It’s not that I have anything against Hugh Jackman. But he’s not Richard Armitage. Which is a shame, because the world needs more Armitages.

The two actors have a lot in common – they’re both 6 feet 2 inches tall, good actors, and very easy on the eye. Both have a concern for the less fortunate, and work to help their favourite causes. And both are said to be extremely nice people, at least according to anyone who’s ever worked with them.They’re even mistaken for each other – at least, RA is mistaken for HJ sometimes, since Jackman is the more famous (so far).

Armitage has the edge as far as role research goes, but then he has the edge over just about everyone in that respect: who else would read the work of Friedrich Engels as part of their research for a role as a Mancunian mill owner?

But I’ve watched all of my Armitage DVDs so many times that I can sing along with all the dialogue, so I’ve been forced to watch other stuff. Hence the branching out into Hugh Jackman. And while Hugh is indubitably a good actor and a nice guy, and has the added advantage of being an Aussie (hey, I never claimed to be unbiased here), he’s just not Richard Armitage.

Pity.