Overseas Press
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Strong Bow - Newcomer
Jonas Armstrong Is On Target In BBC America's "Robin Hood." By Ryan A.
Berenz
published April 2007
 When I met British
actor Jonas Armstrong at a Los Angeles-area hotel, he had just
celebrated his birthday on New Year's Day (he was reportedly the first
child born in Ireland in 1981). "I took my little brother away on
holiday. We went to Egypt," he says of his birthday celebration. "I
have to say that I was a bit pissed off, because I just turned 26, my
brother's 19. So you kind of have a short list of what you want on a
holiday, and on that that short list of what there was, we didn't
manage to check any boxes. There was just nothing there. There were no
women, there were no bars, there was no sun, the beach was full of
rocks, the water was cold, it was cloudy and it was expensive and the
food was crap. So all and all it was a bit of a downer."
Hopefully Armstrong's first trip
to the U.S. for BBC America's Robin Hood presentation at the winter
cable press tour was more fun than the Egyptian excursion. On the
flight over, he met British comedy queen Jennifer Saunders, and later
in the evening there was a party with buxom wenches serving mead and TV
writers being coaxed into reluctantly dancing what must've been
Shakespeare's version of the Electric Slide. Huzzah!
BBC America's Robin Hood is a modern take on the legend of Robin Hood
(Armstrong) and his Merry Men, who go about righting wrongs and
subverting the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham. In this adaptation,
Robin, Earl of Huntingdon, returns from battling in the Crusades, only
to find England fraught with greed and poverty, and the peasantry
oppressed by taxation and unscrupulous lawmen. Robin and his band, with
the lovely Maid Marian (newcomer Lucy Griffiths), try to fix England's
ills -- with plenty of action, adventure, romance and even some
cheekiness along the way.
And I said, 'It was crap. They
hate me. It was awful. I felt really embarrassed. I didn't perform
properly.'One might think that landing a the starring role as a
legendary English figure in a BBC series would inflate an ego, but
Armstrong is charming, humble and committed, understanding how hard
he's worked to get this opportunity. Upon finishing work on a series
called The Ghost Squad in 2005, Armstrong struggled to find steady work
as an actor. "I spoke to my agent and said, 'I'm getting a bit worried.
I'm having meetings but I'm not hitting them. I'm not getting them.
I've lost a bit of confidence.' And I'd just been in a meeting for this
thing called Losing Gemma. And I said, 'It was crap. They hate me. It
was awful. I felt really embarrassed. I didn't perform properly.'" But
a week later, he was offered the part in the film. It was about the
same time that the BBC was casting Robin Hood. "I got a call saying
I've got a meeting for Robin Hood. I knew the BBC were doing it, so I
went along. My agent said, 'It's for Robin.' I said, 'That's
ridiculous. I'm never going to get cast as Robin Hood. Never.' She
goes, 'Well, go in and see them. They want to see you.' So I went in
and I wasn't nervous because I didn't think I was going to get it. And
I just went in, read, and I think because I was that relaxed, that
probably put me in a good state of mind. I was quite pleased with what
I did. And of course, I got that [part] as well. So that was in a month
and a half I got two jobs which I didn't think I would ever get. And
that just pulled me out of the depths of despair, and so I was off
working for eight months solid. It was great."
After going to India to film Losing Gemma, Armstrong was off to
Budapest, Hungary, to attend "Hood Academy" -- a two-week training
regimen in archery, fencing, horseback riding and unarmed combat.
Armstrong studied stage combat in drama school, but playing a legendary
archer convincingly would take considerably more training. "When we
arrived, we were hopeless because none of us had ever done it before,"
he says of the cast's lack of skill with a bow and arrow. "We'd go off
if we had a spare 15 minutes ... and we'd try to hit the trees and
stuff. And we started to get better and better, and we could actually
hit the tree." Armstrong was a novice on a horse, too, but became a
pretty good horseman with practice. "I'm quite able now. They don't get
worried when I'm on the horse," he says. "I'm able to kind of get him
up on two hind legs and turn around and kick him, and off we go. That
is probably my favorite aspect of the show, is getting on my horse."
With all the running around in Sherwood Forest, clanging swords and
throwing punches, there were plenty of chances for the cast to do some
damage during filming. "Thank God, I was OK," Armstrong says, relieved.
"A few of the other guys didn't fare so well. Keith Allen -- he plays
the Sheriff -- he came off a horse and damaged himself. I'm not going
to say where he damaged himself but it was right kind of in the
midsection. [laughs] So he damaged himself. And Sam Troughton, who
plays Much -- he was forever falling over. And that's just simple
things like running around, which you'd think any able-bodied male
below the age of 50 would be able to do, but obviously he wasn't able
to do it, bless him. And, hits wise, you do get the odd knock. You do
get the sword smacks around your knuckles, which hurts. You're with
these hard men, these Hungarian stuntmen, and you try to show no pain
because you don't want them to see you as a wimp. And they were all
that much bigger than us, and we felt a bit inferior to them in terms
of physical status, so you have to just get by the by. And I didn't
have any serious injuries. I had bruises and bumps and knocks. It's a
bit painful now and again, but that comes with it. That comes with the
job. And it's a great job to have running around fighting. I just enjoy
it."
