Benedict Cumberbatch: “I’d hate to think anyone is sick of the sight of me”

RADIO TIMES
Emma Daly
8:18 AM, 05 April 2014




Actor Benedict Cumberbatch says he hopes he’s not overexposed himself with the amount of roles he’s taken on. Yes, he realises that sounds dirty.

“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,” Cumberbatch tells Adelaide’s The Advertiser.

“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.”

Cumberbatch is undoubtedly hot property - although perhaps fans of Sherlock would be quick to suggest more of that on our screens wouldn’t go amiss.

But of course he’s a busy man. Star Trek, 12 Years A Slave and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug have all had Cumberbatch’s name on the cast list. But he seems to be having fun with it. The Oscars photobombing of U2 springs to mind. The actor admits, “It would be really churlish to complain about anything to be honest. I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-04-05/benedict-cumberbatch-id-hate-to-think-anyone-is-sick-of-the-sight-of-me

Hobbit Producer Praises Richard Armitage’s Performance

KPOPSTARZ
By Staff Writer | March 24, 2014 12:56 PM EDT

"The Hobbit: There and Back Again" co-creator Philippa Boyens expressed surprise by the reaction of the audience in huge cliffhanger at the end of part 2. The writer also praised the acting of Richard Armitage in the last and concluding film.

She told Empire in its April issue that the ending "felt so natural that I got a shock when the audience got a shock! If you can imagine what transpires next and what's coming, it's quite a huge chunk of storytelling," she said.

When asked to comment on the acting of Richard Armitage (who plays Thorin Oakenshield), Philippa Boyens only has this to say:

"Richard Armitage is extraordinary, as Thorin descends into madness," she said

During the same interview, she joked that "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" will not push through.

"I can legitimately say right now that the third film doesn't exist. (Director) Pete's cutting it," series producer and co-writer Philippa Boyens said in an interview on the March 27 issue of Empire magazine.

Before fans of "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" should react violently, the producer was only kidding.

What actually happened was that they already had a rough assembly, so to speak, of the shape of the film and the performances.

"I am excited, because one of the storylines I care a lot about is the Thorin one," she added.

"The Hobbit: There and Back Again" will reportedly be released on December 17, 2014.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/85147/20140324/the-hobbit-there-and-back-again-richard-armitage.htm

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and the stars of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" do a dramatic reading of the song Spock made a hit in the swingin' '60s.

CNET
Bonnie Burton by Bonnie Burton  December 14, 2013 7:00 AM PST

In this IGN video, the stars of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" perform a dramatic reading of Nimoy's famous song. The video proves once again that actor Benedict Cumberbatch can make even a campy song sound like a Shakespearean sonnet.

READ MORE HERE: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57615606-1/the-hobbit-stars-read-the-ballad-of-bilbo-baggins/

'The Hobbit' Star Richard Armitage Claims He Lacks Martin Freeman's Good Humour: 'I Take Myself Too Seriously'

HUFF POST ENTERTAINMENT

Caroline.Frost@huffingtonpost.com

Posted: 09/12/2013 16:32 GMT  |  Updated: 10/12/2013 11:21 GMT

'The Hobbit' star Richard Armitage has revealed that he lacks his co-star Martin Freeman's optimistic view of the world, and probably takes himself too seriously.

The heartthrob actor plays the troubled Dwarf Prince Thorin in the second part of 'The Hobbit' out this week, on an epic mission lightened only by Freeman's Hobbit-y happenings...

"Martin Freeman brings so much of his own personality to bear," Armitage acknowledges. "He doesn't impose humour on it, but he sees the world as quite a funny place, whereas I see the world as a serious place, and I take myself too seriously."

There's a glint in Richard Armitage's eye as he explains all this, which leaves me wondering if he and Freeman are as different off-screen as their characters are on it. It's true Armitage is invariably cast as the glowering, enigmatic hero - think Lucas North in 'Spooks', and before that troubled mill-owner Mr Thornton in period hit 'North and South' - why always so humourless?

"Once you don't smile on film, they say 'let's have that bloke who doesn't smile,'" muses Armitage - unsmilingly. "I'm probably not very good at rom-com, being funny on demand, I'll leave that to the comedians."

