Benedict Cumberbatch Interview

By Thom Yorke

It seems like a lot more than seven years have gone by since Benedict Cumberbatch first donned his deerstalker as Sherlock Holmes, the alarmingly incisive yet socially inept detective in the BBC series that catapulted his Hollywood career. That’s because, in the ensuing time, the London-born actor has graduated from fan-girl obsession to franchise superstar, while steadily appearing in a succession of prestige projects in theater, film, and television. His mix of gravitas and humility works exceptionally well in fantastical worlds: as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013); as Smaug the dragon and the Necromancer in The Hobbit film series (2012, 2013, 2014); and as Dr. Stephen Strange in Marvel’s Doctor Strange (2016), a role to which he will return in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War. Back on planet Earth, Cumberbatch has a knack for inhabiting the minds of geniuses, empathetically depicting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate in 2013; Alan Turing in The Imitation Game the following year (for which he earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations); and, most recently, Thomas Edison in The Current War, in theaters next year.

Now 41, Cumberbatch is considered one of the most accomplished and ambitious actors of his generation. It would be an understatement to suggest that he has a serious streak, but as his friend, the legendary Radiohead rocker Thom Yorke, is determined to prove, all men—no matter how focused—contain multitudes.

THOM YORKE: I don’t have any chronology to my questions. My approach is a bit more random, a bit more Just Seventeen [an out-of-print British teen magazine]. I actually want to start with the year you taught in a monastery in Darjeeling when you were 19. How was that experience?


BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: It was in an exiled Tibetan community, just outside of Darjeeling, on the border. It was a little hill station town. I was one of five teachers who had done a training course. It was extraordinary, but it was quite an isolated experience.

YORKE: How long did you do that?

CUMBERBATCH: It was five months. I spent half a year working odd jobs to build up funds for the airfare and to pay for the course. You’re not paid for the teaching; you’re paid in experience. You’re surrounded by the monks and their lives. It was a small monastery, and the top floor was the temple. I was living on the bottom floor, which was pretty damp and had huge spiders. I think it was just near the end of the rainy season; I can’t remember, but it was cold. And because it was so high up, you would open your window, and the clouds were like dry ice rolling across your desk. Nature was ever present; that was gobsmackingly beautiful, as was the spirit and nature and philosophy and way of life of these monks.

YORKE: It sounds like you absorbed a lot of that, just by being there. You didn’t have to study it.

CUMBERBATCH: Exactly, it just seeped in. The personalities of the monks were louder than any lesson.


READ MUCH MORE HERE: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/benedict-cumberbatch-november-2017-issue

Video: Watch Benedict Cumberbatch read one of Alan Turing’s letters

NOW.HERE.THIS
Posted at 1:00 pm, March 19, 2015 in Arts & Entertainment

As we announced earlier this week, Benedict Cumberbatch will be one of the performers at ‘Letters Live’, a week of shows in which celebrities will read out fascinating letters written by famous people, from Virginia Woolf to Mahatma Gandhi.



As well as reading – with ‘Sherlock’ co-star Louise Brealy – from love letters collection ‘Dear Bessie’, the ‘Batch will be reading a couple of epistles by Alan Turning, who he played in ‘The Imitation Game’.

READ MORE HERE: http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2015/03/19/video-watch-benedict-cumberbatch-read-one-of-alan-turings-letters/

This story will make you love Benedict Cumberbatch even more

GLAMOUR
By ELLA ALEXANDER
FRIDAY, 16 JANUARY 2015



Benedict Cumberbatch has said that telling his parents he has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the "proudest moments" of his life.

Ok, that's it. Just give the award to him already…

The 38-year-old actor was "knocked for six" to be in the running for Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his role in The Imitation Game and delighted in breaking the news to father Timothy Carlton and mother Wanda Ventham yesterday.

Wanda Ventham and Tim Carlton, Benedict Cumberbatch's parents, both great actors themselves, play his character, Sherlock's, parents as well.

He said: "I am knocked for six by this. So excited and honoured to receive this recognition. It's wonderful to be included by the academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents who are both actors and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life."

Meanwhile, fellow Best Actor nominee Eddie Redmayne - who picked up the Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globe awards last weekend - was woken up with the good news this morning.

