Martin Freeman (notes from a BBC interview)
/In this post, there are notes so that you can understand the BBC radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Martin Freeman. He is a famous British actor that has starred in many famous films and television series. Aggie and I have created a podcast called Radio English and you can listen to our episode about Martin freeman below:
You can listen to the interview here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003rlf
You can listen to my interview here:
Here are the words that we discuss in the podcast:
naturalism
nuance
bring different stuff out
irreverent
tap into
barmy
lairy
the killer instinct
smart-ass
a wall flower
to fancy
a mod
delusion
incremental
off the back
a double whammy
chemistry
to hit it off
to get too past your station
cliched
Intro
00:50 He is as prolific as he is popular
00:57 his range is remarkable
01:03 he’s often praised for the seemingly contradictory qualities Immerse versatility and remarkable relatability
01:10 His talent for naturalism mean audiences believe him (and root for him)
The difference between reading a script that within in 6 pages has you (what makes you excited when you read it)
Personality and early influences
02:14 I’m a big fan …. of people not begging to be liked
02:15 Scripts come across with all singing, all dancing whistles...
02:20 I like things that are a bit more at their own pace….I like people who are a bit more at their own pace
02.45 it can sound a bit self-pitying (how hard he works to create very naturalistic performance)
03.29 there was something very relatable about him (Michael Cain - talking about him being natural)
03.45 Men who had a bit of nuance about them (actors he admired when he was
04:14 When I was growing up, it was reruns of Nigel Bruce being Watson.
04:23 I wasn’t 65 and a walrus (Nigel Bruce)
04.29 Casting is 75% of it (making himself different from other actors that have
04:34 If someone’s trusted me with that job I’ve just got to run with it
04.48 You bring different stuff out of each other (playing with another actor e.g Benedict Cumberbatch)
04.48 ..how much you swear (all the interviews that LL has read mention this)
05.07 I imagine that the whittling process has been agony
Childhood + parents
05:52 this would have been one of the records I inherited from my brothers
06:03 it’s a corker (1st record)
06:51 she was rude (mum)
06:57 We were all brought up well….. to have manners..
07:01 to take other people into account (the way he was brought up)
07:05 a focus puller
07:10 what were her signature moves?
07:15 she would just know the irreverent, rude or sarcastic thing to say
07:19 ..that would make people laugh or make them outraged
07.27 she was able to tap into a thing that made people look at her.
07:35 what I got from my mum was …...show-off
07:43 …..from better or worse
07:49 Fantastically liberal (mum)
08:04 she was chaotic and a bit barmy
08:15 demonstrably so (told that they were loved)
08:45 they split up when I was very young
08:52 he was still had charm, he was always very charming
09:00 He wasn’t a stranger to a drink
10.14 I was lairy, not properly lary but I had a sort of confidence… (as a child)
10.32 you circumnavigate (around being small)
10.51 the killer instinct (squash - he didn’t have it)
11.14 you must maim everything in your wake (as a sportsperson)
12:20 You said that Catholisosm and Two Tone were my twin religions as a kid
13.07 she was never dogmatic about it (Mum about Catholicism)
13.13 she was always a bit of a lefty
13.28 I was always a smart-ass
13.38 ..talk about anything and it’s boring when it’s black and white, when it’s just didactic ….every single thing is grey
13.52 ..there are things that happen in the church that of course I’m not signed up to
14:00 ...that I’m not prepared to jettison (things about religion - Catholisism)
15.35 If I’d had the talent and the wherewithal (would have liked to have been a musician like one of his siblings)
15.45 Interesting to join a big family when it’s already in full flow
16.10 none of us in my family are wall flowers
18.28 the first acting I did was fittingly for a Catholic school
19:12 it was much more my speed than schlepping around the country to get knocked out in some squash tournament.
Early interest in drama
19.21: rehearse plays, do drama games and clearly you were going to fancy people
20.35 it was very gratifying from an ego point of view
20:50 what about the other pillars of teenage life: music and fashion?
