Background Image

...

I Was Very Nervous About Doing The Entertainment Weekly Cover, Because I Thought, "okay, This Is The First Taste, This Is The First Visual Moment." By Then I Obviously Knew A Lot Of The More Iconic Moments In His Comic History, But Still It's Me. It's Not A Drawing, It's Not An Artist; It's Me And I'm Kinda Frightened, But It Seemed To Go Down.

-Benedict Cumberbatch

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

I Was Very Nervous

Benedict Cumberbatch

...

I Was Very Nervous About Doing The Entertainment Weekly Cover, Because I Thought, "okay, This Is The First Taste, This Is The First Visual Moment." By Then I Obviously Knew A Lot Of The More Iconic Moments In His Comic History, But Still It's Me. It's Not A Drawing, It's Not An Artist; It's Me And I'm Kinda Frightened, But It Seemed To Go Down.

Views: 5

Topic

More From Benedict Cumberbatch

You Have To Sometimes Just Run With The Problem Rather Than Trying To Solve It With Hi-tech Wizardry And Lots Of Planning.

I Had To Kiss It [ Playing Hamlet] Goodbye Because Marvel Have To Plot Things For The Next Three, Four Years.

I Got Live Tweeted Once By Someone Who Was Opposite My Home In Some Rented Accommodation. He Was Actually Describing On Twitter What I Was Doing. 'i Took A Shirt Off, I Went To The Window, I Put A Shirt Back On... ' And I've Got Blinds In My Flat!

I Just Increasingly Enjoy The Quiet Moments When I Can Be On My Own With My Friends And Family, Or With A Book, Having A Live Experience. That's Really What I Crave, And I Always Have Done.

Family And Friends

My Mum And Dad Had Worked Incredibly Hard To Afford Me An Education.

I Really Cannot Get Over The Generosity Of Our Tibetian Teacher. He Said, "don't Punish Yourself. You're Going To Be A Student At A University In The North Of England. You Need To Have Your Experiences And Have Your Fun, And Not Judge Yourself. Don't Live In Guilt And Regret."

I'm Quite Surprised By How Many People Grew Up With This Character [doctor Strange ].

I'm Not An Overnight Success. I've Been Doing It For 12 Years. It's Been Lovely And Varied So Far.

Overnight Success

We Look At Science As The Ultimate Answer For Everything Yet We Are Really Messy Organisms And When The Two Collide In The Upper Echelons Of Medicine You Think Science Will Prevail But It's Not Always That Way.

People Always Want To Knock You When You're Up.

I Tell My Wife All My Secrets.

I'm Very Proud Of The Work I Do, But I Genuinely Can't Involve Myself With An Audience As Early As Somebody Who's Not Part Of The Film Can. So There's That Side Of Theater That Appeals To Me, Where You Give Something And The Response To What You've Created Is A Communion Between You And The Dark That Contains However Many People. It's Thrilling Not Having A Reflection Other Than Through The People You're Communicating With. But People Ask, "what Do You Prefer?" And I Don't Have A Preference. I Love Them Both. I Really Do.

Any Irrational Fears?no, I'm Quite A Rationalist. I'm Not Superstitious, I Think Life Is Too Full Of Natural Wonders And Logical Complexities To Worry About Illogical Things.

Irrational Fear

I Don't Wear A Mask, I Don't Have A Suit. It's Not Some Cg Double Or A Stunt Double. The Suffering The Character [doctor Strange ] Goes Through Is Immense!

Someone Will Always Hate What I Say. There’s Always Going To Be Somebody Spitting Blood About My Wooden-faced, Toffee-named, Crappy Acting.

One Of The Best Things About Being An Actor Is That It's A Meritocracy.

That's Something I Have To Work On: To Separate What Really Matters, To Conserve Energy By Not Worrying About What Other People Think. When I Walk Through That Door, It's About Home. If I Didn't Do That, I'd Become Consumed By One Thing Only And Damage The People Who Love Me. And It Would Damage The Work.

If People Ask, 'are You Sherlock Holmes?', It's Horribly Naff, But I Say, 'i'm Not, I Just Look A Bit Like Him' - Which Is How I Feel. There Are Bad Attributes Of His That I Really Don't Share!

My First Agent Dissuaded Me From Calling Myself 'cumberbatch.' I Had Six Months Of Not Very Productive Time With Her, So I Changed Agents. The New One Said, 'why Aren't You Using Your Family Name? It's A Real Attention-grabber.' I Worried, 'how Much Is It Going To Cost To Put My Name In Lights?' But Then I Decided That's Not My Problem.

I Have An Appetite For The Normal In My Life, As Well As The Abnormal.

I Haven't Done Period Dramas Back-to-back, Or Really Anything Back-to-back. You Get Asked To Do What You're Most Recently Famed For, So I'm Careful Of Not Repeating Myself.