Armitage's permanently furrowed brow gets another outing in Peter Jackson's epic second part of the saga, when his character Prince Thorin continues his mission to reclaim his lost kingdom of Eribor. Does Armitage wish he could lighten up a little?

"I'm sure, in another life, he's a great laugh," he says of Thorin. "He's a prince waiting to be a king, do they get to have a laugh? And he's on a mission."

In between the breathtaking physical adventures Jackson has once again brought to life on the big screen - there's one scene involving beer barrels in the river which is spectacular - Armitage savours his character's return to the mountain of his clan, and the quiet scene where Thorin finally enters through the doors to his lost kingdom.

"In between the melee and the chaos, it's a quiet scene, when his dream comes true, one that he'd abandoned all hope for. It was very satisfying to do."

Armitage lived in New Zealand throughout the 18 months of filming all three films back to back, and admits it was strange coming back to normality, after flirting with the idea of making the Antipodes his permanent home.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/09/richard-armitage-interview-the-hobbit-martin-freeman_n_4413016.html

Return of the mac for Benedict Cumberbatch in new pictures from The Imitation Game as star cycles through wartime set (MIRROR)

THE MIRROR
By Danny Walker
8 November, 2013

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch looks the part on the set of his new film, The Imitation Game.

Playing the role Alan Turing - the  scientist credited with cracking the German Enigma Code during World War II - these new pictures show that Cumberbatch looks period picture perfect.

The 37-year-old sports a long overcoat, classic swept hair and even has a rickety bicycle to navigate the 1940s streets of London.

The biopic follows the logician as he tries to decipher the code and also stars Keira Knightley as Joan Clark, who Turing was briefly engaged to.



Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/benedict-cumberbatch-pictures-star-cycles-2691910#ixzz2k6FGrA52 
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'The Hobbit' Worldwide Fan Event kicks off in NYC with Orlando Bloom, Richard Armitage and Anderson Cooper

DAILY NEWS
BY ETHAN SACKS / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013, 4:59 PM
UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013, 6:39 PM

A little piece of Middle Earth came to the Upper West Side of Manhattan Monday.

More than a month ahead of the Dec. 13 release of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” director Peter Jackson and castmembers held a simultaneous fan celebration in satellite-linked movie theaters in the Big Apple, Los Angeles, London, and Wellington, N.Z. - as well as several other theaters around the world.

Orlando Bloom, a.k.a. the elf warrior Legolas, and Richard Armitage, better known to Tolkein fans as the dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield, were on hand at the AMC Lincoln Square 13 theater.

CNN’s answer to Gandalf, anchor Anderson Cooper, was also on hand in New York to act as a global host.

Anderson Cooper hosted the event.

“We’ve got a packed theater in NYC, we have hobbit fans, elf fans and dwarf fans,” Anderson told the cheering crowd.

“There is one orc in the crowd but we’ve given him a lot of buttery popcorn so he won’t be a threat.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/watch-hobbit-worldwide-fan-event-kicks-nyc-article-1.1506492#ixzz2jmXtvxpu

Just Another Day’s Work For Benedict Cumberbatch

BBC AMERICA
By Fraser McAlpine | Posted on October 25th, 2013

Acting is not like other professions. There are days when you are pretending to be a man (or woman) of enormously high status (or breeding), dressed in the finest clothes available to humankind, sucking in your cheeks and looking regal. And then there are days when someone glues Cheerios all over your face and invites you to puff your cheeks out like you’ve just swallowed a hot bullet made of jam.

Benedict Cumberbatch is not immune to days like these, especially when he had to get ready to play the dragon Smaug in the Hobbit movies, and thankfully, there was someone there to record every glorious moment.

Flickr user Tolkienerd has a gallery of shots, taken from backstage footage of Benedict pulling some astonishing Smaugfaces so that the graphics department could animate his face and body language to the words coming out of his mouth. And of course, each one is astonishing: a veritable smaugasbord, if you like.


