14 DAY TRIAL // Though he’d been working in theater and film for years, before BBC One’s “Sherlock,” not that many had heard of the (fancy) name of Benedict Cumberbatch. Today, he is one of the biggest and most mediated stars around, and all he can think about is that he hopes people don’t find him tiresome.
As if that’s ever likely to happen! Benedict, it must be noted, has a very large and very loyal (also, very vocal) fanbase online, known generically as the “Cumbercollective.” Even if some moviegoers do get tired of him, there are millions of fans out there for whom this would never happen.
So, in a new interview cited by Radio Times, the actor talks about how he’s taken on many projects since he became a hot commodity because of “Sherlock,” and how he sometimes dreads this might translate into overkill for the audiences.
“I’d hate to think anyone is sick of the sight of me, although I wouldn’t blame them. It’s just crazy. I’ve overexposed myself! Actually that sounds a bit dirty,” he says. “I’m proud of every single project. I can genuinely say that it is varied enough, as a slate, to not fear too much overexposure. I just hope the public agree because they are seeing a lot of me.”
He does have a point in saying that he’s been everywhere in the past couple of years: “Sherlock” opened doors to him he probably never imagined he’d see open and made him a star overseas as well.
So far, he starred in the Oscar-nominated “12 Years a Slave” and “August: Osage County,” played villain in the second “Star Trek” installment, voiced Smaug in “The Hobbit,” and played the controversial Julian Assange in “The Fifth Estate” – and that’s just in film. He’s barely getting started, by the way.
Benedict is keeping busy and he’s probably the last to complain about how things stand for him right now. “It would be really churlish to complain about anything to be honest. I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in,” he says.
In the same interview, the actor says that he prepares for the role of Sherlock by doing swimming and yoga and reveals that he doesn’t know anything about the future of the series. “That’s not me trying to be mysterious. None of us know if there will be a fourth, fifth or sixth series,” he explains.
The previous, third season, was made with some delay, precisely because Cumberbatch’s star had risen so much. So yes, there is a downside to him being so popular these days, but only for “Sherlock” fans.