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Martin Freeman has joked that movie bosses would have anyone trading unofficial Hobbit merchandise killed. The British actor stars as Bilbo Baggins in the movie franchise. The trilogy is one of the biggest in the business; with Martin laughing that's probably why everything to do with it is so closely guarded. "I don't think I've actually seen any unofficial stuff because I imagine someone in a studio would have them killed," he joked to BBC Radio 1.
'There's a lot of it isn't there? A lot of merchandise'
"I think that's pretty sewn up, that stuff. The merchandise is quite good for this; I've not seen anything really naff. There's a lot of it isn't there? A lot of merchandise."
Bilbo was a fun role for Martin, not least because he had to be transformed in it. In The Hobbit movies the character goes on a quest, meaning he doesn't look as dapper as the actor does in real life. In fact, Martin even had to have dirt shoved under his fingernails before making it on set.
"Yeah, my make-up artist Georgia who was with me throughout, [did that]," he explained. "Nothing gets past her; every technician on The Hobbit was meticulous. This is a character who has been on the road for over a year with a band of filthy dwarves, not washing, not showering. So yeah, if suddenly you cut away from the dirty face to lovely white fingernails that would be a bit weird, so somebody comes to tend to all that."
Martin also spoke about his Christmas plans, including the gifts he's got to buy. The actor was happy to discuss some of the perfect presents for his famous pals, among them his former The Office co-star Ricky Gervais.
"A mirror," Martin guffawed, when asked what he'd buy Ricky. He then moved on to his ideas for Simon Pegg. "Probably something involving R2D2. Something involving comics, Star Wars or Star Trek. Never [would I say he's a geek], Simon would never have that said about him."
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