Martin Freeman On That Great Mary Morstan

Sherlock Season 3 finished airing in the UK last week and premieres in the US this weekend, and that combined with the fact that Martin Freeman's just coming off The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug whilst gearing up for his role in FX's Fargo means that he's a pretty busy dude who's running around giving interviews about all three of these very notable things. So it was with his recent interview with Vulture, in which Freeman discussed Sherlock 's third season, as well as a number of other things.

One notable thing this season (out of a season full of many notable things) is the biggest addition to the cast: Martin Freeman's real life longtime partner Amanda Abbington as Mary Morstan. It was a tricky role to step into, given the devotion of many of the audience to the John/Sherlock dynamic. Which is, in a nutshell, a part of what made Abbington such a good fit, at least according to Freeman:

Mark [Gatiss, executive producer/Mycroft Holmes] had worked with her before and so had Steven [Moffat, also executive producer]. During season two, Mark said to me, 'You haven’t talked about who might play Mary.' That was the first time this conversation had ever come up. I said, 'Well, to be honest, I think Amanda would be pretty good,' and he goes, 'That's exactly what we were thinking.' They knew she was able to be funny and engaging and just right. I mean, the last thing you want is to feel like you're being John and Yoko, but Amanda can do this all day long in her sleep. Of course, I love her, but I know also she's really fucking good. I wouldn't say she should play everything in the world, but as far as this casting, it’s pretty good.

He also talks about that John/Sherlock reunion that occurs in the first episode back, "The Empty Hearse."

Well, he's moved on. He's fallen in love and he's getting married, and it's all groovy in that respect. So when his best friend basically goes, 'Oh by the way, I'm not dead.' He's like, 'Fuck that.'

In 2014, I think it would be slightly more difficult to accept what Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, which was that John fainted. When Sherlock comes back, he's so overwhelmed by surprise and everything, he literally passes out. I think we want more than that, especially because the John and Sherlock that we've established are a bit more bite-y. They're a little bit more sharp with each other. So there's no way that John could have just … he has to punch him, really.

If you've seen the episodes, it's always nice to get the perspectives of the actors on what's been going on behind the scenes or in their character's heads; if you're waiting until this Sunday to watch the Season 3 premiere, you get that and some excellent teases for the premiere. You can read the full Vulture interview for some more excellent teases, as well as Freeman's take on Fargo.