Martin Freeman
| Name: | Martin Freeman |
| Also Known As: | |
| Occupation: | actor |
| Medium: | film, TV |
| Works: | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film), The Office (British TV), Love, Actually, The Responder, Sherlock (TV series), The Hobbit (film series) |
| Official Website(s): | no site, wikipedia Martin Freeman |
| Fan Website(s): | freemanfans on livejournal, Martin Freeman Maniac |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Martin Freeman is an English actor who has appeared in the fan favorites Sherlock (BBC tv series) as John Watson and The Hobbit (film series) as Bilbo Baggins. He had a side role in Black Panther, making him part of the MCU.
Fan Sites
Interactions with Fandom
In a 2012 MTV interview, Benedict Cumberbatch said that Martin had introduced him to Tumblr and to slash of their Sherlock characters:
"I don't go seeking it, but Martin Freeman, who was an absolute luddite on the first series, suddenly came back from New Zealand having done a little radio short drama called "The Hobbit," he came back and he had this beautiful Mac [computer] with him and said 'Hey, look at this Tumblr.' And I said, 'What? Tumblr? What?' He knows more about it than I do and he was showing me some of them. Some of it is really racy, un-viewable even on MTV. It's cool.[1]
During the 2013 "Comic Relief", the host Graham Norton showed Martin several pieces of explicit John/Sherlock fanart. One blogger summarized it thus:
He’s well aware of this section of fandom so it’s no surprise to him that it exists, but being forced to look at pictures and comment on them on camera is an entirely different situation. The first couple of pictures were relatively innocent. Freeman replied “that’s fine” when the first few pictures John and Sherlock staring at each other longingly or kissing were presented to him. But the pictures got progressively more graphic.“I do like that programme, Sherlock,” Norton said, pretending to be a slash fan. “How can I show my appreciation? I’ll paint this picture.” Then he held up an extremely explicit John/Sherlock fanart to the camera.
“I know it. I’ve seen it,” Freeman says, not judging, but just nodding and smiling.
“It will be in your mind forever,” Norton commented.
“If you’re lucky,” Freeman replied.[2]
Martin Freeman is a Hedgehog Meme
This seems to have been a response to the "Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch" meme.
On twitter, Martin's partner Amanda Abbington acknowledged this phenomenon
- fan to to @amandaabbington: is Martin aware that some sites online show pictures comparing him to hedgehogs ? X
- reply from @amandaabbington: oh God, yes.
- fan to @amandaabbington: Well, that response warrents a follow-up question: how does he feel about it?
- reply from @amandaabbington: He laughs, he cries and then rolls himself into a little prickly ball and hibernates for the winter. [3]
In fanon, the hedgehog's name is "Jawn" (meant to be a weird spelling of "John", as in Watson). In the first Hobbit film, when Radagast's hedgehog is hurt, cohorts of fangirls whispered "nooooo, Jawn!"[4]
RPF
Freeman appears in actor RPF, mainly Sherlock RPF and The Hobbit RPF, although he is not the most popular character in either.
References
- ^ Kara Warner (May 2, 2012). "Benedict Cumberbatch Flattered By Racy 'Sherlock' Fanfic". MTV News. Archived from the original on 2021-09-30. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ Wilson, Angel (March 8, 2013). "Martin Freeman Confronted with Slash: "That's fine." - The Geekiary". The Geekiary. Archived from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ @amandaabbington twitter, accessed 2012-3-22, not currently accessible
- ^ moriartypie tumblr post dated 2012-12-13, accessed 2012-12-31