The Theory of Everything star told USA Today newspaper: "I'm in bed! 20 minutes ago I was in a deep, dark sleep, and there was this gigantic knock on the door. I stumbled in the dark and put a towel on and my manager was there brandishing a telephone with a lot of screaming coming out of it.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/celebrity/2015/01/15/oscars-2015---winners-nominations--dates

Benedict Cumberbatch on Wedding Planning: "One Thing at a Time"

POP SUGAR
by Nick Maslow 1/04/15

Source: Getty / Steve Granitz

Benedict Cumberbatch brought a lot more than his signature charm to the red carpet at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Saturday. The handsome British actor was joined by his fiancée, theater director Sophie Hunter, to whom he popped the question with a large diamond ring in late 2014. We caught up with the actor on the red carpet just before the festival's star-studded dinner, where he suggested he and Sophie aren't in a rush to make it official. "One thing at a time," he said when we asked if he's planning a wedding mid-award-season madness. "I'm playing Sherlock now — just about to start — so my main focus is going to be on that."



Benedict was on hand at the film festival to pick up the ensemble performance award with a few of his costars from The Imitation Game, a film about British World War II hero and scientist Alan Turing, who, despite his work that helped end the war, was later persecuted for being gay by his own government. "I've been chosen to speak," Benedict said as the group took the stage, "which is alarming."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Palm-Springs-Film-Festival-2015-36432612?utm_source=huffingtonpost.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_article#photo-36432612

Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Eddie Redmayne, Jack O'Connell winners at Hollywood Film Awards

MAIL ON LINE
By JENNIFER PEARSON
PUBLISHED: 02:01 EST, 15 November 2014 | UPDATED: 09:53 EST, 15 November 2014



Shailene Woodley's performance in The Fault In Our Stars touched so many, and Benedict Cumberbatch wrenched hearts in The Imitation Game.

But both showed stars in their eyes as they stepped on stage at the Hollywood Film Awards to accept trophies for their acting work on Friday.

They stood among an amazing crowd of other winners who included Keira Knightley, Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Chris Rock and Michael Keaton.



Benedict was indeed humble as he accepted the Hollywood Actor Award for his role in The Imitation Game as English mathematician and logician Alan Turing, who helped to crack the Enigma code during World War II.


In the video interview playing out on screen, Benedict said that Turing 'was a brave man but also a very loving man' and that the film is 'a celebration of what he achieved.'

The 38-year-old British actor was slightly taken aback though after Amy Adams handed him his award.

'Oh, my gosh, you make microphones small in this part of the world,' Benedict said, as though agreeing with Johnny Depp's earlier - and quirky - observation.

Benedict continued: 'This is a great honour. Thank you to Amy for presenting. It's truly an embarrassment of riches. He was and is a hero... it's a story that celebrates him... and anyone who's felt ostracised. This is for him and what he's achieved.'

Cumberbatch's co-star Keira Knightley picked up the Supporting Actress Award for her role as Joan Clarke, another one of the WWII code breakers.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2835564/Shailene-Woodley-Benedict-Cumberbatch-lead-winners-Hollywood-Film-Awards-flawlessly-emotional-performances.html#ixzz3J9pe1A75 
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“Making Of” Behind-The-Scenes Featurette For ‘The Imitation Game’ – Starring Benedict Cumberbatch As Alan Turing

 FLICKS AND BITS



This new behind-the-scenes featurette has arrived online for ‘The Imitation Game,’ which stars the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Allen Leech and Matthew Beard.

The film offers a dramatic portrayal of the life and work of Alan Turing, one of Britain’s most extraordinary unsung heroes, and one of the world’s greatest innovators.

READ MORE HERE AT FLICKS AND BITS: http://www.flicksandbits.com/2014/11/03/making-of-behind-the-scenes-featurette-for-the-imitation-game-starring-benedict-cumberbatch-as-alan-turing/78356/

'That's not nice!' Benedict Cumberbatch defends Keira Knightley in joint interview

EXPRESS
By: Kirsty McCormack
Published: Wed, September 17, 2014



The 38-year-old was clearly annoyed when David Poland took it upon himself to tell Keira she appeared "a little worn out" and couldn't help but retaliate.

As the Hollywood stars had their make-up touched up, Benedict told David: "That's not a nice thing to say to one of the most beautiful women on the planet," before Keira added: "Yeah, f*** you!"

