Martin Freeman is set to give Gromit a voice for the first time in an audiobook edition of the beloved Wallace & Gromit character’s fictional autobiography.
The Sherlock actor will narrate Grand: The Autobiography Of Gromit, as told to Nick Park, allowing the famously mute dog to “break his silence” and share his innermost thoughts.
Gromit’s story as told to Nick Park
The book sees Gromit tell his story to Park, the creator of the stop-motion franchise, which follows the adventures of the cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his loyal canine companion.
Park said: “When you create a character who has no voice, and whose facial expressions are everything, what do you do when your publisher reminds you there’ll be an audiobook?
“Who could possibly be the voice of a character everyone feels they know, but nobody’s actually heard?
“The more I thought about it, the more I realised Martin Freeman was the obvious choice really. I was genuinely thrilled and honoured when he said yes.”
Freeman’s approach to the role
Park added: “Martin is not doing a Gromit ‘voice’ as such, he’s reading Gromit’s story as Gromit put it; his inner thoughts, his candid insights and endless witticisms, bringing to them his usual colour, thoughtfulness and wry humour.”
Wallace & Gromit is a claymation comedy franchise centring around Wallace, a good-natured bachelor inventor, and his dog, Gromit. It consists of four short films, two feature films and several TV adaptations and spin-offs.
Freeman’s career highlights
Freeman first found fame playing Tim Canterbury in The Office (2001-2003) and later starred as John Watson in crime drama Sherlock (2010-2017). He is also known for playing a young Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy and he has portrayed Everett K Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2016.
The audiobook edition of Grand: The Autobiography Of Gromit is out on October 22 and is available to preorder now.
