Sure, you can see Richard Armitage in the new Netflix series Stay Close right now. But did you know you can hear his silky baritone anytime you want on your favorite audiobook app? For the past few years, Armitage has lent his distinctive voice to the role of the narrator for over 30 audiobooks.

“[I]t’s been my main source of occupation since lockdown,” Armitage told Metro in September 2020. “I love sitting down with a microphone and starting from page one. Some are challenging, quite intellectual and difficult to read, but others are a dream and fly off the page.” 

Armitage is no stranger to the literary world. Some of his best-known cinematic work, including The Hobbit trilogy as well as last year’s Netflix series The Stranger, originated on the page. In the cases of both The Stranger and Stay Close, the novels even came from the same author, Harlan Coben. And narrating audiobooks has given Armitage even more opportunities to participate in adaptations, even if he didn’t expect it at first. “It started out as a sideline that you’d only do when you’re not working on other stuff, but now it’s a big bulk of my work and I’ve found titles through Audible that I’ve purchased the rights to and I’m developing as a producer for the screen,” he told the Telegraph.

As quarantine dragged on last year, Armitage’s side hustle became an even larger part of his life. He recorded seven audiobooks between March and September 2020 alone, all from his own personal in-home studio. It’s a job Armitage enjoys, but it’s not without its challenges. “You have to imagine you’re reading to one person,” he told Metro. For an actor so used to performing for an audience of millions, that’s perhaps easier said than done.