David then proceeded to tell the 'Atonement' star that she had "a little Morticia Adams thing going on there", implying that she looked pale.

Keira, who was wearing a pretty white lace dress which was adorned with black polka dots, admitted that she looked tired because she hadn't eaten.

"I'm just basically really hungry. It's like hunger range that's about to come out in this nasty demon," she explained, before putting on a child's voice as if she was crying.

"I know that no one thinks i do eat but I do need food every now and then," she added, as Benedict laughed beside her.

The pair were promoting their new film 'The Imitation Game', which is a historical thriller film about British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist Alan Turing.

The film centres on Alan and his team of code-breakers at Britain's top secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, in breaking the German's infamous Enigma codes during the Second World War.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/511994/Benedict-Cumberbatch-defends-Keira-Knightley-in-joint-interview

Oscar's Battle of the Brits: Pals Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne Vie for the Gold

DAILY BEAST
Marlow Stern
September 11, 2014

With their towering performances in a pair of biopics, Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, the two lads are earning serious awards buzz out of Toronto.

Cumberbitches and Redmaniacs, rejoice: You've got a pair of awards contenders on your hands—err… minds.

For the uninitiated, the Toronto International Film Festival is, aside from being one of the largest, most overwhelming film fests in the world, fertile ground for Oscar bait. The proof is in the poutine. American Beauty, Ray, Black Swan, and The King’s Speech, to name a few, all bowed in Toronto, and all received Academy Award wins for their stars. Most of the acting buzz at the ’14 edition of TIFF has concerned the performances of Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne in a pair of biopics that were practically stitched by hand in a clandestine awards factory beneath the Dolby Theatre.

Let’s start with the stronger of the two. In The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch portrays Alan Turing, a math prodigy and cryptanalyst who’s tasked by Prime Minister Winston Churchill with leading an elite group of code-breakers at Hut 8—a sector of Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. Their mission is to break the Nazis’ Enigma code, their highly encrypted and presumably indecipherable method of communicating with their naval fleet via radio transmissions. “We’re going to break an unbreakable Nazi code, and win the war,” says Turing.

Directed by Morten Tydum from a screenplay by Graham Moore, the film chronicles Turing’s tragic life (via flashbacks) from his days as a bullied, reticent budding genius who falls for his boarding school classmate, to his World War II heroism, to the subsequent witch hunt in the days after the war that leads to his 1952 conviction on the grounds of “indecency” for engaging in a homosexual tryst—illegal in the U.K. until the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which decriminalized homosexual behavior. Turing was offered the option of two years in prison or oestrogen injections—tantamount to chemical castration. He opted for the latter, and two years later, took his own life by ingesting cyanide.

Another role Oscars were made for comes courtesy of Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything. The impressively-coiffed Brit plays renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who fused the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics to create groundbreaking studies on black holes and gravitational singularity theorems. At the age of 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease—or ALS—and given two years to live. Hawking slid into a deep depression, but was brought out of it by his girlfriend Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones) who proposed marriage and gave him something to live for.

Directed by Oscar winner James Marsh (Man on Wire) from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, the film is more of a straightforward biopic that traces Hawking’s relationship with Wilde at Cambridge, his groundbreaking work in the field of theoretical physics, and his gradual physical decline—first losing his ability to speak, followed by near-complete paralysis. Though Hawking slowly loses control of his physical faculties, his mind remains sharp as ever, and Redmayne captures this with his boyish charm—the twinkle in his eye, and his self-effacing brand of humor. And the 32-year-old Brit, who coincidentally graduated from Cambridge himself with 2:1 Honours, does a superb job of navigating Hawking through his physical deterioration, including his slide into depression. The scenes between Redmayne and Jones where the latter party struggles to pull him away from the edge are masterful.

