Martin Freeman

Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Freeman's most notable roles are that of Tim Canterbury in the mockumentary series The Office (2001–2003), Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama series Sherlock (2010–2017), Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014), and Lester Nygaard in the first season of the dark comedy-crime drama series Fargo (2014). He has also appeared in films including the romantic comedy Love Actually (2003), the horror comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004), the sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), the action comedy Hot Fuzz (2007), the semi-improvised comedy Nativity! (2009), the sci-fi comedy The World's End (2013), as Everett K. Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Black Panther (2018), as well as The Responder BBC TV (2022). He will reprise the role of Everett K. Ross in the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion (2022) and the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

Early life

Martin John Christopher Freeman was born on 8 September 1971 in Aldershot, Hampshire, the youngest of five children. His parents, Philomena (née Norris) and naval officer Geoffrey Freeman, separated when he was a child. His father died of a heart attack when Freeman was 10 years old. Freeman's paternal grandfather, Leonard W. Freeman, was a medic in the British Expeditionary Force during World War II and was killed in action at Dunkirk just a few days before the Dunkirk evacuation. Leonard's father, Richard, was born blind and worked as a piano tuner and organist at St Andrew's Church in West Tarring before becoming a music teacher in Kingston upon Hull. Freeman attended the Salesian School in Chertsey, Surrey, before attending Brooklands College in nearby Weybridge for media studies. His older brother, Tim, became a singer with the group Frazier Chorus.

Personal life

Freeman resides in the Belsize Park area of London. He previously lived in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, with actress Amanda Abbington. They were together from 2000 to 2016, and have a son named Joe and a daughter named Grace. They appeared together in productions such as Sherlock, Swinging with the Finkels, The Debt, The Robinsons, and The All Together. On 22 December 2016, it was reported that Freeman and Abbington had separated. He is a vegetarian and a practising Catholic. He is a close friend of actor Simon Pegg, who is the godfather of his son.

Freeman's personal style follows that of British mod subculture, and he cites Paul Weller as one of his heroes and influences on his style. He is a fan of soul, Motown, and jazz music, and presented an episode of BBC Two's The Culture Show in 2009 titled "Martin Freeman Goes to Motown." He also selected music for a 2006 Motown compilation titled Made to Measure, and worked on a jazz compilation with his friend Eddie Piller titled Jazz on the Corner, which was released on Acid Jazz Records on 23 March 2018 and featured tracks by Kamasi Washington and The Brand New Heavies. The pair presented Craig Charles' Funk and Soul Show on 31 March 2018. In 2019, a follow-up album titled Soul on the Corner was announced, featuring tracks by Leroy Hutson and Bobby Womack.

Politics

Freeman is a supporter of the Labour Party. As a teenager, he supported the now-defunct political group Militant and volunteered with the Labour Party Young Socialists. In 2015, he appeared in a party political broadcast to endorse the Labour Party ahead of the 2015 UK general election. In August 2015, Freeman was a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.