey beneath any hair color). My husband’s hair, which was always rather fine, has grown increasingly more wavy/curly and heavier in texture (even as it has thinned out some) and my own thick medium texture hair is coarser with much more wave and curl. Of course, we are older than RA, but it’s been happening for a while . . . and who knows? Maybe he did have a little help. All I can say is–well done! 😀
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Yes, that is a very strong possibility there also. Mine has done the same – gone from bone straight to much curlier and thicker with the gray. 🙂
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I always had some wave, but nothing compared to now, and my older sister’s was super-straight and now hers is almost as wavy as mine (and she is almost completely grey/white. I would be, too, if I didn’t hit the bottle—of hair color).
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I will “hit the bottle” for as long as I possibly can as well. 😉
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I will stop in a few years. I hate hair dye but feel to young to go grey right now, and the current mixture of brown and white is not very attractive. When I’m a few years older and have more white, I will stop. And I won’t go back once the cat is out of the bag.
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My mother has shock-white hair with a beautiful sheen. I am looking forward to that. But like you, until that time…
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mmmh… I always have straight hair and still straight as spaghetti (only grey if I don’t take my measures!). He had very thin and sparse hair in 2010 when filming Captain America. In the scene when HK dies his hair are really scaring thin.
It could be that, stopping dyeing intensively (just many months of TH filming with wig so no need to dye and smooth his hair), he had some improvement. Or that he had some *help* as for teeth 😉 Apparently hair seems natural but who knows?
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I also wonder if he had “help” with his hair and I wonder what happened to the under-eye crinkles and if he might have tried a tiny bit of botox in LA. It looks suspiciously smooths and I don’t think those pics are photoshopped like pics from photoshots tend to be. Or he has been to a very good make up artist before.
I think I prefer the old Richard, meaning the younger in the old pic. He looked more real and more like someone I could relate to. And I really liked his blunders when it comes to dressing himself. The guy who wore what looked like pyjama top is someone I could imagine to talk to at a party.
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He really does look good, but I did notice his “eye character” (which I love) is less pronounced.
There are some higher end, intensive treatments available out there involving fruit acids like Alpha Hydroxy and Glycolic Acid and or the Liquid Nitrogen Peel, which are a lot less extreme or intrusive. I say this because he really doesn’t strike me as someone who would Botox his face, nor do I see evidence of what I call “the Botox Puff” from such a thing.
We certainly don’t know how deep his vanity goes (Leo), nor how much “LA influence” there has been, but his profession certainly supports and encourages such a thing.
I personally have alternately been using low percentage over-the-counter fruit acids like Alpha Hydroxy and Glycolic Acid for years. These keep minor wrinkles as bay and also lighten the skin a little (I am freckled, so lighter there also). But I have no crows feet and I do believe I can attribute it to these fruit acids a bit. (But I also stay out of the sun and don’t smoke, but neither do I smile for a living. 🙂 ) And Richard’s face does seem to “glow” these days.
The “pajama top” man at the party – that would be my guy, exactly. But I wouldn’t approach him until after my second or third glass of wine. 😉
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I suspect, knowing how much he uses his facial features to express his emotions in his acting he’d be a little leery of Botox and its possible side-effects. I think the various topical treatments such as CC has discussed are a more likely scenario. We already know he believes in moisturizing (as do I, along with avoiding too much sun and I’ve never smoked). If he has had anything more drastic done, they did a very, very good job. Ideally, I’ve heard cosmetic procedures should make you look rested and refreshed, not like a different person or ethnicity (as sometimes happens). Still plenty of character there, yet also a face that can be marketed for various types of roles and in a fairly broad age range.
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Exactly. Still plenty of character there, and ripe for so many, many rolls. The only thing he couldn’t possibly do – but I don’t think he ever really could, even when he was – is play a teenager.
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True. After all, when he was 14, he had already reached his full height. Apparently people treated him as a grownup instead of the kid he still actually was. But one of the things I noted when he played Bateman—and yes, some of this was due to hair and wardrobe and the greater fullness of the face due to still carrying the extra Porter muscles—but he really seemed to become younger, more callow and immature as the Bateman persona overrode Lucas. I am impressed with his range.
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I agree. He looked younger, but better still he “sold” younger well.
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I guess I have to look closely when pics or videos appear where his face is more animated then in the red carpet pics. It is hard to tell when there is not much movement in his face anyway. To be honest, his under eye area was quite wrinkly recently and after all, he is in competition with younger actors. But maybe it is just a good under eye concealer.
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I think the prosthetic attachment (eye stinging adhesives) and removal process (alcohol) was unkind to his skin and eyes overall. So slow recovery is probably happening and chances are the repair process is being helped along.
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I really don’t see much difference between the two pics. He’s aged very well, the stubble does miracle for his face (beard is even better imho) and he is probably a bit more confident in second photo. Clothes were perfectly matched in the first pic: bordeaux shirt is perfect under the black striped jacket, since stripes are white and bordeaux. Also very fine shirt with black rims. Tres chic. You feel it as odd because of the tailoring of the jacket. Collars were larger some years ago, today we are used to very small ones. Other way, he was perfect. At least no brown shoes on grey outfit.
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I think he just looks a bit tired in the earlier photo. Also the yellowish lighting doesn’t do him justice — it makes his skin look sallow. Love his confident look in the recent photo, plus his lush hair!!
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No, the lighting certainly doesn’t do him any favors in the earlier photo. I love that air of quiet confidence he exudes these days—very appealing.
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Regardless, his eyes ensnare me, and I’m beyond smitten.
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Oh yes. His eyes are totally magnetic. The eyes of a sorceror.
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I concur. Mmmm.