Of course, Redmayne also positively looks the part, and his portrayal of Hawking during the latter stages of ALS—the impaired speech and mannerisms—is spot-on.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/11/oscar-s-battle-of-the-brits-pals-benedict-cumberbatch-and-eddie-redmayne-vie-for-the-gold.html

Benedict Cumberbatch Brings His Sherlock Persona To The Brainy, Brilliant The Imitation Game

CINEMA BLEND
BY SEAN O'CONNELL 2014-09-07 19:30:50



Morten Tydlum’s The Imitation Game is a first-rate biopic, a thrilling espionage game that’s beautifully crafted and acted. To speak the film’s language – one of codes cracked by mathematicians – the movie equates. It’s also every bit as touching, tragic and romantic as it is intelligent and compelling. And yes, for those who keep track of these annual marathons, it is (or should be) an Oscar contender. Picture, director, screenplay, supporting actress and actor all seem to be in play.

Particularly Best Actor – yes, "Cumberbitches" – for Benedict Cumberbatch's calculated, lean, strong and confident portrayal of brilliant mathematician Alan Turing, who is recruited by the British government during time of war to help decipher Enigma, the machine the Germans use to encode their messages. To crack Enigma might mean to drastically shorten the war. But there is a lot more happening in The Imitation Game then the war effort.

"Pay attention," we are warned, in a Sherlock-y, Khan tone. Alan Turing has secrets. Everyone has secrets at play in The Imitation Game, from the military brass who recruit Turing to the MI6 agent (Mark Strong) who shadows his progress. But few are quite as damaging, as life-altering as Turing’s secrets can (and will) be. If you know history, you know the progressing of this story. The Imitation Game guards its reveal until the one-hour mark, so I’ll steer clear of it for now. It will be a major talking point as the film begins to roll out and play to larger audiences. For now, here’s what I’m comfortable telling you.

Turing -- much like Benedict Cumberbatch’s iconic Sherlock Holmes portrayal -- is a hyper-intelligent, internalized sociopaths with little patience for inferior folks and a laser-focus on task. The task, in this case, could save thousands of military lives and, possibly, turn the tide in a global conflict. But Turing is supposed to be part of a team, and the men he’s supposed to collaborate with (personified by Matthew Goode, Matthew Beard and Allen Leech) can’t stand his aloof arrogance.

Before you bringing in the ever-suffering John Watson, The Imitation Game dangles a bit of a bait and switch. Keira Knightley – the staple of period dramas such as this – is introduced as Joan Clarke, an equally brilliant mathematician whose gender costs her a spot on Turing code-breaking team. In a conventional film, she’d be a love interest. The Imitation Game is not a conventional film. At the moment where a normal biopic would detour into possible romance, the "Pay attention" warning come back, and takes us down a different, more sobering path

READ MORE HERE: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Brings-His-Sherlock-Persona-Brainy-Brilliant-Imitation-Game-67095.html

Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Steve Carell signal lift-off for Oscar's Best Actor category

HITFIX
By Kristopher Tapley  

TELLURIDE — If you asked me to pick between the three commanding, sure-fire awards-contending lead actor performances on display at this year's Telluride Film Festival, I'd have a break down. Yet that's just what Academy voters will surely be asked to do in a few months' time, with added pressure in the form of whoever fills out the rest of the competitive category.

In "Birdman," Michael Keaton may well end up putting forth the most compelling case for a win. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but some things are just patently obvious. Keaton is resurrected by this film, a tried-and-true narrative that we just saw play out last year with Matthew McConaughey. More than that, he's revealing shades of a character that will no doubt connect with actors, presenting the very id of a soul desperate to perform but hamstrung and even quarantined by the realities of the "business" of "show business."

In "The Imitation Game," Benedict Cumberbatch delivers his career-best work in a biopic that is sure to find Academy love and adoration across the board. "Birdman" certainly left a crater, but Morten Tyldum's film feels very much like the breakout of the festival. It's on everyone's lips and I've overheard more than a few compare the experience to the "King's Speech" coming out of 2010. And a lot of that stems from the undeniable layers Cumberbatch exhibits in his performance as ill-fated computer pioneer Alan Turing, finding graceful emotional notes amid the otherwise eccentric playground of the film's subject.


Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/best-actor-oscar-race-heats-up-in-telluride#vsIywHbc493cuzel.99

Benedict Cumberbatch: Sherlock takes his Hamlet to the big screen

MAIL ON LINE
By BAZ BAMIGBOYE
PUBLISHED: 17:06 EST, 28 August 2014 | UPDATED: 17:21 EST, 28 August 2014

From stage to film: Benedict Cumberbatch (left), who will star as Hamlet at London's Barbican and pictured above with Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game - he plays Alan Turing, the man who cracked the Nazi Enigma

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to bring his stage Hamlet to the screen. The play begins performances at the Barbican next year, and negotiations for it to be filmed live and shown in cinemas through National Theatre Live for one night are well advanced.

