Yes, there’s a wee bit of animosity between Sherlock and his Watson, between Bilbo Baggins and ol’ Smaug. In 2018, Freeman told The Telegraph that he was over fans’ reactions toward the Sherlock show that made its debut in 2010. “Being in that show, it is a mini-Beatles thing. People’s expectations, some of it’s not fun anymore. It’s not a thing to be enjoyed; it’s a thing of: ‘You better f**king do this, otherwise you’re a c**t.’ That’s not fun anymore.”
Some strong feels there, so it’s no wonder that his co-star Benedict Cumberbatch responded with some powerful feels, too, saying that he thought it was “pretty pathetic” if overzealous fans are ”all it takes to let you not want to take a grip of your reality.”
Shots fired, although it wasn’t the first time Freeman jabbed at the show and perhaps pushed Cumberbatch’s English knobs the wrong way. Back in 2014, he told EW: ”The trajectory of (Cumberbatch’s rise) is very extreme. It’s deserved in his case because he’s really good. But to that extent? No thanks. I like to be a moving target. I’ve got enough madness in my life without it being there all the time.” Which makes one wonder why Freeman said yes to doing the Hobbit trilogy soon after, but who knows how celebrities reason?
In any case, a year later, when Cumberbatch was about to marry his wife Sophie Hunter, the internet campaigned for Freeman to be his best man (he was not). When told that the people wanted Freeman as his best mate, Cumberbatch said: “I’m sure they do, I’m sure they do. I think we’ll let the internet talk to Martin Freeman.”
That’s not even a British quip. That’s just two people who’d rather not deal with each other.