Over the last two decades, Martin Freeman has made a mark in some of the 2000s’ most memorable franchises: the original U.K. version of “The Office,” “The Hobbit” trilogy, BBC One’s “Sherlock,” and FX’s “Fargo.” This spring, the Emmy- and BAFTA-winning talent returns to TV and FX on “Breeders,” a comedy that has him playing an exhausted father and exposing the multitudes of modern-day parenting.
What was the moment you decided to be an actor?
I joined youth theater when I was 15, I had done a couple of productions, and it wasn’t until I was doing a play when I was 17 [when] I thought, I’m quite good at this. It was then I thought this was maybe something I could pursue. I went to college and did a performing arts course, and then after that I went to drama school.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I think I’d try not to give him any advice and get out of the way, because it’s gone OK. I would hopefully not say much other than what I would say to anybody who ever asks me for advice (I never really volunteer it): Do it for the right reasons and do it because you enjoy it. A lot of the time you will have no money and you will hear the word “no” a lot; the only thing that’s really going to sustain you in the hard times is to enjoy it. And I know young me did enjoy it. So I try to retain that same spirit all these years later.
What was your most memorable survival job?
This is where I now sound like a liar and a hypocrite, but I’ve never done anything else. I’ve been turned down for jobs and obviously I’ve not gotten jobs. [But] since I’ve become an actor, I’ve never done anything else.
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How did you get your first big break?
I suppose it would be “The Office.’’ That was the show that made the difference between people knowing who I was and not—people on buses, people on the street, and people in the industry. Certainly in the U.K., but also the industry in the States watched that show and a lot of comedy people watched that show. It’s not like everybody in America was going bananas over “The Office,” but people in the industry, [people] I respected liked it. It meant that, from that moment on, I auditioned less. I still auditioned for a while, but things would come in that would be more, “I think you could do this,” or “Why don’t you come in and do that?” It was a break that I was really proud of, and it was a show I would’ve watched if I hadn’t been on it. It was quite influential. You get those shows that for the next few years permeate the culture, and “The Office” was one of those shows. It had an influence on some strands of comedy in the same way that “The Office” was influenced by Larry Sanders and “The Simpsons” and “[This Is] Spinal Tap.”
What is your worst audition horror story?
I had some of the most embarrassing commercial auditions when I was very young, where you feel a bit humiliated. I remember the first-ever commercial casting I went for, I wasn’t long out of drama school, and I immediately called my agent afterward and said, “Just to let you know, I’m never doing one of those ever again.” She said, “I know how you feel and I know what you’re saying, but just give it a minute. You might want to at some point.” I remember turning up to commercial castings where I’ve been the only actor among a load of models—people I’ve seen in Vogue. That’s not very good for your self-esteem when you come into a room full of Olympically beautiful men and women.
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How do you typically prepare for an audition?
Generally, I think being relaxed has served me quite well, because it means you take the pressure off of yourself a little bit when you are in those situations. Of course, I would get a little bit nervous, but I did quite a good job at convincing my body I wasn’t. I fooled myself. I acted like someone who wasn’t nervous and I managed to convince my blood pressure. If you’re not too terrified, you know the stakes can never be that high. If this audition doesn’t go well, it’s not the end of your career, no one gets hurt. It’s just a thing that will pass. I’ve tried to keep that perspective.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
I’ve never done that! [Laughs] It hasn’t arisen yet. It’s possible. But, also, I think maybe I would be embarrassed if it backfired. Why am I here standing in the middle of Central Park, half-naked, dressed like a clown just to attract the attention of whatever director? I’ll let you know when it happens. You’ll read about it: It’ll be me scaling a building without crampons or rope.
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card?
My first SAG job was “The Hobbit.” I’d done bits of work in the States before that for American companies, but I had never had a SAG contract.
What performance should every actor see and why?
The first one that comes immediately out of hundreds is Al Pacino’s transition from the young Michael Corleone to the middle-aged Michael Corleone over the first two “Godfather” [films]. There are several amazingly good performances in those films, but I’m not sure anyone’s ever been better than that. It’s an amazing thing to say, but it might be the best thing that’s ever happened onscreen. To go from just out of the Army, complete ingenue, not a thug, not a criminal, still optimistic and very disapproving of his father’s profession, to becoming the absolute antithesis of everything he thought he’d be when he was 25—it’s a masterpiece. I’ve never seen anything quite like it that had that effect on me as a teenager that made me think, Jesus Christ, if I could get anywhere near that, I’d be a happy man. And so far I have not. [Laughs] So I’ll let you know.
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How did you land your first agent?
I was at drama school. Traditionally, in the U.K., in your last year of training, that’s when agents and agencies come and see your work. You’ll have showcases where all of your year does 2-minute audition pieces and you also do plays, of course, and agents are invited. I was lucky to go to a drama school where agents would come. I did a play called “Marat/Sade,” which is a play written in the 1960s by Peter Weiss. It was a very popular play, very political, about the ’60s but set during the French Revolution. I played John-Paul Marat, who was a real-life French revolutionary who was murdered in the bath—there was a famous painting of him being stabbed in the bath by a French woman called Charlotte Corday. I played him, and that’s how I got my agent. I was still in the third year of Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It meant that while I was still in drama school, I was going for the odd audition. I actually left drama school early because I got a gig.
What has playing Paul on “Breeders” added to your acting skills?
Maybe in a few years I’ll realize what I learned and what I got better at! It’s unashamedly the role that’s the closest to me. So, on the one hand, I’m doing less acting than I’ve ever done. On the other hand, from a craft point of view, I try to get better at every job I do. As far as stripping away all artifice and all acting with a capital A, it’s quite a good job for that, because it requires me to do no acting, which requires acting. [It’s] acting that looks like you’re not doing anything, which I feel I was doing on “The Office,” really—or at least trying to.
This story originally appeared in the March 19 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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