by Neil Daniels
He’s never lived anywhere else but Britain but now he could say he’s lived in New Zealand. He didn’t stay in a hotel, he lived in a house. Kiwis for the most part have a less stressful life than Brits, so there was a different way of living to accommodate to. Freeman found that the locals made it a very easy place to work. The cast and crew, mostly from the US and the UK, have generally stated how at home they were made to feel by the locals.
Aside from Cumberbatch, there were no familiar faces on set so the first day reminded him of going to a new school. A great deal of time was spent rehearsing, which Freeman humorously dubbed ‘Dwarf boot camp’, where he learned how to be a hobbit and the rest of the cast learned to be dwarves or some other fantastical creatures out of the pages of the Tolkien novel. Freeman bonded with Elijah Wood over a mutual love of The Beatles. They ate, drank and got to know each other like chums. By the time the cameras started rolling on the first day of the shoot, they felt comfortable with each other and friendships had begun developing.
‘You find out so much in those first few days,’ he told Dark Horizon’s Garth Franklin. ‘You just come along, in a way, and be open and ready and receptive. Bring whatever you’ve got to bring, but don’t bring too much because it’s not a done deal yet. It grew as the weeks and months went on, really.’
In the story, the great wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) convinces Bilbo Baggins to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). The cast also included Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, James Nesbitt, Sylvester McCoy, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Ken Stott and Barry Humphries.
Coming from the modern-day Baker Street of Sherlock to the Middle Earth of The Hobbit was an odd experience for Freeman but an interesting one. It was a challenge but that is the nature of his job as an actor. The film charts Bilbo’s journey, yet it was filmed out of order, which Freeman found difficult, so that brought more homework and training for Martin and his fellow actors.
‘There are lots of things that keep me awake at night, but work isn’t one of them,’ Freeman admitted to Empire magazine’s Nick de Semlyen. ‘I mean, no one’s going to die if someone doesn’t like what I do. So I don’t feel a great pressure. The first day of The Hobbit was nervy, but in a fun way, and with Sherlock obviously the success of the first series helps. At least a few people loved it, so hopefully we’ll have a fair bit of goodwill for the second series. Unless we fuck it up!’
Jackson and Freeman worked well together. The actor was well aware that it was Peter Jackson’s film and that he was in charge; that he knows the world of The Hobbit better than anyone else. But it would have been awful for Freeman to travel so far away from his family and to take on a role of that size without having any creative input and without being able to express his opinion. Jackson made enough room for Martin to get involved. There was a great deal of respect between the two men. But, of course, the director had to be pleased with everything. Freeman is the best and greatest critic of his own work though, so he was able to make his own choices as regards Bilbo. Early on in the filming process Freeman and Jackson discussed who they thought Bilbo Baggins was and how he should come across on screen.
As with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Freeman was far from an expert on the original novel. Fantasy just isn’t his thing.
‘It wasn’t in my orbit at all’ he told Empire magazine. ‘I’m not sure it would have been very helpful if I’d always wanted to play Bilbo Baggins. I’d have come up against someone else’s vision. We’re taking the work seriously, but when we’re looking up at tennis balls that are meant to be trolls, it’s got to be fun.’
Freeman had never met Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he would have loved to but that was never the original set-up. Martin had Holm’s blessing though, so that created some positivity and Freeman just had to follow his own way into the role. Ian Holm had established Bilbo Baggins as a character on screen but Freeman was conscious not to copy him just for the sake of it. Martin was cast because not only is he an excellent actor but he’s also a good fit for the part. Of course, for research Freeman watched The Lord of the Rings films again and in more detail but he didn’t study Ian Holm’s performance as such. Martin knew why he had been cast and it was not because he could copy other actors, but rather because he is a self-styled thespian, perfectly capable of tackling the role. During his scenes he wasn’t thinking, ‘How would Ian have done this?’ He was starting from scratch with his own version of the character. He didn’t feel as though he had anything to live up to – he had faith in himself as an actor and the creative team evidently had faith in his abilities too.
Freeman spoke to Collider’s Steve ‘Frosty’ Weintraub about the role: ‘I think if I was, I don’t know, Jeff Goldblum or someone, then I might be thinking, “Right, hang on, if he’s the older me, I’d better attend more to something else maybe.” Well, grow, for a start. But no, ’cause I think I was always trusted with it. All I was told, which I think was flattery, and probably bollocks, was, “You are the only person to play it.” So I thought, “Well, if they think that, then I’ve got to trust that.” And there’s only so much you can run with someone else’s thing. It’s very helpful, in the way that it’s brilliant as he is always brilliant, and it’s a beautiful establisher of that character, and a very loved one, for obvious reasons.’
The first day on set for Freeman was in Gollum’s cave, so he got to work with performance-capture maestro Andy Serkis, which on its own was an experience-and-a-half.
He told Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons, ‘I was working with Andy as Gollum, which in itself is interesting. Fascinating as a baptism of fire, but friendly fire because he’s so good. That character is so beloved and he knows that character, obviously, as well as anybody knows anything.’