I've Been Broody Since I Was 12, But I Can't Just Get Anyone Pregnant. It Has Got To Be The Right Person.

I Think I'm A Very Good Driver. Apparently, The Cause Of Road Rage - As With Most Anger - Is Some Kind Of Superiority Complex, Which, God Knows, Cars Foster.

Mum Did A Lot Of Commercial Theatre And Farces In The 1980s And '90s To Make Sure The School Bills Were Paid.

[doctor Strange] Is A Really Rich Character. It's An Easy Thing To Have A Good Old Meal Every Day. It's Great. Yeah, I'm Excited.

I Want To Be Able To Play Trailer-bound Fatties In A Judd Apatow Comedy.

There's A Huge Raft Of Roles That Actors In Our Culture Perform, And You Can See Any One Of About Three Hamlets In A Year. It's Not Something To Be Completely Daunted By.

I Think Playing Any Iconic Role When You're Stepping Into Big Shoes, Into The Shadow Of People Who Have Come Before You And You Can't Process That.

I Can Feel Infinitely Alive Curled Up On The Sofa Reading A Book.

Lines Are Very Difficult To Learn.

Fame Is A Weird One. You Need To Distance Yourself From It. People See A Value In You That You Don't See Yourself.

A Woman Who Knows That She Doesn't Have To Get All Decked Out To Look Good Is Sexy. A Woman Who Can Make You Feel Smart With Her Conversation Skills Is Also Sexy. I Believe The Sense Of Humor Is Important.

People's Hands Fascinate Me. It's Tempting To Look At A Businessman's Left Hand And See If There's An Indentation From A Missing Wedding Ring. Or Maybe There's A Tan Line And The Skin Is Pressed Down Where's He's Worked A Ring Off His Finger.

The More Charming Person Is The Person Who Admits The Other Person Is More Charming.

It'd Be Really Nice To Wake Up Looking Like, I Don't Know, Jake Gyllenhaal And Think "let's Try This On For A Day And See How It Feels.

I Think The Characters Are Supposed To Be An Open Book, Blank Canvas.

There Was A Moment Of Extraordinary Humbleness And Humility And Pride, As Well, With My Father When He Turned To Me - And I Think It Was After I Played Salieri In "amadeus" At University. And He Said, You're Better Than I Ever Was Or Ever Could Be, You Should Do This For Profession. You'd Have A Good Time.

I Always Seem To Be Cast As Slightly Wan, Ethereal, Troubled Intellectuals Or Physically Ambivalent Bad Lovers. But I'm Here To Tell You I'm Quite The Opposite In Real Life. In Fact I'm A F**king Fantastic Lover.

I Was Very Keen To Work On The Script With Scott Derrickson And [c. Robert] Cargill, And Working Out The Important Story Beats, Changing Lines, Upping The Comedy, Changing The Pace, All Of That Was Great Fun.

I've Done A Bit Of Live Action Before But The Fight Sequences, The Wire Work And The Physical Regime Were Taken To Another Level [ In Doctor Strange].

Any Privacy In Public Is A Hard Thing To Negotiate.

Having Your Adolescence At An All-male Boarding School Is Just Crap.

The Training Gave Me The Building Blocks To Get Through It. A Production Of That Scale, In A Theater That Big, You Are Going To Struggle To Keep Your Voice At First-run Perfectness. All That Work I Did - The Pull-ups And Pushups - Helped Keep My Body Fit. Hamlet, The Show, Is A Cardiovascular Workout Of About Three Hours, Never Mind The Mental, Soul-crushing Element Of It.

I'm Aware Of The Power Of Looks. I've Wanted To Play Roles That Have Gone To Much Better-looking People And You Just Think 'oh Well, That's The Pin Up Guy's An Actor Like My Friend James Mcavoy, Who's Gorgeous On Screen. I'm Not That. But At Least I Don't Have To Worry About Taking Precious Care Of My Face Because It's My Commodity. That's A Great Freedom. I'm Not Afraid Of Being Heinous For The Sake Of A Part

Upper Class To Me Means You Are Either Born Into Wealth Or You're Royalty.

I Have Memories Of Clouds Whisking By While Sitting In The Pushchair On The Roof Of My Parents' Flat. I Loved It! I Just Loved Staring At The Clouds And Dreaming Away.

Sherlock [holmes] Is On The Side Of The Angels, But Don't Think He's One Of Them. He Uses Similar Means, But It Seems To Be For A Better Purpose, One Would Hope.

You'd Have To Be Pretty Hard-nosed Not To Feel Some Sympathy For The Guy [doctor Strange].

