The strangest showbiz news comes courtesy of The Sun today, meaning it's probably not true, but a fun talking point. The tabloid claims that Martin Freeman was offered the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings prequels based on The Hobbit, but turned it down to focus on Sherlock for the BBC. Can it be true?
A "source" old The Sun "it was one of the most difficult decisions of his career. MGM, who are making the film, only got a formal offer over in the last couple of weeks. It was too late for Martin because he had already signed up for another series of Sherlock. It was agonizing but he had no other choice. All the actors had to read four pages of script to camera which is being shown to Peter Jackson. He is looking for a hidden gem now Martin has ruled himself out of the job."
Do we really believe this? Would Martin Freeman turn down a seven-figure sum to play the lead in a multi-million dollar guaranteed blockbuster, that would potentially catapult him to the Hollywood A-list, just to play sidekick to Benedict Cumberbatch in another trio of Sherlock episodes? I can't see it myself. Surely it would be possible for Freeman to do both, with a little compassion from the BBC and MGM? But if this is true, I feel very sorry for Freeman if he was forced to refuse The Hobbit because of a BBC contract.