READ MORE HERE:http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/10/just-another-days-work-benedict-cumberbatch/

'The Hobbit's' Richard Armitage on 'The Desolation of Smaug's' 'relentless' barrel scene 'It was like being at the fun fair for three days'

HIT FIX
By Chris Eggertsen   Thursday, Oct 17, 2013 1:00 PM

It's fair to say Richard Armitage has had his work cut out for him while filming "The Hobbit."

"I think I've aged about ten years," says the English actor while sitting down with reporters on the New Zealand set of Peter Jackson's blockbuster trilogy. "Because having two hundred and fifty of those [dwarf] prosthetics put on your face every day and taken off, I might need a bit of surgery when this is over."

One of the main challenges of the shoot - other than being forced to sit for endless hours in a makeup chair to complete his transformation into dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield - was filming the scene in which Bilbo and the dwarves travel downriver in empty wine barrels after escaping from the lair of the wood-elves.

"Being in those bloody barrels, it was like being at the fun fair for three days," he tells us. "In an unsinkable barrel getting dumped on with tons of water, it was just relentless, and kind of frustrating, but fun at the same time. And I was like, 'We will never have another day like that on a film set.' It was like being a child on a constant rollercoaster that you just didn't get off all day. So that was pretty amazing."



Indeed, when Armitage says "all day," he means it.

"Because you are moving around so much, we were absolutely baking hot and really desperate to go to the loo," he says. "But they wouldn't let us get out of the barrels to go to the loo, so we were trying to work out who did it in the wetsuit and who didn't. I resisted for the sake of Wardrobe. I didn't want them wringing out my wetsuit at the end of the night."


Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/news/the-hobbits-richard-armitage-on-the-desolation-of-smaugs-relentless-barrel-scene#WXLKkoUB5m30zzaW.99

Luke Evans on facing down dragons and dwarves in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

HIT FIX
By Chris Eggertsen   Thursday, Oct 17, 2013 1:00 PM

It's clear Luke Evans still can't quite believe he's here.

"The first scene [I] did, I did with Ian [McKellen]," says the actor during an interview on the New Zealand set of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit." "It's just a weird thing, isn't it, when you've seen it [the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy] for ten years and all of a sudden you're actually on set and he's looking at you with the white eyes...It's brilliant. It's brilliant."

Evans, who plays Bard the Bowman in the fantasy trilogy, sits in the center of a group of reporters who have traveled to Wellington for a sneak peek at "The Desolation of Smaug," the second film in the series. Far from being handed the part, the actor tells us he was forced to wait a year-and-a-half after his first audition before he was finally offered the role ("He's not in it for the majority of the first film, so...there was no room in their heads to be thinking about Bard," he says), which came just as he was about to begin shooting the horror film "No One Lives" in Louisiana.

"Three days before I left, before I got on the plane, I had a phone call saying that Peter wanted to meet me and test me for the role of Bard," he says. "And I was like, 'What?'"

For those unfamiliar with the novel, the Bard - a descendant of Lord Girion of Dale - leads the defense of the settlement of Lake-town against the fearsome dragon Smaug, who attacks the community after becoming enraged at the intrusion of Bilbo and the dwarves (led by Thorin Oakenshield) into the Lonely Mountain. Following the dragon's attack, during which Lake-town is completely destroyed, the Bard travels to the Lonely Mountain to request reparations from Thorin for the devastation that has occurred - only to meet with resistance.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/news/luke-evans-on-facing-down-dragons-and-dwarves-in-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug#sxKKWET1MlrxiUd1.99

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/news/luke-evans-on-facing-down-dragons-and-dwarves-in-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug#sxKKWET1MlrxiUd1.99

Benedict Cumberbatch: USA Today video - the many voices of Benedict Cumberbatch

Richard Armitage Answers the Eternal Question - Are You a Cat or Dog Person

CLICK ON LINE
by Daniel Anderson
30 September, 2013
@ClickOnline_

We recently had the chance to sit down with the one and only Richard Armitage to talk about his upcoming fantasy epic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. But before all that, we had a really important question to ask.

We asked our followers on Tumblr and Twitter to send us their questions for Richard and managed to get a few burning questions answered. And one of the most popular questions was a simple one - is he more of a cat or dog person. His answer, in picture form, follows.