When Auditioning, I Try To Imagine That I'm The Only Person That They [directors] Are Seeing That Day Because It Can Be Overwhelming, In The Same Sense That It Could Be Overwhelming If You Try To Fulfil Everyone's Expectations Rather Than The People Closest To You In The Creative Process, Be It Your Director, Or Fellow Actors And The Writers. So, That's Kind Of It - I Try To Trick Myself Into Believing That No One Has Ever Gone There Before.

I Understand From Those Who Adore Him, He [julian Assange] Has A Great Sense Of Humor Which Rarely Gets An Airing Because He's Dealing With Such Serious Issues.

I Don't Want To Miss Things.

I Think I've Had Very Knee-jerk Emotional Reactions To Things, And Sometimes I've Said Things Without Thinking. Being Overly Emotional Clouded My Judgment.

Landing The Role Of Stephen Hawking Was The Most Positively Surprising Thing That Has Happened To Me.

There's A Huge Amount Of Footage Of Julian [ Assange] Online, But He's Usually In Presentation Or Defending Mode, Talking About His Cause, Or The Revelations Which Wikileaks Have Brought About. There's None Of Assange Relaxing Or In Private Mode. There's None Of The Personality I Tried To Give Him Behind Closed Doors [in The Fifth Estate ].

I Wanted To Take The Audience On A Journey Where That Transition Was Funny And Awkward. It's The Same Cynicism That [strange] Has.

It's Great For The People Who Supported Me Early On To See The Success I'm Enjoying.

Even Though Doctor Strange Is An Established Character, When You're Doing An Origin Story There's A Lot Of Room For Manoeuvre.

I'm Always Playing Characters With Intellects Profoundly Superior To Mine. That's Great Fun, Even Though It's As Much A Fantasy For Me As For The People Watching Me.

Doctor Strange Is Selfish But He's Still Saving Lives.

I Love Doing Impersonations Of People.

I Was Thrilled With How The First Series Of 'sherlock' Was Received. It Was Such Great Fun To Film, Which Makes It So Rewarding When Something You Enjoy Is So Well Received.

The Armoury Of Having Any Academic Education Does Not Necessarily Set You Up For Being A Good Or Better Actor.

I Can’t Stop Traffic On Fifth Avenue, Not Unless I Walk In Front Of An Oncoming Cab.

Being A Posh Actor In England You Cannot Escape The Class-typing From Whatever Side You Look At It.

I'd Shift Disciplines, Whether It Was Musical Instruments Or Sports Or Whatever, And It's The Same With That.

We All Want To Escape Our Circumstances, Don't We? Especially If You Are An Actor.

I Play Enough Other Mad People, As Well And Some Sane People, To Vary The Palette Of What's Scrabbling Around In My Head And Soul To Bring To The Floor, As A Storyteller.

I Think Now With Fundamentalists, People Who Treat Belief With A Total Lack Of Humor Or Empathy For Any Other Viewpoint Than Their Own - They, To Me, Are The Enemy. And Those People Are Born Out Of Desperate Extremes.

It's The Same Thing, I Think, Whether It's Breathing Or Meditation Or Yoga. And Running Is A Great Way Of Doing It.

Scott Derrickson Breathes Humour Into A Character With A Very Strong Identity In The '60s And '70s, That Psychedelia Era Of Eastern Mysticism Meeting The West.

If I'm Playing Someone Who's Smart, Suddenly Every Character I've Played Is Smart. If I'm Playing A Bad Guy, Every Character Is A Bad Guy. I Suppose It's That Thing Where People Want To See A Through-line To Understand You. I Mean, You Know, I Have Played Pretty Ordinary People Too.

I'll Always Do 'sherlock' - It's Something I'm Not Going To Give Up On.

[doctor Strange ] Is Slightly More Specialised Than Spider-man Or Superman Or Batman, But He's Very Loved By People Who Know Him.

I Wasn't Born Into Land Or Titles, Or New Money, Or An Oil Rig.

I Was The Boy That Turned A Girlfriend Into The Most Celebrated Lesbian On Television. I Got So Much Stick For That.

I'd Love To Do A Noir. I Think Steve Mcqueen Is So Cool. But A Classic Film Is A Classic Film, And Perhaps The Fantasy Of Being Those Characters Should Be Left Alone. You're Treading On Very Thin Ice.

There's Another Weight Of Us Being In The Public Eye, Which Is This Presumption That, Because Your Work And Your Promotion Work Is Very Public, Your Private Life Should Be, Too.

Kevin Feige Said To Me: "i Don't Think We've Ever Put An Actor Through Quite As Much As This, Physically And Mentally." I'll Wear That As A Badge Of Honour. It Was Endless.

I Feel That Tv And Film Feed Off Each Other Well. It's More In The Perception Of The Viewer Than It Is Of The Actor.

Every Job Is Incredibly Different, And I Love It Because You're Picking Up Skill Sets And Experiences. It's The University Of Life.

