10 dolog, amit biztosan nem gondoltál Benedict Cumberbatch-ról

1. His favourite director is Stanley Kubrick.

“(My favourite director) is Stanley Kubrick, the reason would take 30,000 words – i.e. my dissertation.”

2. In Darjeeling, India, he taught English at a Buddhist monastery.

“I could actually stay with monks in their homes and watch them at work and at prayer, and get the chance to teach them and interact with them.”

3. He was abducted while filming in South Africa.

“We were in South Africa, in KwaZulu-Natal, this amazing district north of Durban. It was cold and it was dark. I felt rotten. We were wary because that’s a notoriously dangerous place to drive. I was scared, really scared. ‘What are you going to do with us? Are you going to kill us?’”

Cumberbatch and his friends were eventually released by the kidnappers. The shock of the experience left him with a newfound appreciation for what’s important in life.

“It really, really enriches your values in life.”

4. Benedict’s grandfather, Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, was a naval officer who served the Royal Navy during both World Wars. He saw action at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in World War I and captained several vessels in World War II.

5. Although Benedict was always interested in acting, he briefly considered going into law.

“For a while I wanted to be a barrister because there is definitely a crossover with criminal law with trying to persuade an audience and a judge of the case and your client’s story. So I did go down that route for a little bit.”

6. Before filming the pilot for Sherlock in 2010, Cumberbatch’s hair turned green. The mishap occurred when the dark brown dye that they used for Sherlock combined with some bleach that Benedict had used for his earlier role as Vincent van Gogh.

7. Benedict’s father served as the inspiration for his performance as Smaug in the Hobbit films.

“Completely ripped it off from my dad. He read this book to me, when I was, I mean, I must have been 6 or 7. My dad is a great actor and he brought the characters so clearly to life and so colourfully.”

8. He almost turned down the role of Sherlock Holmes due to his fear that the show might be “cheap and cheesy.”

“I heard about it and thought ‘that sounds like an idea to refranchise something to make money. It could be a bit cheap and cheesy’. Then I found out who was involved and realised it wouldn’t be cheap and cheesy. I thought I would read the script and then I fell in love with it.”

9. His parents didn’t want him to go into acting.

“They wanted me to do a grown-up job and be a barrister. But they understood my decision.”

10. He had to eat 4,000 calories a day for Star Trek Into Darkness.

“To go up from a 38 chest to a 42, eating 4,000 calories a day and training two hours a day as well as the stunt rehearsals and fight choreography, was the most physical demand that’s ever been made of me for the screen.”

source: You Tube, Biography.com

Can you fill in the gaps in the biography of Benedict Cumberbatch with the words in the table?

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch is a British …… (1) , best known for his …… (2) on the BBC television show Sherlock. He has also appeared in Hollywood films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, War Horse, Star Trek: Into the Darkness and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He has won several stage and screen acting …… (3) and received both Golden Globe and Oscar …… (4) for his role in the acclaimed 2014 Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game.

He was born in London in 1976. His parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, were well-known television actors. Despite their success, they tried to steer young Benedict away from the …… (5). Cumberbatch’s first role was as Titania, Queen of the Faeries, in the William Shakespeare play A Midsummer’s Night Dream. He spent a year teaching English in Tibet, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Manchester. Cumberbatch began his career with roles in classic plays and small television shows. In 2004, he …… (6) a young Stephen Hawking coping with the early stages of motor neuron disease. In 2010, the BBC …… (7) a modern adaptation of the story of Sherlock Holmes, which won widespread praise and granted stardom to Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock. Martin Freeman plays Holmes’s …… (8), Dr Watson. In the 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Cumberbatch provided the …… (9) for the Necromancer, and the dragon, Smaug.

He is …… (10). His wife is the director Sophie Hunter. They have two sons.

Key: 

1. actor 2. role 3. awards 4. nominations 5. stage 6. portrayed 7. aired 8. sidekick 9. voice 10. married