The English actor, who plays Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy, had a little more to say on the subject. "I’m a dog person. I don’t have a dog but if I were to have an animal it certainly wouldn’t be a bloody cat! Theyre just temperamental and dogs are just cute and faithful" he continued. And he illustrated these thoughts thusly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVi1CDRkAe8

 - See more at: http://www.clickonline.com/movies/richard-armitage-answers-the-eternal-question--are-you-a-cat-or-dog-person/20313/#sthash.oV18D76O.dpuf

Luke Evans discusses Bard the Bowman

Benedict Cumberbatch: The Cumberbatch Quadruple Threat

THE ATLANTIC WIRE

ESTHER ZUCKERMAN 1:22 PM ET

If you're not obsessed with British Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch yet—and there are many who are (see: Cumberbitches)—this fall might convert you. Cumberbatch appears (in one form or another) in no fewer than four films due out this fall and he plays a wide variety of roles to boot. His biggest part comes in The Fifth Estate (Oct. 18), Bill Condon's WikiLeaks drama, in which Cumberbatch will have to capture the creepy intelligence of Julian Assange. 

In addition to his star turn as Assange, Cumberbatch also has roles in 12 Years a Slave (Oct. 18), based on a true story of a free man sold into slavery in the antebellum south, and August: Osage County (Dec. 25), an adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning play. We're interested to see what he does in the latter considering he will be playing against his usual hyper-intelligent type: "Little" Charles Aiken is a simple man who has an affair with someone he's really not supposed to have an affair with. (When we say "really" in this context we mean "really.") And, of course, if that's not enough Cumberbatch for you, you can hear his voice—if not his corporeal form—as the titular dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Dec. 13). 

READ MORE HERE: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/08/movie-performances-were-waiting-fall/68537/

More Luke Evans In New THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG Promo Images

COMIC BOOK MOVIE

By Nailbiter111

18 August, 2013

If you're a fan of Luke Evans, than all these new images of him as Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug must be quite a thrill. Bard, is a pivotal role in the books, as his archery skills and his bloodline help to defeat the Dragon Smaug. As for the actor, he is a very busy boy of late. He landed the lead role in The Crow remake, playing Eric Draven, and he is supposedly up for the role of Batman in the Man of Steel sequel. Competing for the part against his Hobbit co-star, Orlando Bloom. 

Image Credit: jposters, (via AidarSM)

READ MORE HERE: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=85613

LUKE EVANS: Writer Duana catches up with Dracula star

DERRY JOURNAL
16 August, 2013

When actor Luke Evans was in Limavady last week for the filming of the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Dracula Year Zero’ local fans tried in vain to get a glimpse of the ‘Fast and Furious’ star, but budding journalist Duana Forrest went one step better.

Not only did she get to interview the Welsh hearthrob, she also got that precious photo with him.

Duana has just finished her first year of English with Media at The University of Ulster, Coleraine and, like a lot of people in Limavady, was equally as excited when Universal Pictures rolled into town last weekend to shoot scenes at the Roe Valley Country Park for the movie.

“Along with writing/journalism film is my biggest interest,” says Duana. “So I spent the days they were in town walking around the woods, seeing the production of the sets/cameras and sitting across the river watching them filming.

“I decided to drag my mum up to the Roe Park Resort on the Monday night to see if any of the cast and crew were lurking about, and I was in luck!

Like every good reporter, when Duana spotted the Dracula star at the hotel she took her chance and approached him for a quick chat and a photo.

“He was very humble and open for a chat, even though he was clearly exhausted,” she says. “We talked about his day filming and how uncomfortable he was being in the river for eight hours. Both he and the director had an admiration for how beautiful Limavady was and how nice and excited the locals were about the filming happening.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.derryjournal.com/what-s-on/arts-culture/writer-duana-catches-up-with-dracula-star-1-5397876

‘The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’ World Premiere In Los Angeles

THE INQUISITOR

August 10, 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, part two in Peter Jackson’s trilogy will have its world premiere in Los Angeles.

 The original, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, held the event in Wellington, New Zealand were the films were shot, in way of thanks to the locals for hosting the massive undertaking.

