Do we believe today's exclusive in
The Sun that C-list British actor
Martin Freeman has turned down the role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's two film
The Hobbit-epic?
No, of course we don't. Given the dreadful track record of the shameful British tabloid for movie scoops - (Eddie Murphy as The Riddler, Danny Boyle helming Bond 23, Keira Knightley as Princess Diana - and how many of those came true?) and some good old common sense will tell you that The Hobbit movies are still without the necessary funding to even thinking about filling a cast list. MGM still need to put their house in order, and until that happens (if ever) - there will be no casting of any roles in The Hobbit. The story in The Sun claims Freeman turned down the younger version of the character so memorably played by Ian Holm in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, so the actor could appear in a second season of BBC's contemporary re-imaginging of Arthur Conan Doyle's super-sleuth in Sherlock, where he plays the sidekick Dr. Watson. It's a rather astonishing story given that Freeman, who since his brief time in the spotlight in the first half of the last decade (he came to prominence in the U.K.'s version of The Office as the Matthew Perry of British sitcoms, before starring in The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy) has appeared almost exclusively in obscure STV-flicks or very minimally released shocking excuses of movies in Britain. Or, appearing in those adverts from the UK Film Council (or whatever) telling audiences not to pirate movies as it is harming the U.K. film industry, and putting actors like Freeman out of work. The only way the story could possibly be true (and I'm 99% convinced it ain't) - is if Freeman was offered Bilbo a few months back when Guillermo del Toro was still attached to the project, and he and Peter Jackson were approaching actors for their film. Given the uncertainty over financing, which no doubt would have meant an uncertainity over scheduling dates - I could imagine that Freeman turned the role down on those grounds, quite rightly thinking the film is never going to happen - but otherwise I just can't see this story being true. I neither think that Freeman has been offered the job, or has had the opportunity to turn it down. But for the record... Freeman was once my first choice to play Bilbo and
I campaigned for him to get the role for 2-3 years but since
Michael Sheen has blossomed into the versatile actor he is these days, I'm gunning for him to win the gig. Not that these movies will ever happen, at least not in their current form, unfortunately.