Martin Freeman hopes film has brought army of new fans to The Hobbit

Martin Freeman’s role was the Hobbit of a lifetime.

He may only be 3ft tall, but Martin Freeman soon realised Bilbo Baggins would be the biggest role of his career.

Just after it was announced he had landed the lead role of the Hobbit in Peter Jackson’s latest three-part adaptation of

J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, Martin made an appearance at Comic Con, the annual convention for sci-fi and fantasy fans in San Diego.

“I was struck by just how emotional people were talking about the film and their anticipation of it,” recalled the Sherlock star.

“With each question came a preamble about what the previous films had meant in their lives.

“So it was genuinely touching to know you were going to be part of something that had touched so many.”

Nearly four years on and Martin is now at journey’s end with the release of the concluding part of The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies.

In the spring of 2011, the 43-year-old moved with his longtime partner, actress Amanda Abbington, son Joseph and daughter Grace, to New Zealand for 18 months to shoot the three films back-to-back.

The films have been released every December in the three years since, so you’d think that having lived with the project for that length of time, Martin would now be able to say if it has had a similarly life-affirming effect on him. But you’d be quite wrong.

“I think in 15 years I might be able to answer that question,” he says.

“I’m still too close to it to say. Often in life the things you learn most from you don’t know that is the case five minutes after the event, you realise it much later.

“What I can say now is that I’m very proud of the films and thoroughly enjoyed my participation in them and I think that has its own worth.

“We do things in life, whether it be jobs or personal things, that you hope will give you enjoyment and it will enrich your life and The Hobbit certainly did that.”

The stakes are raised in the final film as the dragon Smaug (voiced and motioned by Martin’s Sherlock pal Benedict Cumberbatch) wreaks revenge on nearby Laketown following his expulsion from Erebor by Bilbo and his accompanying band of dwarves.

The Laketowners flee towards Erebor to take shelter but elves and more worryingly orcs are also heading in the same direction, having the smell of Smaug’s horde of gold in their nostrils.

All this is set against a background of rising peril for the entire kingdom of Middle Earth as the Dark Lord Sauron holds Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) prisoner within the catacombs of the ruined fortress of Dol Gurdur.

One thing Martin has learned is the reason for the story’s everlasting appeal since The Hobbit novel was published in 1937. He explains: “I think the message of good triumphing over evil is pretty straightforward.

“And it’s certainly not the first story in the world that has carried that message.

“But I think the reason it recurs and is so strong in The Hobbit in particular is that most heroes in the world are not 6ft 5in and built like vikings!

“We all know that not to be true, Hollywood doesn’t always tell us that truth that’s why we think it’s surprising that Bilbo can be a hero but most people we’ve ever met who we would consider heroic or brave or inspirational do not look like Dolph Lundgren, lovely fella though Dolph is.”

And Martin hopes the three Hobbit films have brought an even bigger audience to the author’s work as well as keeping happy those people he met in San Diego four years ago.

“For fans of this world I hope they find the film genuinely thrilling, a bit scary, very moving and ultimately completely fulfilling,” he added.

“I also hope that people who aren’t familiar with the story get taken on an amazing ride and it opens something that will lead them to read the books and see The Lord of the Rings films.”

That would make Martin’s effort more than worthwhile.