Passers-by strolling through London's Leicester Square on Wednesday would have been forgiven for thinking they'd stumbled upon the wedding of the year. A troupe of beautiful bridesmaids throwing confetti had taken over the West End landmark, as a huge crowd of well-wishers called out their congratulations to a romantic young couple.
The centre of everyone's attention, comedy actor Martin Freeman, wasn't making his vows, however, as he and girlfriend Amanda Abbington have no plans to walk down the aisle just yet. Instead the self-effacing funnyman was stepping out to present his new film Confetti, which follows three fictional couples as they prepare to tie the knot.
Martin is still best known as self-effacing Tim from hit comedy The Office, but he is rapidly earning a reputation for his movie work. Having won acclaim for roles in comedies like Love Actually and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, he is now set to try his hand at more dramatic fare with Anthony Minghella's latest epic Breaking And Entering, which will see him starring opposite Jude Law and Juliette Binoche.
And the 34-year-old is also experiencing an exciting period in his emotional life, as he and Amanda welcomed their first child just before Christmas. The performer is extremely private about his personal affairs - refusing even to reveal the name of his little boy – but fans will get the chance to see him and his girlfriend together in upcoming flick The All Together. "It's really lovely working with her because not only do I obviously really love Amanda, I really respect her," he said. "I'm not the best actor in my house and I know it."
Asked whether he might follow in the footsteps of his Confetti character by asking for his leading lady's hand in marriage, the performer confessed his fear that he'd spend the entire ceremony in tears. "I've not been to many weddings, but not that long ago I was asked to do a reading at a wedding and I couldn't do it and it was really embarrassing," he revealed. "It was impossible for me to get through it without breaking down. It took me about 20 minutes to do and in the end one of my brothers had to get up and put his arm around my shoulder for moral support."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