I'm Not Confident In Social Situations; Just Going Up To Someone In A Bar And Saying 'hi' Is Going To Be Even More Difficult Because They Won't Know The Real Me. They Will Just Know Me As A Fictional Person I Play On The Screen.

Look At You Lot, You're All So Vacant, Is It Nice Not Being Me It Must Be So Relaxing.

The Guy [doctor Strange], He's Like Most Of Us, He's Uncorrupted Flesh From The Beginning Of His Life, He's Somebody Who's Not Marked With Original Sin Or Any Kind Of Crap Like That. He's Somebody Who's Come Into This World And Had Experiences That Have Shaped Him To The Point That We First Meet Him. There's Always Got To Be Leverage. I Think There Is Some Clear Explanation Of That Within This Film, But Potentially Further Down The Line...for More Of That To Come Out As Well.

I Had Parents Who Were Working Actors, Who Did Really Well In Their Careers, But It Was A Living. So It Was A Reality For Me Growing Up; It Wasn't A Fantasy. It Wasn't Sitting There Going, "i Want To Be Adored." It Wasn't That At All. Not To Say That The Screams Of Fans Aren't A Smile-raiser, But That Was Never The Pull For Me.

I've Been Very Lucky At What's Happened In My Career To Date, But Playing Something As Far From Me As Possible Is An Ambition Of Mine - Anything From A Mutated Baddy In A Comic Book Action Thriller, To A Detective. If Anything, I'd Like Gary Oldman's Career: He's The Perfect Example Of It. I've Love To Have A Really Broad Sweep Of Characters - To Be Able To Do Something Edgy, Surprising And Unfashionable.

[doctor Strange] Gets Scraped Off The Floor And Then Thrown Right Down To Hell Again And Then Slowly Pulls Himself Back Up.

I Drag A Lot Of Stuff Round With Me That I Don't Need.

I Am Shortsighted. I Need Glasses For Watching Movies Or Concerts. It's Not A Hipster Affectation; I Do Have Poor Eyesight. This Is How Ridiculous My Life Is: I've Had The Test For Contact Lenses, But I Haven't Found A Half-day Where I Can Go To The Optician.

I Never Really Got Obsessed About One Thing For Long. I Was A Bit Of A Butterfly And A Magpie.

I'm Not One For Doing The Children's Party Version: "hi, I'm A Character In A Movie And Now I'm In Reality!" I Was Doing The Last Shot Of The Film Before Reshoots Outside Their Shop. I Was Starting My Run Into The Frame And I Thought, "you Are Literally Ending Where This Began. The Loop Of Serendipity's Too Much To Not Go In And Acknowledge It." I Just Wanted To See The Look On Their Faces.

Animations Are Really Powerful - It's Not Just Entertainment, It's A Very Cunning Way To Get Good Ideas Across.

New York City Is Crazy And Beautiful And Really Close To My Heart, And I've Always Had Dear Friends Here - Family, Actually, I Would Say.

I Keep Myself Amused And Others Confused

Looking For Happiness Is A Sure Way To Sadness, I Think. You Have To Take Each Moment As It Comes.

Sherlock Being The Most Prevalent, And They've Been Really Good Fun.

What Makes A Good Animated Movie Is Being Able To Balance Adult And Knowing In-jokes And Also Just Out And Out Funny Things That Make All People Laugh. The Idea That It's Actually Something That Will Appeal To A Family, That's The Trick.

I'm Sad In A Way That The Character [doctor Strange ] Leaves [neurosurgery] Behind. It's An Amazing Discipline.

I Actually Do Mind Having A Photo Taken Because It's One O'clock In The Morning And I'm Off My Face.

That's Something I Have To Work On: To Separate What Really Matters, To Conserve Energy By Not Worrying About What Other People Think.

[scott Derrickson] Is Terrific, Really Sharp On The Details, And He's Not Afraid To Go To Dark Places.

There Are Other People Who Don't Mind Shouting From The Pulpit And Being Judged For It, And They Do A Hell Of A Lot Of Good - Real, On-the-ground, Life-changing Good. So I Think It Can Sometimes Be A Balancing Act.

For Brain Surgeons It's Particularly Difficult To Deal With Failure. It Was Fascinating To Learn About That Whole World.

The Number Of People My Age, Younger Now, A Whole Generation Younger, Who Are Fiercely Bright, Over-educated, Under-employed And Who Are Politicised And Purposeless Really Upsets Me. It's Soul-destroying.

