Latest news with #MartinFreeman
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Hobbit star Martin Freeman browses diamonds rings with actress partner Rachel Benaissa at London jewellers
SHERLOCK star Martin Freeman looks as if he is shopping for his precious at a jewellers. The actor, 53, seemed particularly taken with a £4,500 aquamarine and diamond ring. 5 5 5 Martin, who played Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit trilogy, has been with actress Rachel Benaissa, 30, for five years. A local who saw him outside the Hampstead, North London shop said: 'Martin looked intent on a particular show stopping ring in the front and centre of the window display. 'He even fetched the shop assistant so he could point out which one wanted to look at. "He was wearing a cap so he could go incognito.' Martin, who has two children with ex partner Amanda Abbington, recently opened up about his relationship with Rachel. He said: ' I talk to her about a lot of stuff because she's kind of my best friend and my confidante.' He also made a kinky admission on a recent podcast, revealing: 'She's a massive cheese and wine whore. 'She says that about herself, 'I'm a cheese and wine whore.' It's not all she is, but we like cooking.' Hobbit Frodo Baggins wields 'Sting' sword in Lord of the Rings 5
The Irish Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Hobbit star Martin Freeman browses diamonds rings with actress partner Rachel Benaissa at London jewellers
SHERLOCK star Martin Freeman looks as if he is shopping for his precious at a jewellers. The actor, 53, seemed particularly taken with a £4,500 aquamarine and diamond ring. Advertisement 5 Martin Freeman, pictured with girlfriend Rachel Benaissa, seemed particularly taken with a ring Credit: Eroteme 5 Martin looks as if he is shopping for his precious at the store Credit: Eroteme 5 Martin, 53, has been with actress Rachel Benaissa, 30, for five years Credit: Getty 5 Martin seemed particularly taken with this £4,500 aquamarine and diamond ring Credit: Eroteme Martin, who played A local who saw him outside the 'He even fetched the shop assistant so he could point out which one wanted to look at. "He was wearing a cap so he could go incognito.' Advertisement Read More on Showbiz Martin, who has two children with ex partner He said: ' I talk to her about a lot of stuff because she's kind of my best friend and my confidante.' He also made a kinky admission on a recent podcast, revealing: 'She's a massive cheese and wine whore. 'She says that about herself, 'I'm a cheese and wine whore.' It's not all she is, but we like cooking.' Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Hobbit Frodo Baggins wields 'Sting' sword in Lord of the Rings 5 Martin played Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit trilogy
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Preston rescue cat Spud becomes a star in two BBC shows
A rescue cat has become a TV hit after starring in two BBC series. Spud, from Preston, has appeared in BBC One's This City is Ours and The Responder with Sue Johnson and Martin owner and manager Carol Walker, who runs the SRPCC cat welfare trust, said the fame feels very surreal."I can't believe how he has taken off - he just takes it in his stride like he takes everything," she said. "The last year has just been phenomenal," she was rescued from a stray litter and rehomed in Walker said she knew from when he was just 10 weeks old that he was born to be a star."I've never had a kitten come in before who has been so confident and won everyone over so fast," she said."He is definitely one of a kind." Spud has become a big hit on social media, attracting more than 8,000 fans from across the world, including New Zealand, Canada and America. "Social media has been very good to him," Ms Walker said."It's a bit surreal sometimes." Ms Walker said Spud was known for being "very nosey" and was more than happy to be handled. "It is very difficult with a cat, it's not like a dog, you can't train them quite as easily," she said."But I couldn't have believed how well he's done with the filming and I'm really happy with all the money we're making for the three cat charities because that just makes such a huge difference." The feline star has appeared alongside The Hobbit actor Martin Freeman, who plays PC Chris Carson in The has also featured in The City is Ours, which was filmed in Liverpool. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Audiences are turned off by long plays — aren't we all?
I don't know about you, but I know what I don't want in theatre. I don't want shows that drift on and on … oh, except the shows that justify every moment of their three-hour-plus running time, such as Jerusalem or The Lehman Trilogy. Maybe the incoming Broadway smash Stereophonic (190min) will fit the same bill, as the New York reviews suggest it will. I don't want shows that feel like they are serving short measures either, not for these prices. Oh, except for excellent interval-free plays in the West End at the moment, such as The Fifth Step (with Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden, 90min) or Retrograde (about Sidney Poiter, 90min). Or, a few months ago, Macbeth (110min) with David Tennant and Cush
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
PATRICK MARMION reviews The Fifth Step at Soho Place: Lost soul Jack Lowden tackles Martin Freeman in a ruthless boxing match of a drama
Jack Lowden has become one of the hottest properties on telly since starring opposite Gary Oldman in Apple TV+'s hit spy drama Slow Horses. In fact, our Jack's got so big that no less a figure than Hobbit and Sherlock star Martin Freeman has become his wingman in a new play by David Ireland about two men in Alcoholics Anonymous. As is common with AA stories, the subject matter is raw, excruciating and often alarmingly funny. Lowden's nervy Scottish character, Luka, is a desperate loner and end-of-road boozer who identifies as an incel, or 'involuntary celibate'. He's grown jealous of married mates who have sex (not his word) 'on tap'. And, in addition to long-haul descents into alcohol bingeing, he has porn and self- abuse as surrogate, back-up addictions. He is, in short, in free fall. We are a long way from Lowden's ill-fated MI5 agent River Cart- wright in Slow Horses. In desperation, Luka has submitted to the 12-step programme for recovering drinkers in a seemingly vain attempt to turn his life around with help from his 25-years-sober mentor James (Freeman). And Lowden gives us an absolutely top-of-the-range performance, fully exploring the psychological cul-de-sacs and self-defeating wiles of his dismal character. Lowden's wounded puppy-dog eyes come as standard for a young man who is dangerously lonely and hopelessly vulnerable. It's an understated, nervously volatile display that's simultaneously edgy and guarded. Luka has whole repertoires of defensive ticks – wardrobes of scratching, catalogues of leg tremors and gamuts of blinking. But, blessed with a benign, unaffected idiocy, you can't help loving Lowden's lost soul, who's been saved after encountering Jesus one night at a multi-gym. Freeman by contrast as the fully-recovered Mr Ordinary oozes the complacent personality of a Marks & Spencer mannequin. With typical highly-focused fidgeting, Freeman's James is an ostentatiously patient alter-ego and secular confessor to Luka. But it's the work of Ireland's confrontational boxing match of a drama that ensures Freeman's shell of anti-charisma gets cracked too – as both men grapple with AA's Fifth Step of admitting their wrongs, to themselves, each other and to God. Yes, God features quite prominently in Ireland's ruthlessly unecclestiastical writing, although there must be moments when the Almighty wishes he could bow out. But mobilising four-letter, weapons-grade repartee, Ireland is never merely gratuitous and has a genius for embarrassing moral dilemmas. Never flattering us with what we'd like to believe of ourselves, he is an aficionado of unacceptable attitudes and shameful home truths. This left viewers joyously grateful. Women in the audience in particular near howled with laughter at Luka's pitifully sexist delusions. We men may prefer to crawl under a stone. Nor does Finn Den Hertog's production leave either of his actors anywhere to hide, with spectators on all four sides of a rectangle of fitted carpet. So, in addition to the unburthening and self-torture, it's a chastening exercise in forgiveness and acceptance. Unsurprisingly, tickets have sold out. Pray for an extension or returns. The Fifth Step runs until July 26
