Martin Freemans Next Adventure

Its been a year of quests for Martin Freeman, whose been busy saving Middle-Earth from orcs and dragons in Peter Jacksons Hobbit franchise and Earth from invading androids in Edgar Wrights The Worlds End. In the new installment of the Tolkien trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (alternate title: The Hobbit: More Adventure! Less Singing!), Freemans Bilbo Baggins has his work cut out for him, whether hes busting his pals out of elf jail in river-borne barrels (one of the most thrilling movie action sequences in recent memory) or confronting the fire-breathing, smug Smaug (voiced by Freemans Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch). The 42-year-old star rangRolling Stone from his London home to give the franchises critics their due, to discuss the finer points of green-screen acting and to tout the American TV series that is his next unlikely adventure.

13 Things You Need to Know About The Hobbit

Before the dwarves show up, what does Bilbo do for a living?
[Laughs] Good question. I dont think it was specified. Hes probably an out-of-work actor. He likes food and clothes. He might be one of my species.

Were you and Benedict Cumberbatch ever even in the same room together, to film the scenes with Bilbo and Smaug?
We werent even on the same continent. There was no crossover at all. Im not even imagining Ben. Im imagining a dragon. Obviously, I do know Ben pretty well, and I had his voice in my head. But whether we had had a working relationship or not, the process would have been the same.

What surprises you most about the finished film?
The CG never fails to surprise me what theyve done with scenes where you were just looking at a tennis ball in a green room. And theyve managed to make that into something truly spectacular.

The barrel sequence looked so difficult; I dont have any idea how you made that.
Nor do I. That was an interesting week. I was in six feet of tepid, murky and horrible water. Youre in a barrel and trying not to get your legs crushed by rocks. That was the only time I said a quick prayer every morning before going on the set, because I knew I was going to have to keep my wits about me. There was a fantastic stunt team and it was a reasonably safe-ish situation but it was still possible to get hurt. Fortunately, it didnt happen to me, but it focuses the mind when you know that you could either smash into a rock or drown.

What should viewers expect from the final installment next year?
For those that are conversant with the book, they can expect to see everything thats in there. For those that arent, theres still two and a half hours of thrills and spills and all that. Theres a lot more to happen, relationship-wise, between me and the dwarves and Gandalf Bilbo grows even more as a character. Im making it sound like thirtysomething. Imagine thirtysomething, but with swords.

How do you respond to hardcore Tolkien fans who resent the new additions to the story, or general critics who find the films overlong and padded with incident?
I agree wholeheartedly with both he said, as he never worked with Peter again. Its fair enough. I didnt grow up a Tolkien fanatic. So I approach it more from the context of: does it work in this film? Because a film is not a book it cant ever be, it has never been the same medium. So I understand if you have a massive emotional investment in this being holy writ. But does it work for you for those couple of hours that youre in the movie theater? If it does, it does, and if it doesnt, it doesnt. Its all subjective. I dont know if it needs to be padded out, from a financial point of view. I would think that if Peter wasnt already doing okay for money he needs money like he needs a hole in the head and I dont know Peter like a brother, but I know him reasonably well, and I dont see him as someone whos motivated by bread. A) he doesnt need it, and B) he doesnt need to spend any more time in his life on something that hes not totally artistically invested in. Thats not how he comes across in person. Its not how he directs. Have you seen him? Hes still the 12-year-old that he was, just being passionate about films. I dont think hed be making the film into a trilogy unless he really in his gut wanted to.

Between The Hobbit bookends and The Worlds End this summer, what has this year been like for you?
The Hobbits a big gig. Its a huge circus that you become a part of. The Worlds End was fun because that was a family thing, an old friends reunion. We just finished Season Three of Sherlock as well, which is always extremely enjoyable. It all goes by too quickly. I cant believe it was a year ago that we were in Tokyo and New Zealand promoting the first Hobbit film. It goes by frighteningly quickly.

Whats next for you?
Im doing a series of Fargo for FX for American TV. Were doing it in Calgary, thats doubling as our Minnesota. Its great. Were doing 10 episodes, written by Noah Hawley [Bones, The Unusuals], and hes really channeled something of the Coens dark humor. Its a potentially fantastic piece of work.

Will there ever be a sequel to your movie version of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?
It wouldve happened, had it just made more money. It did very well it was No. 1 in the U.K. and the U.S., but it didnt sustain enough. By todays standards, it has to make catastrophic amounts of money for them to plow into it again. But we all enjoyed it. That was probably one of my favorite jobs, actually, for the experience. It was a happy time.

That must be where you learned all the green-screen acting techniques you used in The Hobbit.
Thats where I cut my teeth, baby.