Did Martin Freeman throw some shade at pompous Benedict Cumberbatch?

This week’s penultimate episode of Fargo’s Season 2 was THE BUSINESS. OMG. I came to Season 1 of Fargo late in the game, and I loved binge-watching it after it aired. But for Season 2, I’ve been watching every week, and each episode just keeps getting better and better. Do I miss seeing Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman? Absolutely. But the cast for Season 2 is stellar, and literally every actor on there is doing their best work. So imagine my happiness and surprise when Martin Freeman popped up in a “vocal cameo” in this week’s episode? That was Martin Freeman, using his real English accent, doing narration throughout the episode. It was a beautiful way to give the audience a throwback to Season 1.

Anyway, Freeman has a new interview with the Radio Times (a British publication), and some people think he’s taking a swipe at his Sherlock costar Benedict Cumberbatch. A few months ago, Benedict got on stage after a performance of Hamlet and said “f—k the politicians” in a diatribe about the Syrian refugee crisis. When asked about actors-doing-politics, here’s what Martin Freeman had to say:

“Some people think celebrities pontificating is great. Others say, ‘Are you serious? Shut up and get back to work.’ I used to be very political and still am to an extent. Actors can be pompous and we can overestimate our importance, but it’s not a mistake to have a social conscience. I won’t overdo it, go on Newsnight or Question Time and become a ‘pundit for hire’. It’s deeply annoying to hear someone like me, who doesn’t know everything, bang on – the quickest and most justifiable way for people to hate me. But as a British citizen – sorry, subject of the Queen – it’s my right to have an opinion. The trouble is I’m gobby and my life would be over in five minutes if I went on Twitter or Facebook because there’s no nuance. They’ll say, ‘If you believe this, you must hate that’. No. There are grey areas.”

[From the Radio Times via The Daily Mail]

Freeman is apparently an outspoken Labour Party supporter, which I actually didn’t know until today. I mean, I gathered that Freeman was more liberal than the average bloke, and that he’s more of a working-class hipster than a posh private-school toff. But most of that was just assumption on my part, not based on any particular statements he’s made about political stuff. My interpretation is that Freeman doesn’t think much of “pompous” Benedict saying “f—k the politicians,” but that the endgame of their political views is probably pretty similar.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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