South China’s Style magazine interview

 I’d been aware of the brand for a long time. Of course, it was to do with the film company and the watch company talking to one another, but it was also my choice. I could say I didn’t like that watch but I think this one is the kind of watch Stephen Strange should be wearing. I had input into the choice,” Cumberbatch says.
It makes sense. It makes complete sense, even though this is a luxury brand and a lot of what that story is about is a man who is trapped in a gilded cage of his own making. The watch stays with him even though it is broken after that intense car crash … because of the humanity of the watch, and the importance of time to him as the keeper of time and the master of the New York Sanctum.”

It was a series of five books on about 40 years of his life. Some friends of mine recommended them. It was one of the most joyous reading journeys I’ve ever been on. And I knew I had to be part of it but I didn’t know in what way. I didn’t necessarily think that I would play the character but I was really keen to promote the beauty of the prose and the imagery. [It’s] such witty, dry, heartfelt, but precise language; it’s just gorgeous,” he says.

 I never expected Sherlock to take off as it did. Of course, he was an iconic character. I knew the script was good but I didn’t know how it would resonate with the fan base of the original, let alone the explosive new fan base that it had gotten on the internet. So it played to that crowd in a way because he is a 21st century version of character,” says Cumberbatch, who won an Emmy for the role.

The star seems pleased when I point out his varied body of work. “That’s the aim. I’m in this for the long term. Sherlock was an immediate success; I never wanted that to stop the idea of me working to my 80s, I hope. It’s a lifelong profession,” he says.

“I’d done that variation of work before and I thought why not continue it? It was important to confound the expectations of people, especially with playing iconic roles like Sherlock, not to give them yet another variation of that character.
Of course, there are crossovers because I am who I am and certain aspects of those characters really intrigue me, and I think there are echoes of it with Stephen Strange and Alan Turing, but not so much with Patrick Melrose, although he is brilliant and acerbic in his humour.

“But there are also plenty of characters who I’m playing or going to play who don’t resonate in the same way. So both in the journey of the character and the character itself, as well as the medium, I just wanted to keep it fresh as much for myself and anyone else, and keep everyone guessing.”

Comedy is the one genre that Cumberbatch doesn’t get nearly enough credit for. The actor had an incredible outing hosting S a turday Night Live last year, opening with the Benedict Cumberbatch bragging song, complete with sexual innuendoes from a writhing Leslie Jones.

“That was terrifying,” Cumberbatch confesses with a laugh. “That opening monologue literally changed five minutes before we started, live on television. [Singing] is certainly something I am not practised at to proficiency. I can sing, but I can just about hold a tune. I don’t think my heart rate has been as high in anything I’ve ever done in my career.

“I love comedy. I think those who[ever] can do comedy can pretty much do anything. Everyone is so surprised when Nathan Lane turns in an extraordinary dramatic performance and Zach Galifianakis does a mind-blowing performance in Birdman . I’m not because they are masters of their craft and I think [comedy] is one of the highest skills to achieve, so it’s very enjoyable.”

My parents were a huge influence on me, in every aspect of their parenting, but also to watch them have careers that facilitated a very privileged and expensive education [for me]. It wasn’t inherited wealth, it wasn’t landed money, it was purely by my father working incredibly hard, putting money aside when I was born and my mother working incredibly hard all through my childhood,” says Cumberbatch, who was an arts scholar at the prestigious Harrow School before going on to study drama at the University of Manchester.

“They showed me the pitfalls of the profession and the heights of it, and most important is that everyone I speak to, everyone I meet, who’s worked with them tells me what wonderful people they are. That’s the thing that makes me most proud and what they’ve left me as a legacy.”

 
“I’m aware of the vagaries of my work, how work can ebb and flow, how it sometimes can be feast or famine and so, when I’ve been in that lucky position, I’ve tried to capitalise on it. A lot of people have put their faith in me over the years, and that’s a great impetus to work hard.”