Didn't get his driving license until 2016. It's rumored he went and got it so he could drive in StartUp (2016), but the real reason is unknown. Amanda Abbington, Martin's long term ex-partner, tweeted letting everyone know Martin finally got his driving license after years of not having one. During Series 2, Episode 2, of The Hounds of Baskerville (2012), Benedict Cumberbatch had to drive because Martin hadn't gotten his license yet.

Was on the British national squash squad from the age of 9 to 14.

Stars in three different TV series on IMDB's top 250 TV: Sherlock (2010), Fargo (2014), and The Office (2001).

Has two children with longtime partner, now ex Amanda Abbington (summer 2000-spring 2016): Joseph (born 2006) and Grace (born 2008).

Good friends with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England.

After his parents divorced, he lived with his father. After his father died (when Martin was 10), Martin moved back in with his mother and stepfather James.

Owns two rescued miniature long-haired dachshunds named Archie and Jodie. However, after he split from his longtime partner, Amanda Abbington, the dogs stayed with her in Hertfordshire. Martin moved to a flat in London.

Comes from an artistic family: older brother, Tim Freeman, was in the 1980s art-pop group, Frazier Chorus; another brother, Jamie Freeman, is a musician and website designer; cousin Ben Norris is a stand-up comic.

Attended Salesian School, a Catholic secondary school in Chertsey, Surrey.

Has appeared with Bill Nighy in Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007), Wild Target (2010), Love Actually (2003), and The World's End (2013). He and Nighy have also both played hobbits. Nighy played Sam Gamgee opposite Ian Holm's Frodo in the BBC Radio drama of "The Lord of the Rings." Freeman plays the younger version of Holm's Bilbo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

Has English and Irish ancestry.

Is the youngest of five children of Geoffrey and Philomena Freeman.

Has worked with many of his predecessors in literary roles: the original Arthur Dent, Simon Jones, made a cameo appearance in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). Ian Holm, who previously played Bilbo Baggins, appeared in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). Jude Law, who has also played Dr. Watson, appeared with him in Breaking and Entering (2006).

The first single he bought was "Ghost Town" by The Specials.

One episode of Sherlock (2010) was based on "The Hound of the Baskervilles." A previous film adaptation of the story, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) featured André Morell as Dr. Watson. It also featured John Le Mesurier, who preceded him in the role of Bilbo. In another Tolkien connection, Morell subsequently played Elrond in The Lord of the Rings (1978).

Came to prominence playing Dr. John Watson on Sherlock (2010) before taking on the role of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). He is actually the last of four actors who have played Dr, Watson and a role from Tolkien's Middle-Earth novels. André Morell, Michael Hordern and John Rhys-Davies have all also played the part.

Shares the role of Doctor Watson with Jude Law and Bilbo Baggins with Ian Holm. Law and Holm appeared together in The Aviator (2004), which is based on the life of Howard Hughes. Freeman appears in Captain America: Civil War (2016), in which the character of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is based on Hughes. Furthermore Robert Downey Jr. plays Sherlock Holmes in two movies with Jude Law.

Birthday is four days before that of Ian Holm, who preceded him in the role of Bilbo Baggins.

Shares the same last name coincidentally with Morgan Freeman; also, both are left-handed.

Born on the same date as David Arquette.

Martin's patrilineal side dates back to Thomas Vincer Freeman born c. 1789 in Dover, Kent, England.

Martin's paternal great-grandfather Richard William Freeman who was born in 1853 in Bermondsey, Surrey lived in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1901 and Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire in 1911.