With its DVD/Blu-ray release on the horizon, The Hobbit star Martin Freeman sat down with Hypable to talk about taking on Bilbo Baggins, the lead role in an already well-established franchise.

“I look piggy,” Freeman noted to his assistant as we sat down and looked at a poster promoting the DVD/Blu-ray release of An Unexpected Journey. The film is the first of three in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. The digital download release on March 12 and DVD/Blu-ray release on March 19 is the first time since 2004 that fans could welcome a new Middle Earth story into their home. Read our review of the Blu-Ray Combo Pack, including the special features.

In our exclusive interview, Freeman spoke to us about how he came aboard the franchise, if he was a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien before his involvement started, if Ian Holm (Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings) approved of his work, and a little about his role as Watson on Sherlock. Watch below!

“It wasn’t pressure,” Freeman told us when asked if stepping into Middle Earth halfway through the franchise was daunting. “I’m aware that sounds like bullshit. I honestly didn’t. The pressure I feel all the time – I am my sternest critic, believe me. Most people are a lot kinder about me than I am. It’s impossible to go in and feel the weight of those first three ‘Lord of the Rings,’ or else you wouldn’t be able to work. You’d be weighed down by that pressure.”

Learn more about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’s DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack and order!