BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Martin's press appearances generally

**Posted by Vhanja** January 4, 2015 4:19 pm

Me too. I'm on a Martin-spree, so gotta share two more:

Very cute and VERY Martin short clip, love it!

Another radio interview, done a year ago. At 6:09 the interviewer asks him if there is a lot of pressure on the two of them (Ben and him) being best friends, and he gives a very nice and sober reply, I think.

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2015 4:41 pm

He's a star.

**Posted by stoertebeker** January 18, 2015 4:56 pm

Found that interview from the Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/martin-freeman-interview-the-actor-on-hobbits-cumbermania-and-his-nazihounding-role-in-the-eichmann-show-9983829.html

It is mainly about The Eichman Show, but also about his acting work in general and Sherlock of course. What he said about the enormous fan presence during shooting made me think. As much as I enjoy setlock, but it is a two-edged sword somehow.

Last edited by stoertebeker (January 18, 2015 5:32 pm)

**Posted by Vhanja** January 18, 2015 5:27 pm

Yeah, I think that is a fair point. I am quite sure that is one of the reasons there are few scenes outside Baker Street, and just about all important or strong scenes are done on set. Fandom IS a two-egged sword.

**Posted by besleybean** January 18, 2015 5:37 pm

Metro I think held a poll and 90% of people voted that Setlock should stop.
There's been big discussions about it all day on Twitter...
I've spoken fairly fully about Setlock on here before, so I don't know how much I have to add.
Maybe the team should just speak up and say: please don't...

**Posted by Vhanja** January 18, 2015 5:52 pm

But again - why don't they ask the crowd to leave? If Ben and Martin came up, and politely explained it directly how difficult their work is in front of a crowd - would't people respect that and leave?

**Posted by besleybean** January 18, 2015 6:08 pm

Possibly the boys are too polite to say.

**Posted by A lovely light** January 18, 2015 7:02 pm

Vhanja wrote:
But again - why don't they ask the crowd to leave? If Ben and Martin came up, and politely explained it directly how difficult their work is in front of a crowd - would't people respect that and leave?

The outcry would be massive if they would request people to leave and a lot of poeple woudn't understand .

=12.7272720336914pxWhen Martin did Richard III, there were days when he didn't stop to sign autographs (sometimes because he had two shows in a day, when he had the back problems, when he filmed something else in the day), but he still did a lot of backstage. There were still people complaining and thinking that they are entitled to get backstage every time. A lot of people don't understand how taxing acting is, how it needs a lot of mental strength. I know that Sherlock fans are very civilised at the Setlock, but a crowd is always distracting, for example cameras need to work different to cover the people watching.

Many great scenes in Sherlock are those filmed outside and it would be such a pity to see them reduced on the show because them being to difficult for the team (not only the actors) to work.

Both Martin and Benedict were very gracious with the fans at Setlock as far as i read till now. I think they don't grudge the people who go there, but at the same time they wish for the best conditions to do their work. It is for the fans to decide what is for them the most important: to get a glimpse behind the curtain or to give the Sherlock team the space to be creative without retrictions.

**Posted by A lovely light** January 18, 2015 8:45 pm

Aside from the whole bruhahah which his opinion about setlock brings, this interview is really really nice and positive towards Martin and a very interesting read for me:
- as i love history and i lived under a dictatorship, i really like his insight about Eichmann and dictators and the "banality of the evil"
- i think this is the first article i read where he is called an A-lister ( i suppose this is valid for UK not worldwide but still at the many range of great and well-known british actors is great to be recognised as one of the top in UK)
- this is bery nice:"Martin Freeman is turning into the finest character actor of his generation"

**Posted by besleybean** January 18, 2015 8:50 pm

The Hobbit makes him an A lister.
I love his interviews.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 18, 2015 9:17 pm

Vhanja wrote:
But again - why don't they ask the crowd to leave? If Ben and Martin came up, and politely explained it directly how difficult their work is in front of a crowd - would't people respect that and leave?

I don't think it's Benedict's and Martin's job to take care of stuff like this. The people who are in charge of production have to take care of this. And I suppose at this stage it's impossible to just politely ask the fans to leave once they're already there. You have to organise this in advance, and if that means that they would have to block an entire street, North Gower Street for example, then that's what it takes. I have no idea if that's even possible in a city like London, it probably costs a lot of money. But be that as it may, Benedict and Martin certainly can't be asked to take care of this during a shoot. This has to be done officially - or not at all.

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 18, 2015 9:19 pm)

**Posted by besleybean** January 18, 2015 9:21 pm

It doesn't cost anything...you just have to get permission from the council and the police.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 18, 2015 9:37 pm

Well, if you block a street in NYC for a movie shoot, you have to pay for it. So I thought you'd have to pay for it in London, as well. If that's not the case, I actually don't understand why they're not doing it, they'd have so many possibilities for great outside scenes that way, especially in front of 221B.

**Posted by besleybean** January 18, 2015 9:46 pm

Actually I'm only going by what happens in Scotland and from my limited knowledge of attending marches and rallies. But then that is just on the street and for a very short time...you're not closing businesses etc...

**Posted by REReader** January 18, 2015 10:59 pm

I was just bringing that Independent interview, but I see stoertebeker beat me to it.

I thought it was a good interview, wide ranging. Another notable (and widely repeated) tidbit in there was that w=14pxhile he likes to be done and finished with jobs, Sherlock is an exception to that because it's intermittent and short. (Whew!)

**Posted by Vhanja** January 19, 2015 7:42 am

SolarSystem wrote:
I don't think it's Benedict's and Martin's job to take care of stuff like this. The people who are in charge of production have to take care of this. And I suppose at this stage it's impossible to just politely ask the fans to leave once they're already there. You have to organise this in advance, and if that means that they would have to block an entire street, North Gower Street for example, then that's what it takes. I have no idea if that's even possible in a city like London, it probably costs a lot of money. But be that as it may, Benedict and Martin certainly can't be asked to take care of this during a shoot. This has to be done officially - or not at all.

Well, Ben has done it before. They sometimes bring him out to talk to the crowd when they need to take out the "big canons" and have them listen.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 19, 2015 8:18 am

Vhanja wrote:
SolarSystem wrote:
I don't think it's Benedict's and Martin's job to take care of stuff like this. The people who are in charge of production have to take care of this. And I suppose at this stage it's impossible to just politely ask the fans to leave once they're already there. You have to organise this in advance, and if that means that they would have to block an entire street, North Gower Street for example, then that's what it takes. I have no idea if that's even possible in a city like London, it probably costs a lot of money. But be that as it may, Benedict and Martin certainly can't be asked to take care of this during a shoot. This has to be done officially - or not at all.

Well, Ben has done it before. They sometimes bring him out to talk to the crowd when they need to take out the "big canons" and have them listen.

And my opinion still is that technically it's not his job. That's why you have producers and a production company.

**Posted by Vhanja** January 19, 2015 8:31 am

Oh, I agree that it isn't his job. But considering how bothersome they find this, I don't think he would mind doing it again, if that what it takes.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 19, 2015 8:47 am

If they find it all that bothersome, they should just take care of this in advance and block the road(s).

**Posted by Vhanja** January 19, 2015 8:48 am

They can't just do that, can they? Would probably have to ask for permit from the police or something. Not sure how that works. Would be a lot of paperwork and extra cost for a day or two of shooting.