English actor Martin Freeman is set to become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, once the Peter Jackson movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released next year. Most of the filming for The Hobbit took place in New Zealand and Martin took his wife, actress Amanda Abbington and their two children along with him. Now, Amanda has opened up about how much of a family The Hobbit cast have become.
Abbington explained, "It was sacred ground, so before they could start filming we had this thing called a 'powhiri' where the Maoris accept you into their family. Ian McKellen made a wonderful speech about how actors are a tribe of people as well, who don't recognise colour, creed or religion. They're just thrown together. That's what it's like over here. You've got loads of people from all over the world coming in and it's like a lovely family. We came back a few weeks ago and it's just like coming home."
She then discussed the attention that Martin and their family are likely to experience, "I think that's inevitable, he's got to be prepared for that, and we'll be there supporting him, making sure he doesn't fly off. I know I'm biased because I'm in love with him, but I do think he's doing a pretty excellent job, I'm really proud of him." The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to be released on December 14, 2012.
