What is it about red-headed men? There’s a quality which draws you to them and I’m still trying to figure it out.
I love dark, mysterious alpha heroes, don’t get me wrong. Black of hair, blue eyed men, or even dark eyed, yep, I’m there.
But red-headed men will draw my attention just as fast. I’ve been having serious love affairs (on paper) with red-headed men for years.
There have been some seriously sexy red-headed men on the big and small screens over the years, that we’ve all got to drool over, too.
Remember Charles Dance (Sir Charles Dance now)? That deep Shakespearean-trained English drawl of his brings shivers to the spine in such British classics as The Jewel In The Crown and The Phantom of The Opera but the role I most enjoyed him in was an almost cameo role as Ripley’s lover in Aliens 3. Dance is now gracing the small screen in Game of Thrones as the patriarch of the misfit Lannister clan.
And then there’s Eric Stolz, a perennial favourite who first came to notice in John Hughes’ 1980’s movie, Some Kind of Wonderful. I’ve been following his career where I can, and I adored his role in Rob Roy (a kilt!!!).
Another, not quite as prominent, red head that I’ve been keeping an eye on lately, is Tony Curran. He pops up all over the place in some of the more interesting movies. I first noticed him in Flight of the Phoenix, and was thrilled to see him again in a more significant role in The Thirteenth Warrior. He really came into his own in The Pillars of the Earth as King Stephen, but he’s really been in dozens of movies and TV shows: Gladiator, Underworld, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. And Curran is a true Scot, to boot.
And of course, I couldn’t resist casting my own red headed hero: Calum Micheil Garrett, born in 1574 in Kincardineshire, Scotland. He’s not the first red head I’ve scattered throughout my cast of characters, and he probably
won’t be the last, but he’s one of the more interesting ones, especially when Dar Albert, my cover artist extraordinaire, got through creating the final image of him. Wow!
Red heads are infamously associated with hot tempers – and not without reason. Perhaps that’s why they have that romantic quality. A hot temper implies passion and a capacity for high emotions and feelings, which all makes for a stellar romance hero.
And the other cool thing about true red heads? They don’t go grey. A true red head gradually fades in intensity until they become more blonde than red. Not only did they get the most interesting hair colour of all, they don’t have to worry about losing it as they get older!
2018 update: Here is a list of red-headed heroes and men I’ve cast in my novels, to date:
Garrett –Blood Stone
Uther – Dragon Kin
Stephen Spearing – Law of Attraction
Alexander – Mia’s Return
Nick – Vistaria Has Fallen
Emrys – War Duke of Britain
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First appeared on Night Owl Reviews as part of the Blood Stone blog tour, September 14, 2012