MEDIA: Is it more so, do you think than from the first film? Or has it always been the same?
FREEMAN: I don’t know, well, because there are not actually that many times he’s put it on. So… Which is a fair question, actually. Because you kind of think, “Oh, how many times has he put–” It’s not that often. And I think it’s always with reticence.
Probably, if anything like anything the first time you go through something unpleasant is unpleasant and surprising and scary, I guess the second time at least you’re forewarned. But yeah, it’s still quite a bit sickening for him to put it on, though.
MEDIA: Do you think you’ll be sad saying goodbye to this character?
FREEMAN: I’m a deeply, deeply unsentimental person as far as stuff like that is concerned. I’m very sentimental about other things, but I’m never ever sorry to leave a job. Ever.
Partly because, while I still have that experience and partly because recording has been invented and if I ever miss it I can, you know, play it. Please God, you know. I mean, I know that sound facetious, but it’s really true. You can play the record or play the DVD or whatever it is you want to play, thankfully. No, I won’t be. I hope I’ll be proud of it. And I’ll be happy to, really happy to have done it. But no, I’m always wanting to see what the next thing is, genuinely.
There will be things about it that you will miss, there will be people and experiences that you kind of think, “Oh, that was– It’s a shame I’ll never have that particular one again.” But, honestly that’s kind of like on every job. It’s like that on every job. This is slightly different I guess, because it’s longer, but in that way nature find its own way. The longer it is the more you want to finish it, you know what I mean? Because you know, the longer something is, the more you’ve had time to get annoyed at people. I’m talking about them on me, actually.
So, no. I’m surprisingly unsentimental about that stuff, because I’m really a big softy about some other things. But not really about leaving work, no. Because I always want the next thing. You know what I mean. That sounds sharky, and it, you know– I don’t– But it’s–
(Prepare yourself for these questions readers; I almost left them out.)
MEDIA: Are you ever sad about leaving the feet?
FREEMAN: Fuck no. No, really, no. No, this is the greatest acting of my life, tolerating the feet.
MEDIA: Well, so anything that we’d be surprised to know? Because I was just watching you scratch, and sort of seeing how far up that goes. What would you want to tell us about this whole thing there?
FREEMAN: Yeah, mate, well I do not– I mean, I could tell you anything. I don’t know what you’re allowed to tell other people. They go up to there. They–
MEDIA: A bit like stockings?
FREEMAN: They are like stockings. They’re like rubber stockings, they take about eight minutes to put on with the help of two lovely ladies.
And it’s a lot quicker a process than it was on Rings, where I think they were soldered up to there, for about forty-five minutes. But these are really quick, they think about optimum efficiency and comfort. They’re not really uncomfortable. But, you know, I’m asked a lot, will I miss them. Do I bring any home. No. No. No, no.
HANDLER: Martin, you’ve got about five minutes before you’re on E. Are you okay to… Okay.
(E means that he had to go to sound stage E to shoot, probably with the second unit or the he had already tolerated us interrupting his work day enough!)
FREEMAN: Yeah, couple more questions. Yeah, cool.
