Benedict Cumberbatch Net Worth

Benedict Cumberbatch's Quotes

• [on Stephen Hawking] He's such a presence and you have to really know what you want to say to him or ask him because it takes such a huge, phenomenal effort for him to communicate with you. You think, "I really don't want to waste this man's time." I was myself rather than thinking, "I'm a stupid actor; how on earth can I impress someone like this? I don't know what to say to make me feel worthy of playing this man.".
• 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.
• 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's the standard actors' joke - "What are you doing after this?" "Oh, if Spielberg doesn't call then I'm going to go on holiday." But a week after I'd said that, I got the call to say I had the job. It's one of those moments you never forget - I just fell off my chair. Which is not a good start to the horseriding.
• [on being invited by Madonna to her London home to discuss playing Duke of Windsor (aka "Edward VIII") in W.E. (2011)] I'd whizzed round on my bike and thought we were going to have a read-through and a chat, but she wanted a full-on dress rehearsal... So I ended up in a suit and tie with Madonna operating the camera herself.

Interesting Facts about Benedict Cumberbatch

1. Received his Master's degree in Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), United Kingdom's oldest drama school.
2. Met Professor Stephen Hawking twice before filming Hawking (2004) to prepare for the role. He then subsequently provided the voice of the physicist in "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" (2010) and "Stephen Hawking's Grand Design" (2012) which both aired on Discovery Channel.
3. Son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham.
4. Attended Harrow, one of the oldest, most-respected and expensive all-male boarding schools in the United Kingdom.
5. He experienced a terrifying carjacking in South Africa while filming To the Ends of the Earth (2005). He wrote about the experience in an article for The Prince's Trust for which he is ambassador.
6. Good friends with Keira Knightley, Alice Eve, Martin Freeman, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Matthew Goode, Zachary Quinto and Tom Hiddleston.
7. His character Sherlock Holmes' warm relationship with Mrs. Hudson is influenced by Cumberbatch's own real-life relationship with Una Stubbs, as she is good friends with his mother and she has seen him grow up.
8. Is a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr. with whom he shares the iconic role of Sherlock Holmes.
9. Lost a notable amount of weight for his role as Sherlock Holmes, his goal being to portray Holmes as a character with such high intelligence that it manifests itself in a physical, "mind-over-matter" sort of way.
10. Good friends with Jonny Lee Miller, with whom he shared the central roles of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature in Danny Boyle's stage production National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011). Coincidentally, Miller was cast as Sherlock Holmes in Elementary (2012) and Cumberbatch has been playing the legendary detective in Sherlock (2010) since July 2010.
11. One of his first ever acting roles was playing Titania, Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when he was age 13.
12. During his gap year, before studying Drama in Manchester University, he spent some time volunteering as an English teacher at a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Darjeeling, India. The pupils were mostly Tibetans.
13. Painted oil canvases and was a member of the rugby team while he was studying at Harrow.
14. In 2012, he won a Laurence Olivier Award, London Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Award for his performance in Danny Boyle's stage production National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011) at the Royal National Theatre wherein he played Victor Frankenstein and his Creature in alternating nights.
15. In 2005, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Jørgen Tesman in Henrik Ibesen's play entitled "Hedda Gabler".
16. Famous for his Alan Rickman impressions.
17. He received one of his earliest reviews when he played Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The review says "Cumberbatch's 'Bottom' will be long remembered".
18. He unexpectedly got dual voice roles on The Simpsons (1989) when he visited Fox's studio for a completely unrelated appointment. He voiced the United Kingdom's Prime Minister (patterned from Hugh Grant's character in Love Actually (2003)) and did an Alan Rickman impression to voice Snape for the Special Valentine Episode that aired February 2013.
19. Became good friends with Gary Oldman on the set of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).
20. His grandfather, Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, was a decorated submarine officer of both World Wars and a prominent figure of London high society.