Speaking about the experience, Serkis told journalists at Comic-Con in 2012, ‘We were able to shoot a scene in its entirety, on a live set, with Martin’s performance being captured on a digital camera while Gollum’s performance used a performance-capture camera, and captured them both, at exactly the same moment in time. What that does is that there’s no disconnect. The fidelity to the moment, the choices and the beats that you create, between the director and the actors, is absolutely nailed in one. That makes a significant difference to the believability and the emotion. Therefore, the chances to augment and change the iteration on the fly makes a huge difference.’
This sort of high-scale film was not something Freeman had experienced before – even The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was not this gargantuan in scope. Freeman felt safe because Serkis knew the character and is an expert at what he does. The first few days on set for Martin were about finding his feet. He learned so much as he was getting to grips with everything on set. It was important for him to be receptive and open to ideas. It was a long stint so Freeman had the chance to look back and ponder if he had done things right. Usually, acting gigs don’t last that long, so it was all a new experience.
Working with all the various technologies and cameras was difficult at first for Freeman, who was used to a more basic style of film-making, but The Hobbit was filmed for 3D and forty-eight frames per second rather than the standard twenty-four. A scene would be set up and filmed but then there’d be a technical issue with the new ‘Slave-Mo-Co’ camera system, which would halt filming. Freeman was not a fan of the new technological system, which was used for the Bag End scene with Gandalf and the dwarves. The breakdown of technology was especially prominent in the early days of shooting and the actors found it difficult but they persevered. The multiple takes were mostly down to technical issues. Some film-makers, such as Clint Eastwood, are known for just one or two takes before the next scene is set up; other film-makers, such as David Fincher, could do dozens of takes. Freeman’s experience was mostly in independent films where time is of the essence and filming is wrapped up i
n six weeks. Though he is an accomplished actor and had not been out of work since leaving drama school, in this case he was still learning the tricks of the trade. What was good about the technology issues was that they got more opportunity to rehearse so, by the time the cameras were set up for another take, the actors were finely tuned.
3D is a cause of controversy and criticism among film fans. Since the release of James Cameron’s 2009 science-fiction film Avatar, 3D has been all the rage with Hollywood film-makers. Of course, ticket prices are more expensive and studios therefore make more money but some film fans believe it to be a phase. ‘I’m not particularly committal or non-committal to 3D,’ Freeman admitted to Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons. ‘I never watched The Godfather and went, “Do you know what this needs? This needs Fredo’s hand coming out at you.” I think as long as it’s used tastefully, and as long as it’s used to enhance something, that’s fine. As soon as… the medium is the message, then no. I trust Peter. He’s a pretty well-versed film-maker, and he’s got pretty good taste.’
Martin did not realise how small his character and those of the dwarves were until they stood next to Gandalf. Freeman’s scale double wasn’t used excessively though. He got used to the ways of filming rather quickly, much to his surprise.
He told reporters at the 2012 Comic-Con, ‘The first time that we ever shot a scene with Gandalf, where Ian had to be in a completely different room, I thought, “This is ridiculous! This will never work! Who are these people? Why are they doing this to us?” And then, an hour later, you go, “That looks brilliant!” You rehearse it and rehearse it, and it becomes normal. Your whole frame of reference for how you normally work on a film shifts. What, one minute, is completely unworkable and ridiculous, the next week just works. It becomes very easy, actually.’
Another new experience for Freeman was wearing prosthetics. He got off lightly as he did not have to wear a great deal of prosthetic make-up but some of his co-stars found it very tough. It can get hot and claustrophobic. Filming lasted for upwards of ten months and the cast had to wear this make-up constantly while working, so all this added a lot of stress and discomfort to the work. Who said filming was easy!
British actor Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin Oakenshield, spoke to the Radio Times’s Susanna Lazarus about working with Martin Freeman: ‘He’s just brilliant. He’s so inventive and he keeps the atmosphere on set really buoyant because he’s got a natural sense of comedy, as Martin but also as Bilbo Baggins. He really experiments with the role and he makes me work in a different way. He’s always having a bit of a laugh but when it comes to doing the serious stuff he can always pull it out the bag.’
Freeman had never previously done such a lengthy job, so it was especially helpful that, despite the huge male cast, there were no egos or falling-outs.
The days were long and the weeks were longer so Freeman and his fellow cast members cherished their days off and used them for a bit of R&R.
Freeman said to Stuff’s Tom Cardy, ‘It’s good, it’s always nice to have a day off. But I can’t complain, because on this block [of filming], I’ve had quite a lot of days off. It’s been quite nice, actually. Unexpected, but still relatively rare. Yeah, days off are always good. However much you’re enjoying the job, and I am enjoying this job, it’s always nice to be out and go and have some Japanese food.’
What did Freeman think of his character, the famed Bilbo Baggins?