Now, Jackson and company are ready to take on a larger venue for Desolation’s world premiere. The One Ring.net is confirming that the event will take place in Los Angeles. No time and place comes with this news, but the site seems to believe in a late November date, since the movie is set for release on December 13. Another piece of news, which is far, far away from happening and those who follow the movies can only dream about at this point, is that the likelihood that the last part, The Hobbit: There And Back Again’s premiere would take place in London, has increased exponentially.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/897770/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-world-premiere-in-los-angeles/#x7Z6Mwsq7I7xvjlO.99

Hobbit blogging: The little one's a psycho (and one of them is Richard Armitage) STUFF.CO.NZ

Facebook Three Thorins but which one is actor Richard Armitage?

Although Jackson will be finished with his actors by the end of today, he still has a lot of post-production work to complete on the second instalment of the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, and the final part, There and Back Again.

Still, even with all the pressure on him, he hasn't lost his sense of humour.

"I asked the various Thorins to pose just before they headed off to lunch. One of these is Richard Armitage, and two of them are not. It's your guess ... The one in the middle is a little psycho," he wrote.

"I am looking forward to making movies with everyone the same height in the future."

Jackson first began filming Tolkien's works in October 1999, with The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies have given thousands of Kiwis a start in the film industry, and a huge boost to New Zealand's tourism industry.

However, the production has always been smooth. A complicated fight over the film rights, a fallout between Jackson and the studio heads, the bankruptcy of MGM and union dispute almost stopped the book getting to the screen.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8969391/Hobbit-blogging-The-little-ones-a-psycho

Martin Freeman & Benedict Cumberbatch Reunite to Wrap Up Filming of Peter Jackson's Hobbit Trilogy—See the Pics (E!) by Peter Gicas

All good things must come to an end. That was certainly the case for Sherlock costars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch this week as they wrapped up their work on the final two installments of Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit saga: The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again. After posting a playful pic of the two on his Facebook page with the caption, "Smaug admires Bilbo's feet," Jackson followed it up with another shot of Freeman waving on set.

"Tonight Martin Freeman finished his last shot as Bilbo Baggins," the director wrote. "The end of an incredible two and a half years. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role—a character that Martin has nurtured and crafted with love and great skill."

He added, "We have said goodbye to our elves, humans, wizards and now the hobbit. We now enter our final 2 weeks of pick-ups, and it's wall to wall dwarves. These pick-ups have been grueling and intense, but I'm so happy with what we've been shooting. These next two movies are going to be pretty great!"

In May, Jackson informed Middle-earth fans that he had resumed final filming.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.eonline.com/news/438627/martin-freeman-benedict-cumberbatch-reunite-to-wrap-up-filming-of-peter-jackson-s-hobbit-trilogy-see-the-pics?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

LUKE EVANS, ORLANDO BLOOM, EVANGELINE LILLY: The Hobbit Won’t Appear at Comic-Con, Jackson Reveals in Smaug Video Monday, July 1st, 2013 at 2:45pm PST - by Kevin Melrose (SPIN OFF ON LINE)

Director Peter Jackson has some good and some bad news. The good news is that there’s a production video for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that shows plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, including up-close looks at the Lake Town sets, brief interviews with Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and Luke Evans, and … Dwarf aerobics.

But now the bad news: The Hobbit won’t be coming to Comic-Con International later this month.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens Dec. 13. The Hobbit: There and Back Again arrives Dec. 17, 2014.

READ MORE: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/07/01/the-hobbit-wont-appear-at-comic-con-jackson-reveals-in-smaug-video/

'The Hobbit': Ian McKellen Says Goodbye to Gandalf (Photo) 11:06 AM PDT 6/28/2013 by Rebecca Ford (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

Goodbye, Gandalf.

Ian McKellen has played Gandalf, the wise wizard in Peter Jackson's Tolkien films, since The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring began filming in 1999.

But now the English actor has finally wrapped up his role as the iconic wizard, having completed work on the final film in Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, There and Back Again.

The director posted a photo of himself with McKellen on set in New Zealand.

READ MORE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hobbit-ian-mckellen-says-goodbye-577258