Richard Armitage has revealed he's working on a new project about the life and legacy of Richard III, the 15th-century King of England.
The Hollywood star, whose screen credits include The Hobbit, Spooks and Netflix's new erotic thriller Obsession, has always been an admirer of the Yorkist monarch, who died at The Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
After Richard's death, Henry VII established the Tudor dynasty and claimed his predecessor was an unworthy monarch, yet Richard III's supporters have campaigned against that negative image of him for decades.
Interest in the 15th-century ruler was rekindled when his remains were discovered in a Leicester car park in 2012, with the excavation leader, Philippa Langley, suggesting Armitage would be the perfect man to play Richard III in a new film about his life.
Armitage shares the King's name and was born in Leicestershire on the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth, so it seemed like a casting call made in heaven, yet sadly it wasn't to be.
However, while Armitage's ambition to play his royal namesake seems to have faded, he hasn't given up hope of sharing his vision of Richard III with the world.
"I'm so physically unlike Richard III and I'm far too old now, so I don't think I could ever play him," Richard Armitage told us in a recent interview.
"Maybe on stage, but even that would be pushing it a bit. But I'm still interested in his story and I think there's more to tell. There is a kind of project circling that I'm involved in, which isn't a drama, but it might be revealing a little bit more of the truth about who he was!"
Richard III became King of England in 1483 following the death of his elder brother Edward IV. Edward's eldest son — Edward V — briefly took the throne, but he and his younger brother Richard mysteriously disappeared from the Tower of London in the summer of 1483.
Richard III's rivals are convinced he had his nephews — who went down in history as 'The Princes in the Tower' — murdered so he could claim the crown. But Richard's supporters have long claimed there's no evidence for this and the story is a product of Tudor propaganda, made more infamous by the work of William Shakespeare.
The Richard III Society has been trying to clear his name for many years and Richard Armitage hopes his new project could show the world a different side to Richard III's character.
"I'm interested in the idea of Richard III's legacy being completely propagandized by the Tudors," he explains. "Actually what he did was remarkably different from the version of events we're told about. I find him so interesting and my production company is called White Boar Films, because that was his emblem!"
Richard Armitage stars in Obsession, which premieres on Netflix on Thursday, April 13.