One Of The First Roles I Had On Stage Was With A Brilliant Director In A Brilliant Play With A Brilliant Cast, But I Just Couldn't Find My Way Into The Heart Of The Character. I Found Myself Straining A Lot. When It Started. I Felt Lost. That Was The Eugène Ionesco Play Rhinoceros. I Don't Think I Was Prepared For That. I Don't Think I Had The Full Tool Kit To Do It Justice. It's A Very Difficult Play, It's An Extraordinarily Difficult Part, And I Never Felt I Really Got It Right. Far From It. To A Degree, Hamlet Was The Same.

Writing In French Is One Of My Ambitions. I'd Like To Be Able To Dream One Day In French. Italian And French Are The Two Languages That I'd Like To Know.

It's Difficult Because Nothing's Preordained By Plan And You Can't Control It. That's One Of Those Joys And Thrills And Nerve-racking Realities Of Being An Actor. A Lot Has To Do With Luck, No Matter What Your Talent Or Contribution Can Be.

I've Said For Quite A Long Time I'd Like Him To Have A Different Haircut. I Quite Like My Hair Being Short. You Know, We've Been Away Two Years, Let's F*** Around With His Outfit, Let's F*** Around With His Haircut, Let's Do Something Different.

If I'd Had Fame Early On, I'd Have Been Able To Abuse It In The Way That A Young Man Should.

Honestly, It's Very Satisfying, And I'm Very, Very Happy About How Successful The Last Few Years Have Been... It's Great For The People Who Supported Me Early On To See The Success I'm Enjoying Now.

I've Seen And Swam And Climbed And Lived And Driven And Filmed. Should It All End Tomorrow, I Can Definitely Say There Would Be No Regrets. I Am Very Lucky, And I Know It. I Really Have Lived 5,000 Times Over.

Do I Like Being Thought Of As Attractive? I Don’t Know Anyone On Earth Who Doesn’t, But I Do Find It Funny. I Look In A Mirror And I See All The Faults I’ve Lived With For 35 Years And Yet People Go Kind Of Nuts For Certain Things About Me. It’s Not Me Being Humble. I Just Think It’s Weird.

It Will Be Obvious To Anyone Who Sees It That He [doctor Strange] Earns That Cloak. You Think He's Doing All Right And Then You Realise That There's One Massive Lesson To Learn.

I Am Also Full Of Admiration For Chelsea Manning [formerly Pfc Bradley Manning]. Regardless Of Which Side Of The Argument You're On, He Stood Up For Something He Felt Wasn't Right. That Was An Extraordinarily Brave Thing To Do, And I Think He Was Unfairly Punished For It. It's A Really Big Deal What He Did, And He Did It For The Betterment Of All Us, Including The Soldiers On The Ground, As Well As The Civilians Caught Up In Those Conflicts.

Only When Stephen Strange Has His Accident And Everything That He's Ever Had In His Life Falls Apart That He Becomes Pretty Monstrous. It's The Self-loathing Rage Of A Wounded Animal And He Doesn't Have A Coping Mechanism At All. It Ties In With The Discipline And The Magic Of This World.

I'm Not Very Geeky. I'm Quite Homespun. I Would Say I'm More Modern Rustic Than Gadget-orientated. I Like Woollen Things And Log Fires And Whiskey

Those Are More Universal Things Than Some Of The Characters I Play, Who Are Slightly Sociopathic. I Keep Reminding People I Can Do Ordinary.

I Want To Be Better At Staying Connected.

We Should Have A Conversation When We Hang Up.

Talking About Class Terrifies Me. There Is No Way Of Winning.

If You Can't Fail, You Can Never Get Better.

The Generation Now Below Me Were Born Into A World Where If You're A Kid With Raw Talent Now, You Can Roll In And Land A Lead In A Scorsese Film. You Don't Have To Have Prove Yourself By Working Up The Ranks, Doing The Classics, And Getting The Canon Under Your Belt In The Way The Great Sirs And Dames Of Mom And Dad's Generation - The [ben] Kingsleys And [helen] Mirrens And [anthony] Hopkinses And People Of That Ilk.

Why This Character [doctor Strange] Is Being Introduced, To Open Up The Next Chapter. A

[sherlock Holmes] Has To Understand The World. That's Very Much John's [watson] Influence On Him. But Like A Lot Of The Friendships And Relationships In That World, It's Born Out Of Necessity. It Makes Him Better. There's A Pragmatism To It. It's Not Whimsical Or Sentimental. It's Born Out Of Necessity.

I’m Very Excited About All The Offers And Interest And Support Pouring In Through Crowd-funding, And About Having A Lovely Gap Coming Up When I’ll Finally Be Able To Sit Down With Books And Scripts And Talk To My Partners About How We Take The Company Forward.

This Is An Odd Profession, And Sometimes People Get Jealous, But I Haven't Really Experienced Any Of That. Everyone's Been Really Happy For Me, Which Is Really, Really Great.