The actor, along with the production’s director Lyndsey Turner and producer Sonia Friedman, has spent more than a year ensuring that this will be a ‘people’s Hamlet’.

‘I felt very strongly that as wide an audience as possible should have access to it,’ Cumberbatch told me.

The Barbican’s allocation of seats for the entire 12-week run, which starts on August 5 next year, have been snapped up already.

But there will be 100 seats available per performance. ‘They will be sprinkled throughout the house . . . they’re not behind pillars,’ the 38-year-old joked.

He said that he and Ms Turner were eager to make their Hamlet as ‘fresh’ as possible, ‘like a new play that just landed as a pdf in someone’s computer inbox at the Royal Court’, as he described it.

‘We want to escape the idea that it has been done before, and we’re looking at the whole play — not just the eponymous hero.’

Benedict is a thespian polymath. There’s no role he cannot take on.

We had met to discuss another of his projects: a towering portrait — one of the great performances of the year — of Alan Turing, the man who helped break the Nazi’s Enigma code, in the film The Imitation Game.

Watching the movie, I was struck by his approach to Turing: the way he grasped and captured the man, not just the cliched genius. The film is all the more heartbreaking because of it.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2737177/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Sherlock-takes-Hamlet-big-screen.html#ixzz3Bq0bg1BD 
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Benedict Cumberbatch visits hospice patients while filming The Imitation Game

HENLEY STANDARD
Published 18/08/14




ACTOR Benedict Cumberbatch visited patients at the Sue Ryder hospice in Nettlebed while making a new film.

The Sherlock star plays the lead role in The Imitation Game, which tells the story of how British mathematician Alan Turing helped crack the Enigma code during the Second World War.

The film, which also stars Keira Knightley and Charles Dance, will be released in November.

The hospice served as the iconic Bletchley Park, the secret code-breaking centre where Turing and his colleagues deciphered German messages.

Healthcare assistant Linda Miller introduced Cumberbatch to patients in between shoots.

She said: “It was lovely seeing Benedict chat to the patients. He said he felt humbled being in such a caring place.

“Afterwards patients chatted about the experience for ages and relatives said they were looking forward to seeing the film as it would remind them of the time their loved one was at Nettlebed, even if they were no longer with us.”

Staff nurse Sue Hollands, who was on duty when Cumberbatch and Allen Leech, who plays suspected Soviet spy John Cairncross, visited, said: “There was a real buzz about the place as patients and staff felt quite excited about the filming. The actors took their time to talk to patients and were not starry at all — they were genuinely interested in the patients and took a lot of time to chat to them and the staff on the ward.

“Benedict Cumberbatch was an absolute sweetheart.”

Dance, who plays codebreaker Alastair Denniston, chatted to patients in day therapy and met day therapy manager Lynn Brookes and healthcare assistant Caroline Dixon.

Pam Chatfield, palliative care servies manager. said: “The staff and patients enjoyed having the filming going on and although there was some disruption to our routine it was, for the most part, welcome.

“The income generated from the hospice being used as a film set helps us to care for patients and their families and loved ones.”

Filming at Joyce Grove, a Jacobean-style manor built for merchant banker Robert Fleming in the 1900s, took place over two weeks in September. The great hall, Fleming Room and former library as well as the grounds were all used in scenes.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/entertainment/story.php?id=1507799 

Benedict Cumberbatch, the thinking man's alpha wolf

LA TIMES
By REBECCA KEEGAN
August 9, 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego during Comic-Con on July 24, 2014. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

During his first trip to Comic-Con in July, Benedict Cumberbatch stopped to chat about his many brainy characters, from the detective he plays on the BBC's "Sherlock" and the World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, whom he portrays in the upcoming movie "The Imitation Game," to Hamlet and an animated wolf.

You're here for "Penguins of Madagascar," an animated movie in which you voice a wolf who looks like he's the brains of the operation. Have I got it just about right?

