Martin Freeman has avoided the acting profession his entire life.
The British Academy Film Awards or BAFTA Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts ( BAFTA ) to honour the best British and international contributions to film . Martin John Christopher Freeman ( born 8 September 1971 ) is an English actor , who became known for portraying Tim Canterbury in the original UK version of sitcom mockumentary The Office , Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama Sherlock , Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson 's The Hobbit film trilogy , and Lester Nygaard in the dark comedy-crime drama TV series Fargo . His other notable film roles include the romantic comedy Love Actually ( 2003 ) , the comic science fiction film The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy ( 2005 ) , the semi-improvised comedy Nativity ! Among other accolades , he has won an Emmy Award , BAFTA Award and an Empire Award , with nominations including two other Emmy Awards , two other BAFTA Awards , a Saturn Award , and a Golden Globe Award .