The Story [in 12 Years A Slave] Serves As A Metaphor For The Fear Of Having Your Family Taken Away, And For Being Abused In Such A Horrific Way. I Lost It A Lot Of Times Watching That Film, Particularly When Seeing The Grace Of The Man When He Finally Makes It Back Home Aged, Changed, Forever Brutalized, And Yet He Apologizes To His Family For His Long Absence. That Was Such A Profoundly Moving Moment Capturing The Triumph Of Dignity Over The Disgraceful Behavior Of Those Involved In The Slave Trade.

Mystique Is Rare Now, Isn't It? There Aren't That Many Enigmas In This Modern World.

I Think Anyone Who Works In Medicine Has Superpowers.

I Was Always Performing, Doing Silly Voices. The Teachers Realized I Could Go One Of Two Ways: Be Creative Or Destructive.

I've Been Reading The Books. It's The Origination, It's The Primary Source. You Should Always Go Back To The Books.

I Had The Privilege Of Being Able To Choose, Or At Least Have The Opportunity To Work At, Being Anything But An Actor.

I Ate Healthily, But There Was No Snacking, No Drinking, No Bread, No Sugar, No Smoking. Afterwards I Had A Pork Belly Roast.

All The Backstories Are There But Not Talked About.

One Of The Fears Of Having Too Much Work Is Not Having Time To Observe. And Once You Get Recognised, There Is Nowhere For You To Look Any More. You Can't Sit On A Night Bus And Watch It All Happen.

I Like To Think That We’re Revolving On This Planet And Revolving Through The Galaxy. I Love Having Context That’s So Much Bigger Than I Can Fathom. It’s Fantastic To Realise How Insignificant You Are.

I Had A Real Yearning To Make Use Of The Opportunities I Had At School. When I Heard About The Gap Year Of Teaching English At A Tibetan Monastery, I Knew I Had To Do Something About It Really Quickly, Otherwise It Was Going To Get Allocated.

The Biggest Lesson Stephen Strange Learns In This Film Is It's Not All About Him.

An Inflated Sense Of Self-importance? Absolutely, But I Think It Comes From Doctor Strange Need To Control Things And That's What Happens To All Surgeons, I Think. There's A Huge Degree Of Uncertainty And Bafflement.

As An Actor, You Are Aware Of How A Role Can Seep Into Your Real Life.

Pull The Hair On My Head The Wrong Way, And I Would Be On My Knees Begging For Mercy. I Have Very Sensitive Follicles.

[role Of Dr.strange] Gives Me An Excuse As An Actor To Be Learning With My Character, Which Is Something You Can Do Authentically - I'm Not A Martial Arts Expert, I'm Certainly No Sorcerer, So All These Things, The Movement Of The Body, The Physicality, The Changes He Goes Through Mentally And Physically, Obviously We're Not Shooting In Sequence, But It's A Great Part.

It's An Interesting Arc. You Start With A Character [doctor Strange] Who's Likeable And Charming But Very Arrogant And Distant. He's Funny But You Can See There Are Massive Holes In His Life. It's A Very Painful Transition And All That He Becomes Is Tested So Quickly And Violently.

Even In Cerebral Roles That Are Seemingly Intelligent And Nothing Else, I Think It's So Important To Wrap Your Characterization In A Physical Form As Well.

Cumberbatch - It Sounds Like A Fart In A Bath, Doesn't It? What A Fluffy Old Name. I Can Never Say It On A Monday Morning. When I Became An Actor, Mum Wasn't Keen On Me Keeping It.

Maybe It's Because I Was An Only Child, But I've Always Wanted Kids.

'sherlock' Fans Are, By And Large, An Intelligent Breed, So They've Gone Through My Back Catalogue And Got What I've Done, Why And How I've Done It. There Is Some Obsessive Behaviour, But I Worry For Them Rather Than Me.

I Want To Do It All. I Want To Climb Mountains, Go Through Jungles, Fight Wars In Space, Get The Girl, Shoot The Bad-guy Full Of Lead, Have All The Zippy One Liners, Bulge Muscles Out Of A Singlet, Drip Sweat And Blood On Screen, All Of That.

There Are Very Specific Demands, Though, In Television, And You Notice The Budget Constrictions. It's The Time Constraint And A Purse Constraint More Than Anything Else That You Notice. But The Ambition Of The Writing And, Hopefully, The Delivery Of It Gets Better And Better Because We Want To Outdo Ourselves To Keep Ahead Of A Very Expectant And Hungry Public.

You Let Things Run In Order To Have Some Sanity And Be Able To Do Your Work And Not Feel Pre-judged.

I'm Interested In Art For All. I Don't Want It To Be Only The Sons And Daughters Of Tory Mps Who Get To See My Plays.

Enjoy The Journey Of Life And Not Just The Endgame.