Kind of. He's the leader, the alpha wolf of the pack, so to speak, and does things in a polar opposite way, pun intended, to the penguins.

I noticed you're often playing really smart guys — Sherlock, Julian Assange, Alan Turing in this movie coming up, the famous codebreaker, and I wonder, do you have a go-to, 'I'm a genius thinking really hard' …

... Smart face?

Yeah.

Definitely. [Cumberbatch furrows his brow and rests his chin in his hand]

No, it changes. It's about the character. I've been very, very fortunate that there's something going on behind my eyes so that it looks like I'm ... encompassing the brilliance of their minds and ability to concentrate. But you know I have a very superficial, skin-thin understanding of the science. ... It's just about finding the humanity in all of that. Brilliant people have private moments of self-doubt and things which we could all relate to, but they also have these extraordinary moments of discovery or pioneering brilliance that pushes the envelope in how we view the world. I try not to pull faces — if I do, it has to be something with the character.

Darn, so you're not really just thinking about what you're having for lunch?

Yeah, exactly — "Why did I eat that cheeseburger? I should have stuck to the salad." Actors often have that kind of a feeling, especially on stage when you're struggling through the weirdness of your day and you're doing the play for the umpteenth time in a long run, that's very often something that happens: Your mind drifts and you think, "I forgot to buy the cheese in the supermarket!" You have to be careful of those mundanities creeping in because they can play havoc with your concentration.

Speaking of the stage, you're going to be playing Hamlet in London next year. What does that particular role mean to you?

A lot. It's something that's been in my life for a long time. I was offered it at school and turned it down to do my "A" levels and try and get some decent grades. ... I'm of an age now where I think it's now or never ,and I've found the right director ... this brilliant female director called Lindsey Turner, who's just a phenomenon. I think she's the greatest director of her generation, I'll be that bold, and she's a good friend and great collaborator. We've been talking about it for over a year already, and we don't even start rehearsals until next June.

Most actors, [Hamlet] appeals to them initially because it feels like an everyman part, which it is, to an extent, you have to bring a lot of yourself to it. ... The other appeal is the amount of direct communication you have with your audience. There's such a large portion of it where you become very intimate. You should care about him a lot, but he should make you laugh as well as feel things.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-mn-ca-cumberbatch-conversation-20140810-story.html

Benedict Cumberbatch is Alan Turing in trailer for The Imitation Game

DIGITAL SPY
By Simon Reynolds

The first trailer for Benedict Cumberbatch's The Imitation Game has premiered.

The highly-anticipated drama will open the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, October 8, StudioCanal has confirmed.

"I am thrilled to be returning to London to share The Imitation Game with the audience of the BFI London Film Festival," said director Morten Tyldum. "The experience of directing this film has been so tremendously rewarding, and I am humbled to share Alan's Turing's incredible story on Opening Night."


In The Imitation Game, Sherlock star Cumberbatch takes on the role of pioneering mathematician and scientist Alan Turing, whose code-breaking work at Bletchley Park proved vital to Germany's defeat in World War II.


Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a585410/benedict-cumberbatch-is-alan-turing-in-trailer-for-the-imitation-game.html#~oLwOKeIc77HrQP#ixzz38yzGChyg
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Glowing reviews for Benedict Cumberbatch at Imitation Game test screening in New York

RADIO TIMES
Susanna Lazarus
11:25 AM, 20 June 2014

The Sherlock actor has already been tipped for awards season glory for his portrayal of code breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing

A New York City test screening of The Imitation Game has provided the strongest indication yet that Benedict Cumberbatch will be a mainstay of the red carpet when the 2015 awards season comes around.

The Sherlock actor plays computer scientist and Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing in the new biopic which was bought earlier this year for a record fee by The Weinstein Company (the distributors behind Oscar winners The Artist, The King's Speech and Silver Linings Playbook).

And while Cumberbatch features alongside a star-studded cast – Keira Knightley, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech and Matthew Goode – it's his name on the tip of every viewer's tongue.

Details of the 18 June event remain pretty scarce – test screenings are known to be largely secretive – but a few comments have emerged on forums and the Twittersphere heralding the film and the British actor's commanding performance.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-06-20/glowing-reviews-for-benedict-cumberbatch-at-imitation-game-test-screening-in-new-york

Benedict Cumberbatch: Early Oscar 2015 Contenders

FEMALE FIRST
by Helen Earnshaw | 16 March 2014



The 2014 Oscars season has just ended - it really was a very exciting awards circuit this year - and we are already looking ahead to the films and stars that could be in contention for 2015.