‘Bilbo went through a few faces. There were a couple of noses,’ Martin said to reporters at a press conference. ‘They had the idea of having a more snub nose, and then they decided that my nose was weird enough. So it went from a more middle-aged rocker to being what Bilbo looks like now, which is a middle-aged rocker. So it was gradual; it wasn’t one minute you are you and then the next minute you are the character. It was incremental.’
Being a bit of a mod, Freeman even made a joke about ‘Moddit’, with a ‘little paisley scarf, a little bit of brocade. I’m doing what I can. A wine coloured corduroy jacket…’ he told Esquire’s Michael Holden.
The Hobbit takes a different turn from The Lord of the Rings. It’s a much lighter, family oriented film but with dashings of darkness. The film sees Bilbo Baggins become a hero, which is ultimately the film’s greatest evolution, but his heroism comes out of necessity. He comes into situations where, unless he does things, he and his friends will die. The history of fantasy cinema is littered with unlikely heroes and, of course, Bilbo Baggins is now one of the most indelible.
There was much riding on Freeman’s casting and he felt a great deal of responsibility, though he realised that the ultimate job would be down to the final edit.
He explained his thoughts on his casting in the film to Collider’s Steve ‘Frosty’ Weintraub: ‘In the doing of it, it’s ultimately my responsibility, but then obviously the greater responsibility, of course, is Peter’s, because he has his eye on the ball – well, on various different balls all the time. And also, he’s got a picture in his head of how it’s going to be edited, and what it’s going to look like. And I could be doing a scene where I think it’s scene ninety-four, it might end up being scene two-hundred and thirteen. So with the best will in the world, you have to commit, but also be open. That’s the hard thing. Because if you think, “I’m going to do this scene, this scene means this, it’s all these characters, and it’s this moment…” it might not even be there, clearly, ’cause that’s the nature of film-making, or it might be somewhere else. And he’s pretty open about that.’
Freeman liked how Jackson tells stories; his style of film-making. The New Zealand director was easy to work with – he doesn’t have the workhorse reputation that precedes someone such as James Cameron. Freeman does not believe in making life any more difficult than it needs to be. Everyone involved in the film had a job to do and they were all there to help tell the story, Jackson most of all. A film is in many ways a negotiation between the director and the cast – if the director does not get what he wants, until he sees on screen what is the right thing, it’s down to the cast to help realise that vision. Actors don’t want to walk off-set questioning if they’ve done the right thing or not. They may have done what’s on the script but is it exactly what the director envisaged? Actors have to please everyone – the crew, the studio heads, the audiences, the critics. Actors are contractually obligated to please the director but they have an artistic plan to please themselves.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was finally completed on 26 November 2012, just two days before its Wellington premiere. The anticipation was high.
This film was Freeman’s second major literary film adaptation, with the first, of course, being The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. So how did the experience of filming these two projects compare with each other? There was a great deal more green screen time (‘green screen acting’ means acting alone in front of a green screen, with camera devices that make certain characters look different sizes – some consider it disorientating) working with Peter Jackson on The Hobbit but the stories are set in completely different universes and both experiences were unlikely to ever be repeated.
Martin spoke to journalists at the 2012 Comic-Con about his experiences on set: ‘…just for breadth of scale and time, and being in a different part of the hemisphere than I’m used to. It’s a whole different experience. It’s like a huge chunk of your life. That, alone, makes it different from anything else. The budget makes it different. You’re constantly walking onto sets and sound stages where what you’re acting on would take up the entire budget of any other film I’ve done. So, just the scale of it is quite phenomenal. For me, they’re incomparable.’
Freeman probably wanted nothing to do with green screen acting before The Hobbit but he understands that many big-budget Hollywood films use green screens and that whatever is in the background near the acting will be inserted using computer-generated imagery.
‘The reality is though that the most traditional part of acting is using your imag
ination,’ he explained to UK’s Ask Men’s Jamie Watt. ‘It’s what I was doing when I was five and it’s what I’m doing now that I’m, er, twenty-eight… Using your imagination is the key to any kind of performance, so when it came to the green screen, I was surprised. I thought it would drive me mad, but the sets were usually a mix of the virtual and the physical – stuff we could touch, taste and smell, so it didn’t seem like the whole time we were speaking to tennis balls. There was some of that, but there was also some actual material. If you look around Bag End, in Bilbo’s house, it’s all real, it’s all tangible, so it’s nice to have that mixture.’
On the experience of working with green screen, Freeman said to 3 News’s Kate Rodger, ‘Acting is pretending so you just have to pretend. It’s not as much fun as when someone else is there. When someone else is there, that’s really fun, and that’s when I think truly great things can happen. When you’re doing it on your own it is less fun, because it’s less organic and you’re having to manufacture more. But it’s just a matter of digging deep into your imagination. It’s your idea of how the dragon is going to be massive, terrifying and it’s going to have this booming voice coming out that will scare the bejeezus out of him.’
Arthur Dent and Bilbo Baggins are both reluctant heroes who are thrown into a dangerous adventure. There’s a nervous energy about them as well as a bland ordinariness yet an underlying strength, which made perfect casting for Freeman.