I Still Find To Give An Interview To Be Difficult, As Any Person Who Deals With The Press Will Tell You. That's Why It's Nice, With This One, To Talk To A Friend. But Sometimes With A Coffee And A Friendly Smile, I Suddenly Start Talking Without Thinking About How It's Going To Be Read.

Being Someone Who Is Of Our Sensual Reality, Stephen Strange Has A Lifestyle, He Has A Sexuality, He's Materialistic.

There's So Much In The 21st Century That Is Stymied By Bureaucracy And Mediocrity And Committee.

I Don't Call Myself An Expert Because I've Played Experts. I Know A Little Bit About Very Little. But It's Very Hard To Not Be Drawn Into Saying Something, Especially If It Has To Do With The Work.

I Would Love To Just Have The Work Do The Talking. We're In Positions Where People Ask Us Questions; They Want To Know About More Than Just The Work. And It Can Go Into Areas Where I've Completely Shot My Mouth Off, Whether It's Too Much About My Private Life Or Being Too Opinionated About Things In The World. I Think The Better Thing To Do - I've Learned This From People Far Wiser Than Me - Is To Do Very Good, Quiet Work Behind Closed Doors.

I Just Want To Bring People In A Little Bit To The Idea Of Sitting Down On A Sunday Three Consecutive Weeks And Having That Water Cooler Moment That Really Was A Sort Of A National Sensation In The U.k., 'cause It's Kind Of Fun.

It Was Great. I Got To Hang Out With Him [martin Freeman As Bilbo Baggins], And I Kept A Straight Face For A Bit And Then I Started Giggling Because I Know Martin, I Don't Know Bilbo. For Martin To Be Sitting There Playing Bilbo Is Amazing. He's Going To Be Amazing, He's Going To Be Fantastic In This Film.

I Struggle To Learn By Rote. I've Had Meltdowns On Set. Which Is Embarrassing And Shameful.

There Are Things That Are A Given, That You've Already Established, And Obviously, Visually, Certain Iconic Things That Can't Be Completely Removed, Like A Certain Hat Or A Certain Coat In My Case.

I Am A Pr Disaster Because I Talk Too Much.

[doctor Strange] Is Difficult, He's Arrogant, But He's Kind Of Brilliant And Charming And You'd Think, "yeah, I'd Want Him On My Head If I Needed Brain Surgery." He's Good Enough To Warrant His Arrogance And He Respects Other People But Not When He Thinks He's Right And He'll Just Do What He Deems Needs To Be Done When He Knows Or Feels That He's Right And The Problem From Humility's Point Of View Is That He Is Right, He's Really Really Good At His Job.

I Am Very Flattered. I Have Also Become A Verb As In "i Have Cumberbatched The Uk Audience" Apparently. Who Knows, By The End Of The Year I Might Become A Swear Word Too! It's Crazy And Fun And Very Flattering.

It Does Get Strange When You Realize People Will Hang Around For Hours To Get A Glimpse Of You Doing Scenes Outside.

We Have A Lot More Unlikely Heroes Now. It’s Not Just The Guy With Guns—it’s The Guy With Brains.

When You Freefall For 7,000 Feet It Doesn't Feel Like You're Falling: It Feels Like You're Floating, A Bit Like Scuba Diving.

The World Of 'sherlock Holmes' And The World That We Live In Now Is Big Enough To Take More Than One Interpretation.

If You Can't Jump On Board When The Ride's Going Past That's It, It Usually Goes By, So The Hugest Compliment They Paid Me Was To Come Back To Me. It Motivated Me To Try To Fulfill Their Faith.

I'm Not Loyal To One Genre. I Want To Mix It Up.

I Realised Quite Early On That, Although I Wasn't Trying To Make A Career Speciality Of It, I Was Playing Slightly Asexual, Sociopathic Intellectuals.

[on Bbc's Sherlock] It's A Rare Challenge, Both For The Audience And An Actor, To Take Part In Something With This Level Of Intelligence And Wit. You Have To Really Enjoy It. It's A Form Of Mental And Physical Gymnastics.

Enjoy The Journey Of Life And Not Just The Endgame. I'm Also A Great Believer In Treating Others As You Would Like To Be Treated.

Treating Others

Doctor Strange Is An Origin Story So There's A Certain Room For Me Improving As Well As The Character Improving.

I Always Get Self-conscious About What I Look Like In A Film, But Less So If I'm A Character Very Far Removed From Who I Am. Then I Just Worry About The Performance, And That's Equally An Odd Experience.

I Love The Idea Of Playing Something Stupid Or Romantic. I'm Not The Smartest Man In The Room. I Listen, And I Learn, And I Observe, But I'm Always Playing Characters With Intellects Profoundly Superior To Mine. That's Great Fun, Even Though It's As Much A Fantasy For Me As For The People Watching Me.

