The Unexpected Adventures of Martin Freeman (21 page)

Freeman continued to be very protective of his privacy. On a recent trip to Japan Benedict Cumberbatch had been greeted by cheering fans as though he was the reborn messiah, but that is not something Freeman has experienced. Of course, Martin is famous but he is not one of the industry’s most recognisable figures. He does not go out of his way to stay anonymous but remains reluctant to give too much away in interviews.

‘Whenever I’ve been anywhere else, I’ve not been chased by people – it depends where I am and how visible I am,’ Freeman told
GQ
’s Oliver Franklin. ‘You can still be reasonably invisible. Not that I want to be – despite what people may think I’ve not gone through life trying to be anonymous. At the same time I want to have my private life and you can’t have that if people are screaming and shouting at you while you’re in a restaurant. I don’t mind standing out in some ways.’

LEGO The Hobbit: The Video Game
was released on 8 April, which relives the adventures of the first two
Hobbit
films
LEGO
style. It features the voices of the original cast members.

‘You know I just like it if it’s good,’ he explained to Steven Balbirnie of
The University Observer
. ‘If it’s something that someone’s made up yesterday and the first thing is a screenplay and I love it then I’m in. If it’s an adaptation of something that I like then I’m also in. It’s always just about what that screenplay is like, because you could’ve had a terrible adaptation of any of those things, I mean you could’ve
had a terrible adaptation of any of those beloved books and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it.’

One script that had an instant ‘yes factor’ for Freeman was
Fargo
.

Martin appeared for the first time in a major American TV series as Lester Nygaard in the dark-comedy crime drama series
Fargo
in April 2014. Written by Noah Hawley and filmed in Calgary,
Fargo
is inspired by the much respected 1996 film of the same name by the Coen Brothers, who are also executive producers of the series. The premiere was seen on US TV by 4.5 million viewers.

Set in January 2006, the story concerns the mysterious loner Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) who passes through Bemidji in Minnesota and meets oddball insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Freeman) in a hospital waiting room. Malvo encourages Nygaard with violence and malice, which sets off a chain of unlikely murders. On the case is rookie Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) and Duluth police officer Gus Grimly.

Freeman didn’t even audition for the part – it was a straight offer. Hawley had seen something else Freeman had been in and was impressed that the actor was not all sweetness and light.

He admitted to the
Daily Telegraph
, ‘I didn’t audition for
Fargo
. It was a straight offer. They didn’t even ask to hear the accent.’ And then added, ‘It could have all gone very, very bad. Yeah, I was surprised that they didn’t want to hear that. ’Cause I could have had a cloth ear.’

Any reservations he had about the TV adaption of the
original movie went out of the window after reading the first script and the subsequent nine. Each script became more enthralling and surprising. Freeman found the characters, the setting, the overall story arc and subplots all very alluring. Fans of the original movie may have been dubious too, as it has a rather high cult status among movie buffs, but the film offered a different approach. They are two entirely different entities.

There is an anger in Freeman, something dwelling inside him that is waiting to burst into films. This anger is present in many of the great British actors, including Oliver Reed and Anthony Hopkins.

‘Some of it is a sort of lighthearted anger that I know will pass,’ admitted Freeman to Josh Rottenberg of
Entertainment Weekly
, ‘but some of it is pretty deep-seated and a fundamental part of me that I think people often don’t understand.’

His partner, his children and Martin’s love of soul music and clothes give him periods of unmitigated glee but, ‘it will probably never last that long without me puncturing it,’ he continued to tell Rottenberg. ‘It’s a pain in the ass in some ways, and in other ways it’s a blessing. For all of my faults as a person that it brings out, it’s helped put food on the table.’

What impressed Freeman about the script was how impeccably written it was and how finely laced the story is with dark comedy, emotion and suspense. His decision to accept the role was based on the first episode, especially his character’s first encounter with Billy Bob Thornton’s mysterious loner, Lorne Malvo.

