Armitage talks melacholic Hobbit habit

Richard Armitage brings "melancholy" to his The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug character.

The 42-year-old actor plays dwarf Thorin in director Peter Jackson's fantasy sequel.

After originally embodying the tough exiled king in the first film Richard spent a long time wondering how to look the part of a dwarf.

"It was always an ongoing question for me, even during filming; I don't know what [Peter] was looking for [when casting a dwarf]. It was a good thing to keep asking myself," Richard explained to movies.ie.

"I think he wanted big guys to play these roles, so when he would reduce the size of our bodies we would look like warriors. He wanted weight inside the character, he was looking for a certain fighting ability. Thorin was the age to be a fading flame but still had the potential to be a leader or a king, so he couldn't be too geriatric. There's a melancholy that I bring to the role that is appealing in terms of the pain of the character."

Richard had a dramatic makeover so he could look just like Thorin is described in author J. R. R. Tolkien's novel.

As well as this the British star had to get into the right mindset of the troubled dwarf.

"The physical transformation changed the way I moved and helped get into character. I changed my voice a bit, I was constantly doing voice work to keep it where I wanted to be," he explained.

"Regarding his headspace, I concentrated all the time on what he was looking for and his inner life. Thorin was always driven by what had happened to him in the past, so I had to keep his past alive in my head."