Because Reading Is One Of The Joys Of Life, And Once You Begin, You Can't Stop, And You've Got So Many Stories To Look Forward To.

I Have Actual Acting Scars.

I Really Discovered [dr.strange] Through Hearing About This Film And First Meeting Scott [derrickson] And Getting Into It And Just Opening Up And Saying, "okay, This Is, Like All Comics, Very Much Of Its Era," And My First Question Was, 'how Do You Make This Film? Why Do You Make This Film Now?' And The Answers Were So Enticing That I Was Like, "i'm In."

I'm A Prince Of Wales Trust Ambassador, So I'm All About Giving Youth An Education, A Voice And A Chance To Not Take The Wrong Road.

Even Though My Parents Experiences Were Different From Mine. I Wasn't A Child Actor Brat; I Didn't Travel With Them In The Circuit. But I Got A Look Into Their World, So I Did Know What I Was Getting Into, To An Extent. And They Are A Constant Source Of Grounding.

It's Very Easy To Be Cynical About Any Kind Of Interference In Things That Are Beyond Our Skill Set.

I Think With Any Characterization There's A Point Where You Empathize, No Matter How Much Of A Deviance His Or Her Actions May Be From Your Understanding Of Humanity.

I've Never Done A Lead Role In A Film This Big [like Doctor Strange], In A Franchise This Big. One Of The Reasons Was, I Wanted To Know What The Toy Box Was Like. And It's Just Insane, The Amount Of Facility That Everyone Gets, But The Amount Of Artistry And Craft That's Brought To Every Aspect Of Filmmaking. I Mean, You Go To Your First Costume Fitting And It's One Of Thirty. It's A Myriad, But It's For A Reason. There Are So Many Incredible Costumes In This.

It's One Of The Things That Attracted Me To The Role [doctor Strange] Is The Fact That It's A Really Widely Origin Story, I Mean This Is Part Of It, But Of Course There's The Whole Chapter Before Where He's The Neurosurgeon Who Has The Accident. It's Fantastic.

I Tend To Have A Cup Of Tea, Try To Stop Worrying About What I Did Wrong, Cool Down And Will The Audience Back In As Soon As Possible.

As An Actor, To Be Part Of That Story's [marvel Univerce ] Terrific. I've Enjoyed It So Much As A Fan And Now I'm Getting To Have A Go Myself.

Do Awards Change Careers? Well, I Haven't Heard Of Many Stories Where That's The Case. It's A Fun Excuse To Meet Colleagues And Celebrate People Who've Done Well That Year In Certain People's Eyes, And It's Nothing More Than That.

I Don't Live Beyond My Means. I Enjoy Luxury And I Enjoy The Privilege Of It, When I Can Afford It, And I'm In The Situation Where It's Been Given To Me, But I'm Very Conscious Of What Is Wasteful.

The First Time We Did Cavalry Charge I Was So Breathless With Excitement I Nearly Fell Off The Horse. I Actually Saw Stars In Front Of My Eyes And Thought I Was Going To Faint. The Second Time I Had A Bit More Control But Was Still Giddy With Excitement. And The Third Time I Was An Emotional Wreck. I Had To Really Try Hard Not To Cry.

I've Always Wanted To Play A Spy, Because It Is The Ultimate Acting Exercise. You Are Never What You Seem.

I'm A High-functioning Sociopath, Do Your Research.

I'm Aware Of [doctor Strange] Place Within The Comic Pantheon Of It All, The Marvelverse, But I Don't Email Saying, "when Are We Doing Next Film?" I'm Excited To See.

It's Always Important To Have The Blessing.

Sometimes When You Do Fight Scenes You Think, "oh, I'll Be Hit In The Face," Because People Get Carried Away With Their Vanity And Want To Look Too Cool To Care, But We Were All Really Careful With Each Other.

I Feel Like I'm Away For Much Of My Own Life.

I Was Never Geeky About Anything.

Maybe It's Just Getting Older, But I Don't Want To Miss Things.

My Own Grandfathers Were A Submarine Commander And A 'desert Rats' Tank Operator In The Second World War.

I Know That Might Sound Perverse Because I Played Julian Assange But, Honestly, I Don't Think It Would Be Fair For Me To Judge The Man. I Realize That Makes Me A Bit Of A Hypocrite Because I Was Portraying Him A Certain Way, But We Were Always Open To The Fact That This Was An Interpretation, Not Any Kind Of Exact Evidence Of Who The Man Was.

I Suppose My Bodily Proportions Are Quite Flattering. I'm Ripped, Doing Something I Wouldn't Normally Do With My Body, Or Having Done To It, Involving Watson.

Trending Author

Brian Austin Green

Mary-Louise Parker

Abbas Kiarostami

Category