Speaking about Lester Nygaard, Freeman told Anne Bayley of
TwoCentsTV.com
, ‘I just got the feeling that this was going
to be a role where you could give rein to a lot of stuff, to play a lot of stuff. And even within that first episode the range that he goes between is really interesting and so I knew that was only going to grow and expand in the next nine episodes, and so it proved to be. In all the ten episodes I get to play as Lester pretty much the whole gamut of human existence and human feeling, you know, he does the whole lot. And that’s exactly what you want to do as an actor.’

In terms of story development, Freeman knew very little about his character. There was much speculation about what Nygaard’s ultimate demise would be but everything was shrouded in secrecy. He had great trust in Hawley though, which is why he signed for the part. He only suggested a rough character outline, which wasn’t specific or detailed. It was just a general idea of where the writer wanted to go with the character. Hawley knew a great deal more than he was telling Freeman and he was careful with what was leaked out. Martin, therefore, did not have any particular clues as to what was coming in each episode. The cast were drip-fed the scripts when Hawley was ready to show them. As with many first-class writers, he did not want his actors to see the scripts until he, as the writer and creator, was a hundred-per-cent happy with them. Each script was, therefore, a surprise for Freeman and his fellow cast members. It also meant that nothing could be accidentally leaked to the public and thus potentially ruin the show’s climax. Martin didn’t know until past the halfway stage of filming the series what this would entail.

Freeman would read the script for, say, episode three and go, ‘Wow, I didn’t think that would happen,’ and then read another
episode script and think, ‘Christ, I can’t believe what’s happened to…’ The whole series was a surprise, which, in some respects, was easier for the actor because he didn’t have to over-think or prepare too much and he could just be ready to move in whichever direction was necessary as the character moves on with each episode. It was all down to Hawley’s command of the story as the writer and creator. By the end of the final episode Freeman was as surprised as anyone to see how Nygaard was capable of doing things that he had not been able to do at the start of the series.

However, Martin was initially dubious about taking on the role since he wondered – as he did with
Sherlock
– if there really needed to be a TV update of the original film. But then, of course, after reading the brilliant script, all initial reservations were debunked. He was quite vocal in correspondence with Noah Hawley that he did not want to be part of a
Fargo
tribute band. Hawley put his mind at rest and said that such a notion would not be the case. ‘The fact that it uses a very famous and brilliant film as a jumping-off point was not really an attraction; you could have an appalling version of
Fargo
,’ Freeman explained to
Vulture
’s Denise Martin. ‘But this is a really, really good version! I can only go on the script that I’m sent, and this one was interesting, it was engaging, and it was surprising. I got to cover ground that I haven’t covered before. I showed it to my missus and she’s like, “You have to fuckin’ do this.” So I did.’

Freeman admired the work of the Coen Brothers from afar but said he had never been fanatical about them. He saw how the episode scripts tried to bring a sensibility to the films which
was reminiscent of the Coen Brothers’ best work. The brothers were only tangentially involved in the series but Freeman liked the fact that, in a sort of removed way, he was working with them. The series wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t been involved. Martin was not interested in a literal remake – he liked that it echoes some of the traits of the original film but also brings a new sensibility to the story. The TV series stands on its own weight and does not rely on rehashing the original film. It inhabits the same world as the film but not the same characters, though it has the same darkly comic tone that the Coen Brothers excel at.

‘Noah Hawley, who wrote all ten episodes, was definitely trying to tap into that,’ Freeman told
The Observer
’s Andrew Anthony, ‘and I think he did that successfully enough for them to give him their blessing. I don’t know the Coen brothers but people I know who do say that’s not easily won. But I had no interest in being in just a TV version of the film. As Billy Bob Thornton said, “If it was called Detroit, you’d still have to want to do it.”’

Billy Bob Thornton has often come across as an enigmatic man, slightly odd and mercurial, but Freeman enjoyed working with him. He found Thornton to be a very easy and interesting actor to work with. They hit it off immediately, mostly talking about their shared love of music. Their first scene together was the emergency-room scene, which is the first time they meet on screen too. For Martin to work with such a distinguished and terrific actor was for him an absolute joy.

Some fans may recall that Billy Bob Thornton had a small role in
Love Actually
all those years ago.

