By Mark Worgan On December 17, 2012

Martin Freeman And Richard Armitage Talk 'Naughtiness' And 'P***-Taking' On 'The Hobbit' Set

Dwarves and hobbits can't stop laying into each other in real life

The cast of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' had to spend 266 days out in New Zealand filming so you could hardly blame them for going a little stir-crazy, and Martin Freeman and head dwarf Richard Armitage have revealed that there was a lot of clowning around going on on set.

Armitage, who plays head dwarf Thorin Oakenfeld, told STV: "Have to be honest, when Ian's (McKellen) on set there is a lot of naughtiness happening, but you know when those dwarves get together it was, competition of the funniest and most of them are absolutely hilarious.”

At a press conference in London the scale of naughtiness was revealed as the veteran star couldn't resist having a flirt with dwarf James Nesbitt.

Martin Freeman agreed, telling the station: "Yeah, there was a lot of laughter, really a lot of laughter and a lot of p***-taking. I think that's the way we operate, certainly the way the Brits and Irish operate, and the Kiwis as well. The Kiwis are very Anglo in their tastes and characteristics."

Andy Serkis, who stars as Gollum, said: “You're going to be out on a rocky sea for a long time and you all jump in and help each other out. Some people are feeling down one day, someone else will make you feel a bit chipper. And it does become like that.”

The film debuted last week, becoming Peter Jackson' s biggest opening visit to Middle-earth to date.