The Unexpected Adventures of Martin Freeman (25 page)

‘If people ask to take pictures of me as me in the street, as they often do, then I say “Look, don’t put it on Twitter, please” or I say “No thanks” or “Not when I’m with my family” or whatever I say,’ he admitted to
Den of Geek
’s Louisa Mellor. ‘I
like the idea of not everything happening between two human beings to be
everyone’s
property. Do you know what I mean? Because now, “Can I have a picture?” is the same as in my day, “Hello”. So “Hello, nice to meet you” is now “Can I have a picture?” and then they get out the camera and people start to line up.’

Freeman is not as ‘pathological’ about his privacy as he once described. He’s opened up in recent years, feeling more comfortable (but still guarded) about his partner and children as well as his background. He would give up a major Hollywood movie if it caused disruption to his family and home life. He is very family-orientated. Now that he is a household name and regularly seen on TV and in the cinema, he has learned that fame can be controlled. If some celebrity wants an entourage following them around with great fanfare, they have no cause to complain about the publicity and hounding from the paparazzi they might get. Freeman is less interested in causing a publicity stir.

Does he want his own children to get into acting?

‘I wouldn’t actively encourage or discourage them from this life,’ he once said to
Future Movies
’ Paul Gallagher. ‘Both me and my other half are actors and, while of course there are hard bits to it, it’s a good life and I’m thankful to it every day. But I think if you’re the children of actors you don’t need encouragement – you’ve got a bit of it in you. So I’m just gonna see where that goes with mine.’

Freeman spoke to
TV Choice
magazine’s Martina Fowler about life as a dad and its rewards: ‘Just all the positive stuff that it gives you, and the way that you improve as a human
being, in that you become better by helping someone else be better. The downside of it is you suddenly realise how selfish you are, or how selfish you’re allowed to be in your life up to the point of being a parent. I thought I was a nice person before I became a dad and then I thought, “Christ, I’m not, I’m selfish, self-obsessed, and impatient.” I think until you’ve been a parent nothing else has tested you like that. No one winds you up the way a baby will!’

As a dad, he has said in interviews that he doesn’t want his kids to see him as anything but their dad, so that means they haven’t seen his films or TV shows. Maybe his children don’t have any idea just how famous their dad is?

‘I want to keep my children absolutely out of it until they’re of an age where they can decide,’ he admitted to the
New Zealand Herald
. ‘Sometimes when I’m stopped in the street and I’m with my children, I always try and get them out of the picture and they’ll go, “Why don’t you want us?” and I’m like, “No, I’m protecting you!”’

Wind-down time for Freeman is relaxing with his partner at home watching a DVD box-set such as the Kevin Spacey-led political drama
House of Cards
, or having a day out with the family or a trip to his local record stores to uncover some vinyl gems for his ever-growing collection. He has a terrific relationship with his partner – there is humour, trust, loyalty, love.

As an avid music fan and vinyl junkie, it would be interesting to see Freeman cast in a music biopic. Although whether he would commit to such a project is a different matter. He’s always said he’s glad he was not a fan of
The Hobbit
growing
up because it would have changed his approach to the role, so perhaps playing Paul Weller or Paul McCartney in a film would have an impact on his performance. Given his age, he would perhaps be better suited as Beatles’ producer George Martin or former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. His fellow
Hobbit
star Andy Serkis once played Ian Dury in
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.
Freeman is a fan of such music-based films as
24 Hour Party People
, which he rates very highly so, if a project of a similar nature should come across his desk, there’s a chance he’d sign on the dotted line.

As 2015 approached, Martin Freeman had become one of the most respected and famous British actors working in film and TV. He stays close to his British roots and has not deserted his background in TV on this small island, though he is becoming increasingly popular in the USA. Where his career will go to next is anyone’s guess but he is likely to continue to surprise and astound us with a wide range of memorable performances.

‘He will only do things that he thinks are great,’ commented
Sherlock
co-creator Steven Moffat to
The Guardian
’s John Plunkett. ‘He is incredibly serious about acting, concentrating fiercely to the point where he can give himself a bad day. He can be a borderline grump if he feels he is having trouble, grumpy in the way that someone doing difficult sums is grumpy.’

Given his recent roles as Lester Nygaard and Richard III, one wonders if Freeman will shed his nice-guy image once and for all.

‘I don’t get cast as the guy who steps off a yacht in a white linen suit with a martini,’ he once told
Entertainment Weekly
’s Josh
Rottenberg. ‘It would not really be my function to be the smooth guy – unless something shitty happens to the smooth guy.’

There is a degree of uncertainty about acting and the entertainment-and-arts industry that allures Freeman.

‘I like uncertainty in roles, and I like uncertainty in art, really,’ Martin said to
Stuff.co.nz
’s
Tom Cardy. ‘And in theatrical terms, I’m not a massive fan of certainty. Without sounding overly pompous about it, I don’t really trust certainty in anything, actually. Especially as I get older. Except love, I’m certain of love, I guess. But beliefs, characteristics, all that, I think everything is uncertain. And so I like playing people who reflect that, ’cause I think it’s honest. I don’t really believe it if it’s certain, you know what I mean? I just don’t buy it.’

It is more than likely that one day Freeman will be spoken about in the same breath as such revered actors of the stage and screen as Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins and Peter Cushing.

His star continues to shine.

What follows is a list of Martin Freeman’s roles in all mediums.

The following print and online media was invaluable during the researching and writing of this biography. Thank you to every publication.