STACK #126 Apr 2016

DVD & BD

Q & A

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of it anyway. But I had a very good team of stunt-doubles, and my stunt-double was fantastic. But the understanding was always: when I could do it, I would do it. Where it was possible for me to do it, without insurance going mad or running the risk of injuring myself and being out for a week, I wanted as much of it as possible to be me on screen as Bilbo. What is his biggest test in this final film? He’s already faced the dragon… Without giving anything away, I would say his greatest challenge is playing the Kofi Annan role and trying to keep the peace, trying to somehow avoid there being this massive, apocalyptic battle. It’s his way of trying to neutralise that – that’s his biggest challenge. I was relieved and sad. It surprised me. I’m very emotional and sentimental about lots of things, but I’m not very emotional about finishing work. I like finishing jobs always. I always want to finish a job. However much I enjoy it, I want to finish it, because I want to have done it. It’s certainly not a mark of whether I’m enjoying it or not. Every job I’ve loved I’ve been delighted to finish. Because that’s reality. If somebody said, ‘You’re going to be Bilbo for the rest of your life,’ that would be a nightmare. Same as anyone. John Watson – anybody. I don’t want to do it for the rest of my life. But on the last day, the last bit of filming was with Richard Armitage and Graham McTavish, who plays Dwalin, and I was leaving just before they were. They had a bit more to do, and Graham said, ‘It’s been lovely working with you, mate’, and he had a catch in his voice and he started to go, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go here as well.’ And I hadn’t felt that in two years. But I suddenly realised I’ve spent a good chunk of my life with these mad people. And I did get a bit emotional. I thought, ‘We’ll never do this again’ – and I don’t want to either. But it was marking a change in all our lives. This has been a huge part of our lives, both while we were doing it and while we were not doing it. I’ll be talking about The Hobbit films until I’m 90. It’s never going to go. But that last day, I was relieved and surprisingly choked up. As people were coming up to me and saying goodbye, you could see a glassiness in their eyes too. How was the final day of the shoot? How did you feel?

MARTIN FREEMAN's incredible journey as Bilbo Baggins comes to an end in The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies.

Is it strange for you that your Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch plays the dragon, Smaug? MARTIN FREEMAN: Well, it is and it isn’t. I think he’s good casting. Whether we had done Sherlock or not, I think he’d be good casting for that part. It didn’t feel that strange. Again, truthfully, it felt like, ‘It seems to be following us around, this screen relationship.’ But I didn’t see him the whole time we did it. Even my bits, I wasn’t even working with his voice. I was just working with someone reading his lines. So, in truth, it didn’t feel that odd, but when you step back from it, it’s another thing people will hang on us together. Like, ‘They’re a couple in this as well.’ In that sense, it’s quite odd.

What do you think Peter Jackson’s greatest skills are as a director? I was always amazed at his ability to keep three films in his head at once, and juggle those, and know where that was going to go and what was needed five scenes down the line, that he’s doing this little punch-in for, and this cut-away is going to mean something four hours away…it’s hard to describe but he’s keeping that whole universe in his head. It’s a huge undertaking, a massive undertaking. Obviously he’s got help. Jabez Olssen is a fantastic editor but Pete is a fantastic editor too. That’s what amazed me about him. On a human level, he was surviving on very little sleep, and a lot of stress. Outwardly, he seemed to cope with it very, very well. So, in a way, the things I was most impressed about him were human things. Not necessarily director-related. How are you not having a nervous breakdown?

I suddenly realised I've spent a good chunk of my life with these mad people. And I did get a bit emotional [on the last day]

What were the most memorable scenes in The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies for you? I had a nice scene with James Nesbitt as Bofur on the battlements. I liked the fighting. I liked doing that. I hadn’t done much professionally, though at drama school I was always quite good at stage-fighting. Unless you are an action person – and I’m not exactly one of those – you don’t tend to do loads

• The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is out now

APRIL 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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