Martin Freeman And Andy Serkis Discuss Filming "Gollum’s Cave" Scene In THE HOBBIT

Martin Freeman talks about his time so far as Bilbo Baggins, including just how familiar with the source material he is, while both he and co-star Andy Serkis discuss sharing their first scene.

By JoshWilding - Dec 25, 2011 05:12 AM EST

Filed Under: Fantasy

"In the normal run of things, there’d be quite a lot going on for me,"Martin Freeman told Empire Magazine in a recent interview on the set of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. "I’ve got ears, the wig and the feet, which three more things than an actor normally has… But then I look over at the dwarves and see what they’re lugging!" You see, while he may be finding those additional props a pain, his dwarven co-stars are carrying around nearly 80kg of accessories all while wearing fat suits and various prosthetics. "They’re absolute troopers," he sympathises.

As for how work on the movie is going, Freeman said that he’s enjoying it despite admitting that he’s far from an expert on the source material. "It wasn’t in my orbit at all. I’m not sure it would have been very helpful if I’d always wanted to play Bilbo Baggins. I’d have come up against someone else’s vision. We’re taking the work seriously, but when we’re looking up at tennis balls that are meant to be trolls, it’s got to be fun."

"The first thing I filmed was finding the ring in Gollum’s cave," he revealed, adding that it’s a scene he knew that he’d have to invest with a certain amount of gravitas. "It’s good to know, but not play, the importance of the Ring. I’m trying to put a bit more heaviness into it. It’s not all comical." His co-star (and second unit director) Andy Serkis had nothing but praise for his co-star after sharing the iconic sequence with his as the mo-cap Gollum. "It was great for Martin to start off with that chamber piece. He could find Bilbo within the confines of a one-on-one scene. It was almost stranger for me: for the first couple of days it felt like I was doing an impersonation!"

RELEASE DATE: December 14, 2012.

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13 Comments

Kaedus - 12/25/2011, 5:27 AM

Really excited for this. I reckon Martin Freeman will own as Bilbo. You can see he's got that uncomfortable, awkwardness about being on an adventure in the trailer.

ballstothewall - 12/25/2011, 5:27 AM

This seems fcking awesome! it would be more easier understanding than the lord of the rings.

canadianturd - 12/25/2011, 5:47 AM

I really need to watch Return of the King already and get it over with. Andy Serkis is a such talented actor, I wish he had the opportunity to play the Riddler in Christopher Nolan's Batman.

Also, why do people bother reporting grif? You pretty much know what he's going to post before you even look at the article.

Check out my LOBO CHRISTMAS FAN CAST

Superheromoviefan - 12/25/2011, 6:10 AM

Andy Serkis for Oscar

Facade - 12/25/2011, 9:08 AM

Some people complain about PJ's version of LOTR need to understand that they are chronologically corrected, which makes them different than Tolkien's books.

Personally, my favorite is FOTR (extended) and my least favorite is ROTK. TT is the best of the 3, though; I just like the feel of the Shire of FOTR. I think PJ took greater liberties with ROTK (and I'm not a fan of the intro).

rockstar728 - 12/25/2011, 9:59 AM

Love the new look CBM!

CaptainTall - 12/25/2011, 1:24 PM

Andy Serkis is amazing.

Skateanddestroy88 - 12/25/2011, 2:18 PM

All right. This is a Peter Jakson project right. Man I was even that excited and have been to lazy to watch trailer but this movie is gonna be awesome.

Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will have to watch LOTR triology in anticipation. I got it at Walmart for 6 bucks on black Friday two years ago !!!!!!!!!!!

TheMyth - 12/26/2011, 4:09 AM

What is with the gripes on Jackson's liberties int the trilogy? Those flics were closer to the novels than almost any other flic based on a book/comic that I've ever seen. The omissions are perfectly acceptable also as it would have been 6 movies each nearly 4 hours long to do it all. The Hobbit films will be spectacular.

headlopper - 12/26/2011, 11:26 AM

"This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town
And beats high mountain down".

Gollum's riddle. Can you solve it?

pOoPEE - 12/26/2011, 8:31 PM

@ Headlopper

Umm water :-)

Dedpool - 12/27/2011, 7:47 AM

CANNOT WAIT!!!

Martin Freeman And Andy Serkis Discuss Filming "Gollum’s Cave" Scene In THE HOBBIT

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