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"Martin Freeman has confirmed reports that he turned down the part of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. The actor told Empire that he was forced to reject the role &amp;quot;with a heavy heart&amp;quot; because of a potential clash with filming on BBC&amp;#039;s Sherlock, in which he stars as Doctor Watson. Freeman said: &amp;quot;I did have to say no to it for the second series of Sherlock, but if something could be worked out, that would be great.&amp;quot;  Asked if the changing production date of the Lord Of The Rings prequel could make him available for the role, Freeman said: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d like to think so. If there is any outside possibility, then that would be great. But I&amp;#039;ve learned not to think too much or hope too much about stuff. It will happen if it happens.&amp;quot; Freeman said of the original JRR Tolkien series: &amp;quot;I wasn&amp;#039;t a fan of it as a kid but I did like the films. I think Ian [McKellen] is very good, and [director Peter] Jackson&amp;#039;s a clever man. I thought what he did with them was interesting and entertaining.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/the-hobbit/news/a281397/freeman-confirms-rejecting-hobbit-role/>