Thank you Robin Sheppard: John Standring / Richard Armitage appreciation post

What’s your favorite Standring moment?

How many of us fell wholly or partially in love with John Standring?

Richard Armitage:

“What happened with Sparkhouse was that the role was against type and I thought it was up to me to make sure they couldn’t give it to anybody else.

“It was the first time I went into an audition in character. It was a minor role but it was something I really got my teeth into and I realised that not getting work was perhaps to do with me and the way I was approaching it. I couldn’t go back.

“I knew that I had to approach everything in the same way.”

Richard Armitage as John Standring in episode 1 of Sparkhouse. I can’t help noting that this was before his post-2004 dental work.

Richard Armitage, from BBC press pack:

“John always hopes that she will grow to love him as their relationship changes over the years,” explains Richard Armitage. “He has an affection for her which I feel was based on a need for nurturing rather than on a sexual need. He is very protective of her because of the lack of love she has from her mother and the way her father treats her. But there is a simplicity to John; he doesn’t always understand all the nuances of what is going on around him. In some ways he is like an old man on the outside, but there is a real naivety about him – he’s a kind of ‘young fogie’,” laughs Richard. “He is completely inexperienced with women and incredibly nervous about any kind of sexual contact. Inside, he is just an inexperienced boy who can’t express himself very well. So it was really interesting to play when this big burly bloke finally opens up to show this vulnerable child inside.”

Remember that painful scene in episode 1 where John tries to give Carol a necklace that had been his mother’s? Armitage included it in his last pre-Hobbit showreel, from 2008.

In Sparkhouse, Richard Armitage proved in his first longer outing that no-one will ever understand how to play humiliation as well as he does.

We loved him and we smiled wryly.

A favorite John Standring comic moment, from episode 2 of Sparkhouse.

And then, in episode 3, he cleaned WAY up.

John Standring after his haircut, in episode 3 of Sparkhouse.

And in Sparkhouse, Richard Armitage gave us one most his most tender screen moments — unrivaled among his best ever — when he moves into Carol’s farmhouse after their wedding.

Who could forget this? “Don’t think you can’t tell me things.”

I have spent a lot of time pondering what happened after the end of Sparkhouse. To me that’s the stamp of approval on a great performance: that you can’t get the character out of your mind afterwards. Standring has stayed with many of us for years.

Are you reading for a rewatch? Check it out here:

It is worth watching the whole thing, but if you’ve only got time for a targeted rewatch, here’s one:

So — what IS your favorite John Standring moment?

~ by Servetus on March 9, 2018.