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Having no dress sense myself I sympathise with him when he’s had to choose his own outfit for a public appearance. The pressure must be great when he knows people are going to pay attention to what he wears.
What I notice about earlier pics compared to more recent ones, is that
his experience with the camera has grown so much.
Does he hate having his picture taken or does he not mind it ? Looking at him now, you’d have no idea either way.
That intense look or a bright smile draw you right in.
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It’s called age and stubble. He HAS grown more comfortable with the red carpet thing, but I can’t really tell the difference in both shots. I think the lighting in the first one is off. Also, I think when he had the “big chop”, and started growing his natural hair back really helped. He just looks healthier to me now.
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I prefer the newer smoulder. To be a purist on the matter, I suppose I should ignore all extraneous distractions such as hair and clothes and focus on the perfection of the face. Sigh, better not, too much smoulder can be dangerous, leading to heart palpitations and too many hours in thrall to the internet. Too late, just spent 20 minutes going back and forth between smouldering photos.
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The expression is identical in both pictures. It would be even more obvious if the earlier photo were shot as close up as the second. I think the difference in his hair is due to the type pf product and the fact that it was probably a little damaged in 2006. There is no curl or wave. I don’t think he’d be going through any hormonal changes between 42 and 36 and I don’t think he has enough gray in the front of his hair to change the texture. He hasn’t used as much heat as often on his hair lately as he did before ( the whole NZ experience gave his hair a rest and he also cut it very short a few times and just let it grow in – all good things to do t repair hair) His hairline appears to be the same as it was. Close upshots from Captain America during the fight scene confirm this.
Whether he’s had help, as Crystal suggests, I suspect it would’ve been on the crown, not the front. (There’s a suspicious archery photo of him in NZ shot from above- but it could be something in the edit.And if so, good for him. I’m a proponent of using science when necessary, especially when one’s livelihood is affected.
Also, though we don’t see too many earlier candid shots of him on the street or going about his business in 2006, he doesn’t tend to wear hats (the ubiquitous baseball cap ( just that one cap outside the BBC studios), so I don’t think he has a serious problem yet in the front. We see his real hairline all the time during the Hobbit vlogs.
This time, I prefer the recent shot. But that’s Guy of Gisborne in the first,minus the guyliner – not too shabby.
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I don’t know why but I feel that on the first picture his eyes are more joyful.
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yeah.
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I always thought that the new pics are very similar to the TH premiere in NYC. http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/Richard/EventsandAppearances/USPremiere/album/slides/NYPremiere-48.html
Stunningly beautiful, very mature, very confident, very on top of the scene. Very good form him (I hope). He learnt to cope with the limelight very well, and seems to be quite at ease when being in the focus. Although it is only *seems to be* for me. I am not absolutely convinced. The gap in behaviour and dealing with the media between the DVD promo in March and the PopcornTaxi event in May is too obvious. Might as well be there had been some (lots of?) personal coaching. Or he prepared his role as *RA for public appearance* very intensively.
Just me little girl is dreaming over his pics from some years ago. He seemed so more realistic, so much more approchable. And more joyful – yes, I agree. The new pics are beautiful. And somehow frightening.
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I agree he must have studied how to approach public and press. It’s so evident from Popcorn Taxi Q&A and the few interviews he did in Sydney in May. I’m really curious to verify this on the new press junket for DoS.
I must confess I don’t see any difference on his expression, he doesn’t seem happier in the first image to me. But then, not every day is the same, even if you are an actor and you have to face photographers. In Sydney he was simply stunning, full of joy and humor. He was also full of enthusiasm about new projects he was in race for (we still don’t know if he won any of the roles he spoke of) and happy because in less than a month he would have been Thorin again. He declared to The Vine that he would not have changed anything in life with the work he was going to do for TH. We ignore what has happened to him after the end of the pick ups but we surely can’t judge by some pics taken in a hot sunny LA for an annoying pre-Emmy event 😉
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Certainly I do give it to him that not every day is the same. Especially not a day with an annoying marketing event. Everything else would be too much to ask for. It’s just that he is so much more radiating *superstar* than only a few months ago. And to me this is indeed frightening. But that‘s just silly me…. 🙂
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no, I think it’s the fear of many, including me. Simply, I fail to notice the superstar radiating from him. To me he was the same RA as usual, shy, not so much smiling and with the air of *what the h**l I’m doing here* 😉
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Same captivating eyes, more confidence. Would it be good if he hadn’t changed in six years? I don’t think so.
And oh my, is he aging beautifully!
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The years and experience have been very kind to Mr. Armitage.
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Ich schaute ihm in die Augen … Ich lächelte, als ich plötzlich an einen König dachte, der mit einem anderen Berühren alles in Gold verwandelte…. RA, also nicht golden sein, aber ein viel würdiger Mensch sein. Vor allem menschlich und menschlich schön, obwohl glücklicherweise nicht unbedingt ideal.
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well put.
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What clothes?
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The brows look darker in the early photo and now I’d say they are plucked and the hair is combed properly. The stubble is more evident and that hides some of the lines. You are all right the look is the same just more refined and as I said before he has learned a great deal in that time. We all do as we grow up so to speak and for an actor it is even more important. You learn what to wear, how to stand and how to look. If you do it right you come out looking as good as the second photo and yet retain much of the first look only looking more polished. I do feel though that the first photo makes one feel like you are seeing the real Richard, the one you might have felt a bit more at ease with but now we have the “Woof” photo and there is that man again so he is still there inside.
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I’m definitely getting the same attitude vibe from the two pix. Although, he must have still been a bit Lucas emaciated in the earlier photo. And the more recent portrait? *THUD*
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Loved reading all these comments — thanks for substantiating my hypothesis that this could be an interesting / productive comparison to discuss.
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