Peter Jackson and his cast and crew talk exclusively to Total Film about the one film to rule 2012…

Bilbo Baggins. Fantasy icon. Quintessential reluctant hero. And, according to Martin Freeman, probably not a virgin.

“I think he’s had sex, I’m not sure,” the star deadpans. “I’m trying to convince Pete to write that scene in…”

For a man playing the title character in 2012’s hottest ticket, Freeman seems uncannily relaxed. Or maybe he’s just knackered after another epic day of tussling with dwarves, elves and other fruit of J.R.R. Tolkien’s cavernous imagination.

Either way, given Freeman’s habitual humility, there’s no whiff of BS when he says he’s not buckling under the burden. “I honestly don’t feel that pressure, no,” the actor tells TF in windy Wellington, the New Zealand city home to the Rings. “I really, really don’t. Of course, it is Bilbo’s journey, but I didn’t write it, I’m not directing it... It’s not my film. It’s Peter’s film.”