The Office actor Martin Freeman is set to appear on the big screen in his biggest role to date, when he stars as Bilbo Baggins in the Peter Jackson movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Martin takes on the role that was made famous by Ian Holms in the Lord of the Rings movies, and has been talking about how the ring affects Bilbo in The Hobbit.
Freeman told Collider, “I think it definitely has an effect on him. Maybe I shouldn’t say how much of it is negative or positive, but it’s clear that it has a pull on him, that, I guess would be recognizable from The Lord of the Rings. But it takes a different turn, I guess. I suppose, ’cause The Hobbit anyway, is slightly lighter and it’s more of a family affair, so it’s not quite as dark.”
He added, “But it doesn’t mean the stakes aren’t there. It definitely still has to matter that he is in possession of this thing. And I think a lot of the time, even he doesn’t realize why he wants to hold onto it so much, but there is an unspoken hold that it has on him, an unconscious hold.”
As well as Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey also stars Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Armitage. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to be released in both the US and the UK on December 14.
