Martin Freeman is the youngest of five children, born to Geoff
Freeman and Philomena R. Norris. His grandfather was a member of
the Royal Army Medical Corps during the evacuation of Dunkirk in
1940, who was killed in a bombing raid two days before his unit was
able to leave. Martin attended Salesian School, a Roman Catholic
comprehensive school in Surrey, followed by the Central School of
Speech and Drama in London.
From 1997, he appeared in small roles across theatre, film and
television, including 'The Bill' and 'Casualty' - stalwarts for any
young British actor - before landing his biggest and most
recognisable role as Tim Canterbury in 'The Office' in 2001,
alongside Ricky Gervais. In 2003, Martin gained the lead role
in beloved ITV sitcom 'Hardware', set in a DIY shop. The series ran
for two years. Also in 2003, he was part of the ensemble cast of
the all-star Richard Curtis romantic comedy 'Love,
Actually'. Martin was BAFTA nominated in 2004 for his
performance in The Office Christmas special - which incidentally
was the final episode of the series.
In 2005 Martin played Arthur Dent in the big screen adaptation
of Douglas Adams' 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', perhaps
his single most prominent role to date.
A variety of cameos - in films such as 'Hot Fuzz (2007) - as
well as the lead role in the Christmas family comedy 'Nativity!'
and roles in a variety of short films continued until 2009, when he
was cast as John Watson in a prospective pilot for an hour long
drama - a modern day updating of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock
Holmes.
While the series didn't proceed in this format, Martin returned
to the role in early 2010 to film a series of three ninety minute
long episodes. He was again BAFTA nominated for his performance, in
the Best Supporting Actor [Drama] category, and this time he
won.
Following the success of 'Sherlock' in 2010, Martin came to the
attention of Peter Jackson, who was looking to cast one of the most
famous roles in fantasy literature - Bilbo Baggins - in 'The
Hobbit'. After wrangling due to his filming commitments to a second
series of 'Sherlock', Martin was confirmed in the part played by
Ian Holm in 'The Lord of the Rings' Trilogy, and has started an
intense schedule that will see him spend nearly two years filming
in New Zealand, before the release of two films based on the book
in 2012 and 2013.
Martin has also recently filmed a cameo appearance in the
upcoming music industry comedy 'Svengali', and provided his voice
to Aardman Animations' 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with
Scientists.'