Sherlock star Martin Freeman has said he has been asked to appear on political TV programmes but has turned them down because he would “be taken to the cleaners”.
The actor is a vocal Labour supporter and fronted an election broadcast for Ed Miliband in 2015 before joining the party later that year to vote for Jeremy Corbyn.
He said his political outspokenness has led to invitations to appear on panel shows but he has never agreed.
Asked on The Graham Norton Show if he had received invitations from the likes of Question Time or Newsnight, he said: “Yes, but I wouldn’t do it. I would be taken to the cleaners and hung out to dry.
Host Graham Norton with guests Martin Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Joshua, Greg Davies and Shawn Mendes on The #GrahamNorton Show pic.twitter.com/1BzloOo5HG
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“These people do it for a living, 24 hours a day and, no matter how right I feel, there will be someone who could hang me out to dry in 30 seconds with a well-placed statistic so unless you are extremely well briefed I think it’s as well to leave it alone.”He told Graham he has sometimes received criticism for his views, adding: “I have stuck my head above the parapet a couple of times.”
Martin is currently appearing on the West End stage opposite Sarah Lancashire in political comedy Labour Of Love, in which he plays a Labour MP, and said: “It’s funny and touching and pertinent to now. It’s very up to date”, adding it “might have to be tweaked,” to factor in the results of the General Election.The Graham Norton Show is on BBC One on Friday at 11pm.