‘We’d never met on
Love Actually
but we got on instantly like a house on fire. As soon as we had our first line run it was apparent it was going to be a breeze,’ Freeman enthused to BBC News website’s Neil Smith. ‘It’s nice as well when you’re working with an actor who you like watching. I was enjoying his performance as Martin, even as I was horrified by it as Lester.’

About their relationship on screen, Billy Bob Thornton explained to
Nerd Repository
’s Brent Hankins, ‘We didn’t really have to work on it. It just naturally happened. And Martin himself seems to be a very confident person, so I think he probably maybe had to downgrade his confidence a little bit. And me, by nature, I’m a very nervous, worrisome person, so I had to drop that a little. So, I think both of us had to definitely shed some of our real life stuff in order to play the characters.’

Both Freeman and Thornton share a similar belief that they are actors rather than movie stars. It is fascinating to watch the drama unfold between Nygaard and Malvo. As soon as they meet in the local hospital Malvo becomes a constant presence in Nygaard’s life. Freeman did not get enough on-screen time with Thornton as he would have liked, as the characters’ relationship develops sporadically throughout the series.

‘All ten episodes are amazing,’ Freeman expressed to
London
Calling.com
’s
Anthony Pearce. ‘It’s one of the best-written projects I’ve ever done. I wasn’t interested in simply rehashing old territory. With
Fargo
, I feel we’re covering ground that hadn’t been covered in the film and stands on its own.’

Freeman did not, much to his disappointment, get to work with fellow co-star Colin Hanks, son of Tom. ‘I really like
him as a man, I’m very fond of him,’ Martin admitted to
Nerd Repository
’s Kyle Wilson. ‘And I’ve gotten to know him a little bit and he’s a straight up lovely bloke. Yeah, I just really like him. And I did immediately. I think he’s ever so good in the programme as well. I like his work a lot.’

One thing that Freeman did master, though it’s somewhat odd, is his Minnesota accent. The actor has an acute musical ear and was able to pick up on the local dialect. He soon mastered the accent and stayed in voice all day on set.

‘I’m having Skype lessons and, well, pride comes before a fall but I think I’m doing okay,’ he said to
Time Out London
’s Nick Aveling. ‘It’s daunting. I don’t want to rip off Bill Macy’s accent, or rip off an accent that’s already passed into comedy, so I’ve been on YouTube to see how real Minnesotans sound. Trouble is, some accents lend themselves to comedy. They just fucking do.’

Freeman takes on the role William H. Macy played in the original film. Ellen E. Jones of
The Independent
wrote of Freeman’s performance, ‘A Hampshire native, Freeman can’t quite pull off the “Aw, jeez” Upper Midwest accent, which was such a joy in the original movie, and his befuddled nice-guy mannerisms are the same ones John Watson has in
Sherlock
and Tim had in
The Office
. He is so innately likable, in other words, he can’t convey the snivelling self-interest which made William H. Macy’s character compelling in the original. Or so it initially seemed.’

The British actor did not go back and watch the original film because he did not want it to interfere with his own vision for Nygaard.

‘…as soon as you try and differ yourself from someone, you’re becoming too conscious of that performance anyway,’ Freeman told Anne Bayley of
TwoCentsTV.com
.
‘So, no, I didn’t feel pressure in that way… he’s a brilliant actor and the world doesn’t need another actor doing a Bill Macy impression and I don’t need to be doing that and he doesn’t need it and all of that. So, I purely treated it as my performance of a different character, albeit with some comparison. There are some parallels, but I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing with Lester really.’

Freeman was not immediately familiar with Mid-Western American culture so it was all a new experience for him. Middle America could have been Middle Earth for all he knew. He was trying to avoid a comic turn with his character and did not want to patronise Nygaard, which is what can happen when a character becomes endearing to the public.

‘Every time that somebody comes up to me like that, like, “Oh, little baby,”… I’m a grown man,’ Freeman said to
Vulture
’s Denise Martin. ‘But the truth of some of those Minnesota accents is that even some Minnesotans think that they’re kind of funny. So it’s a fine line of getting that and honouring those characters. Not being reverential to them or patronising them, but to also acknowledge that some of the things the characters say are funny in the way that some of the things that are classically English are kind of ridiculous.’