Ah, lovely Martin.

This interview is also great: http://www.indiewire.com/article/martin-freeman-talks-fargo-sherlock-season-4-and-why-hes-not-working-for-awards-20140805

 

Benny?!? That's cute  .

New interview : www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/newsreview/features/article1452730.ece . On tumblr you can read the rest ( http://incurablylazydevil.tumblr.com/ ).

Very-Long-Rant-Modus (sorry folks, if you have already a bad day, can you skip it?)

I so hate when the press compare two actors in unsimilar positions and put them one against each other. Especially when the ton of the whole article is negative (starting with "consolation prize") . Benedict can nothing against that he is taller or better looking or more photogenic. Neither Martin for the matter. Both worked hard the last 20 years to get here. to get the reputation of very good actors, nothing was gifted but won through hard work. If Benedict would have been only looks and swagger, he woudn't have come so far. One may get more lucky and get more chances to show what he can, but that doesn't make the other a loser or a lesser talent. Yes, looks is very important in industry. Already when a script is written (especially after a book or real persons), there are limitations how the actors involved might look. The preference for good or special distinctive looking for the lead roles is pronounced, especially in Hollywoood. I am actually very glad that in Uk that is lesser the case and we get a wide range of looks to see, especially in BBC series and especially for the women. Nonetheless, especially because Martin doesn't bring such a distinctive Hollywood look, should actually tell the critics the amount of talent Martin should have to surmount the difficulties of castings and to get all the roles he got.
 
So instead to have a positive article about the Emmy win, we have dodgy comparison, snarky remarks about the not successfully roles of Martin, snarks about Richard III. Great! And to top on that "the everyman". How can a journalist wanting to speak with someone about his Emmy win be more negative or dense is beyond me. Because is enough if he would have made his lesson and read 10 interviews with Martin to know how wunded is Martin about this label. It has always sound dismissive to his work, like it is very easy to portray a normal human being without extraordinary features, oh yes, he has just to play himself or put the same coat and voila, everything is done.
First i am irked about this label "everyman". I have done nothing special in my life, i am not extraordinary in any way and i still don't think about me that i am "everywoman". I have my own head, i have my own opinions, my own path and no one in the whole milliards of people has that.
Second each so called "everyman" role Martin has played, has a unique 3D dimension about them, none is similar with the other even Martin may use the same smile or the same hand movement. What is similar please between Bilbo and Watson and Arthur Dent and Tim to speak only few of his roles? they have different motivations, they will react different when dangers come or when they have to choose, they express different their emotions. They may look like unlikely heroes, the eternal reluctant hero archetype, and here is where the similarities ends.
 
So, instead of asking some really clever questions about his roles and Martin so likes to talk about his roles, he is so enthusiastic about them and can give such good insides about them (there are some really good Fargo interviews out there for example, which share a light about his way of seeing Lester, which then explains his way to act him). Or about his opinions about everything starting with Gaza for which he made the charity message - and he is not afraid to speak about his opinions, he is not the PC kind of man, doesn't give beauty pageant answers. Instead of a great interview who could be cited years to come, we get the same same questions and negativity because is more show biz,  looks more clever and brings perhaps more attention.
Can we please pay a real journalist, real into acting and films, to ask Martin a day long some really interesting questions about Watson and Sherlock?
 
Rant-Modus end.

I was very disappointed by the bad journalistic approach. Martin does not deserves such a treatment. And as you say, it is very unfair to compare two actors/men who are so different in every way, especially because in "Sherlock" it is this very difference that makes the chemistry so compelling. 

Both of them have been slogging away in acting for years - I don't see the point in comparing their careers in that way.   But I do understand the "everyman" tag (and also why Martin might be fed up with it).   It's partly due to the roles he's been offered, but he seems particularly gifted at playing those sort of characters that people can identify with.   I first loved him as Tim, and when I heard he'd been cast as Arthur Dent, I was delighted.  When I heard he was playing Bilbo, I thought it was perfect.   I don't see it as an insult at all, but a compliment.  Those characters are different, but I do see something in common between them, and it is that everyman thing, something to do with being ordinary people in ordinary lives (like us, the audience, supposedly), somehow thrust into an adventure.  Bilbo turns out to be heroic, obviously, but I think it should be easy to identify with the characters and Martin is excellent at letting us do that.  Can't really explain it better at the moment. 

What's interesting is that John Watson could have been an everyman character, but isn't. 

Last edited by Liberty (September 1, 2014 4:19 pm)

Tbh, I'm not quite sure what to think of this. As I'm a bit pessimistic these days as in which direction the show will head this sounds too me a bit like the dreaded threesome " Oh look, funny, how they stumble to come to terms with each other, haha."

Not an interview, but for the lack of another thread where i can put it: https://storify.com/bbctwo/happy-birthday-martin-freeman . It's just so hilarious.  (BBC One went just for weird ballons instead https://twitter.com/BBCOne/status/508939117053624320 ) .

 

I think i should make a "fun-appearances" thread. Because i have to add somewhere this: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nasas-space-station-expedition-42-poster-spoofs-hitchhikers-guide-galaxy-1467225