20:50 I was a little mod
21:13 if you are cursed with the thing of being obsessed with pop music
21.22 ... arrested development
22:22 it opened my horizons to music (film)
22.34 this just pipped it (over Oliver)
Early career
24:18 if someone asks you if you want to go and work in the National Theatre, you don’t say wait let me get back to you
25.05 As every actor does, you just go for auditions for things (how he got into TV work).
25.38 When you’re first on telly
25.53 There was a fair chance that a lot of people would have seen the show that you were on
26.00 you allow yourself the delusion of walking down the Hackney road and thinking yes I think everybody’s probably looking at me
26.10 I’ve sort of made it
25.12 It’s all incremental
26.27 When people understandably talk about your breakthrough….there are all lots of little ones
The Office
26.42 Tell me about auditioning for that part (The Office)
27.05 thought he was hilarious (Ricky Gervais)
28.10 out of all the scores of songs I could have chosen this still sounds as fresh as a daisy
29.13 the success was amazing because it was off the back of a show that I loved (the office)
29.16 it was a double whammy of really having enjoyed doing the show (really enjoyed it and then had it validated by so many people)
Sherlock
30.14 they thought I was a moody prick (audition for Sherlock)
31.09 that chemistry is an interesting phenomenon (between him and Sherlock)
31.12 How rare is it that you have that experience where it just works straightaway? LL
31.25 Probably nothing I’ve done has resonated with the world’s population in the same way Sherlock has
31.57 you throw in all your cards with this band
32.06 it’s a lot to live up to.. You cannot live up to it ..you just can’t (the reputation)
32.15 there were some fans that were so adamant that John and Serlock were gay
32.28 When that didn’t happen there was a chunk of people saying ‘This is betrayal’.
32.42 up to a certain point that’s delightful, beyond a certain point, it’s more challenging
32.53 keeping your head down and doing the things that you can trust in (how he coped with all the pressure)
Amanda (his ex wife)
33.13 we clicked immediately.
..we just hit it off
33.47 In the last Sherlock,, we were in the midst of splitting up
Sherlock
It’s a big logistical thing to get us all together (will there be more Sherlocks)
34.17 the last of that series definitely felt like a pause
34.28 It sounds like a sort of hedgy thing to say but it’s true
34.54 We popped our head in the door
Amanda (his ex wife)
36.53 a very amiacable separation after 16 years together
37.02 how have you adjusted to co-parenting
37.17 People that split up and can be civil and do it for the kids, it’s all right
37.31 When you’ve loved someone for that long and they’ve been an integral part of your life
37.35 we do get on well
New series - Breeders
38 with Simon Blackwell and Chris Adderson - no sloaches themselves
38.23 the genesis of it was that no only is that alright..
38.41 one of my children’s mantras to me Daddy be patient
38.53 The difference between being a parent and not being a parent is about 47 light years.
38.57 you are not prepared for how viscually challenging it is
39.00 I’d never felt such rage in my life
39.24 we’re trying to catch up with that, with no blueprint at all
39.28 it’s going to be messed up, a lot of the time
39.39 what I wasn’t prepared for was my own shortcomings
What are you like as a parent
40.53 we’re a very tactile, kissy, huggy family
Last track
41.26 they were smuggling a lot of lyrics in to the top 10
On the island
Never hearing anyone’s voice would be horrendous, awful
Attitude to fame
42.53 You seem to have quite a healthy disregard for it
43.00 I guess it would come from upbringing
43.03 Being the youngest of 5 and thinking ‘don’t get too past your station’
A low level hum all my life
43.42 I’m quite sparten...I’m a bit monkish
44.18 it’s intrusive and I don’t like it
44.21 I can just about bear it for me...I can’t bear it for my kids
44.53 you tally yourself against the musicians you admire
47.05 just for the sheer effect it had on me (animal farm
47.20 It struck me like a lightning bolt
47.26 I’m aware how cliched and English that sounds (tea)