This month finds Armstrong and the
Robin Hood cast and crew back in Budapest filming the series' second
season, and Armstrong will take what he's learned about surviving a
six-month shoot in Hungary to good use. "I've learned not to wear
undergarments underneath the costume," he says. "Because it gets
baking. It gets that hot. Middle of Europe, once you get past April,
the temperature just soars." He'll also eat more to keep up his weight
and strength, and drink less to keep up ... well, to keep up. "It's
hard to do that when you're a young, single male with loads of other
lads around. You want to go out and you want to drink. You have to
allow yourself that now and again, but you have to discipline yourself,
because the late nights and the early mornings will take its toll. You
have to be disciplined. I was disciplined, but I'll be more so this
time."
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Swashbuckling show's star
aims to be a merry man - TERRY
MORROW -
Friday, March 2, 2007
PASADENA,
Calif. - Don't try to get rising star Jonas
Armstrong to smile, because he's having none of it.
"My New Year's resolution is to be happy," says the 26-year-old Dublin,
Ireland, native, who's starring in the BBC America production of "Robin
Hood," making its U.S. debut Saturday night.
"My mom thinks it's something spiritual with me. She says, 'You've got
the money. You're able to go and meet girls and all that. You're doing
well.' But sometimes I just sit here, and I get so angry."
The revelation comes 20 minutes into an interview in which Armstrong
has been nothing but pleasant, jovial and smiling.
A bachelor who's not dating
anyone at the moment, Armstrong talks about how he enjoys playing the
swashbuckling Robin Hood and how it's been a boon to his career.
"Robin Hood" became an
enormous hit for the BBC in England. Now the period-piece adventure,
with some comic elements, is coming to American audiences.
So
the world seems to be Armstrong's oyster. Is his nice-guy demeanor
during an interview all an act?
"I
don't know what it is," he says.
"I
just spent a bit of time in Egypt, where I was doing a bit of
reflecting, and I thought: 'You're doing well. You've got a job. Just
be happy.' I'm learning to just (expletive) enjoy myself."
And
that he is.
While he's virtually unknown
in the States, he's highly popular in the United Kingdom - so much so
that he's ducking from paparazzi and being smeared over magazine
covers. In the States, he'd probably be well-suited for the CW
audience, with his chiseled looks and boyish charm.
Early
on, though, his show-business-friendly dimples and quick grin got him
nowhere in the real world.
While
he's found consistent work as an actor since age 19, he hasn't had such
luck in other careers, like washing cars or working the front desk of a
hotel.
"I've been sacked from every
job I had," he says with a laugh. "I never smiled while I was at work.
I don't know why."
His legendary bowman's
charismatic demeanor disarms foes almost as much as his arrows do.
Such
a trait is something that seems to come naturally enough for Armstrong.
Growing up, he had the reputation as the class clown, for better or
worse.
"I
liked getting people to laugh. I liked doing it in a classroom, making
fun of the teachers and that sort of thing," he says. "I made school a
fun place for me. I did do the work. I was able, but I could have
concentrated a lot more than I did."
Armstrong
didn't get into acting until he was 17, when his parents - his dad
works in computers, and his mother is a counselor - thought it might be
the kind of thing in which he could redirect his energy.
He
studied acting for three years at the Royal Academy in London. When his
time there was done, he got an agent and has had steady work since.
But the former grade-school
funnyman has found his bread and butter in more serious roles. He
snared stage work and small TV roles in Great Britain initially.
A year ago he got the lead in
"Robin Hood," and his star took off. The U.S. premiere of the show
could open doors for him in Hollywood, which is what he is aiming for.
Is
he happy now?
"I
am so far," he deadpans. "It's not that far into the new year. Check
back with me later."
Quote
from Terry Morrow:
BEST
MOMENT THAT KEEPS PLAYING IN MY MIND: Walking into my hotel room and
seeing British actor Jonas Armstrong, the BBC's Robin Hood, sitting
with strands of rope all over him, as if he'd been kidnapped. In
actuality, he was sitting in a chair where a lot of party favors had
been left behind.
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Magazine
Scans
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Hello Magazine (thanks bebet)
- here
Media Village March 2007 - here
Knox News 14th March 2007 - here
Scripps News March 2007 (Terry Morrow's interview with Jonas) - here
The Television Beat 10th March 2007 - here
Missy's Window (blog) - here
Comics on the Brain 7th March 2007 - here
Channel Guide Mag March 2007 (actual interview with Jonas) - here
Boston Herald 3rd March 2007 - here
Los Angeles Daily News 3rd March 2007 - here
Los Angeles Times 3rd March 2007 - here
The Times Herald 3rd March 2007 - here
News Leader March 2007 - here
Hunk Du Jour March 2007 - here
Emmy
Contender 14th June 2007 - here
US Blog June 2007 - here
DVD Boxset Review June 5th 2007 - here
Orlando Sentinel June 2007 - here
RH Series 1 Review - here
Zap2it review Robin Hood - here
Scramble Network - here
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