There are a whole host of exciting film projects on the horizon, and we have already spied a handful of films that have awards contenders written all over them. We take a look at some of the films to watch out for between now and the Oscars 2015.

- The Imitation Game

One of the movies that we are particularly looking forward to is The Imitation Game, which will see Benedict Cumberbatch back in a leading film role; it could turn out to be his greatest film moment to date.

Harvey Weinstein has a great Oscar nomination and Oscar win record, and the infamous producer is behind this new biopic about Alan Turing. Cumberbatch will take on the role of Turing in the film. Turing helped break the Enigma code during the Second World War, but was hounded because of his sexuality.

We all know how much the Academy loves a biopic film, and this really could be a major player by the end of the year. Headhunters filmmaker Morten Tyldum is in the director’s chair, while Keira Knightley and Mark Strong are part of the supporting cast.

Could we all be willing Benedict Cumberbatch on to a Best Actor Oscar win by the beginning of next year?



Read more: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/early-2015-oscar-contenders-437083.html#ixzz2w9UHeMmv

‘I am so ready to play a really dumb character’: Benedict Cumberbatch says he’s ready for a less intellectual role and that Sherlock is ‘an absolute b*****d’

MAIL ON LINE
By HANNA FLINT
PUBLISHED: 02:31 EST, 10 March 2014 | UPDATED: 05:48 EST, 10 March 2014



He’s played a super sleuth with an IQ through the roof, a slave-owner with a conflicted heart and a journalist hell bent on revealing government secrets.

Now, Benedict Cumberbatch, 37, is ready for a less intellectual role.

‘I am so ready to play a really dumb character,’ the actor told T magazine, having just finished filming a biopic of the British cryptographer Alan Turing, The Imitation Game, where he plays the lead role.

It’s no wonder Cumberbatch might feel ready for a less trying role, for Turing is often thought of as the father of theoretical computer science; whose life ended in tragedy when in 1954 he committed suicide, two years after being convicted for homosexuality.

‘I always seem to be cast as slightly wan, ethereal, troubled intellectuals or physically ambivalent bad lovers,’ Benedict explained, but with his educational background and upbringing his acting roles aren’t that surprising.

Both his parents Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton were actors, and after attending famous public boys’ school Harrow, he studied at the University of Manchester as well as the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2577183/Benedict-Cumberbatch-says-ready-intellectual-role.html#ixzz2vZHPp0yg 
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VIDEO: Benedict Cumberbatch as genius codebreaker Alan Turing

WESTERN GAZETTE
By Western Gazette - Yeovil  |  Posted: January 25, 2014



The first image has been released and now there’s a chance to hear how Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch will sound as genius codebreaker Alan Turing.

He will be playing the Sherborne educated mathematician in The Imitation Game, due to be released later this year and which was partially filmed in the Dorset town.

The Imitation Game's Twitter page has provided a link to this short video clip in which Cumberbatch reads a letter from Alan Turing to his friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge. Turing wrote the letter shortly before his court appearance for gross indecency and although he remarks that he should one day write a short story about the incident, signing it "yours in distress".

The reading came during the Letters Live event in London in which a spectacular array of actors, authors and musicians, read out "correspondence deserving of a wider audience” alongside musical performances. Those taking part included Gillian Anderson, Matt Berry, Nick Cave, Neil Gaiman, Thandie Newton, Peter Serafinowicz and Juliet Stevenson.

Dr Turing was recently given a posthumous royal pardon for a 61-year-old conviction for homosexual activity.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/VIDEO-Benedict-Cumberbatch-genius-codebreaker/story-20495971-detail/story.html

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey Among Final Group Of Presenters Announced For SAG Awards this Saturday Night

WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS
Posted by Michelle McCue in General News

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey, John Goodman, Josh Holloway, Pauley Perrette, and Jeremy Renner are confirmed to present at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, Executive Producer/Director Jeff Margolis and Executive Producer Kathy Connell announced today.

They join a growing list of actors who will honor their colleagues at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, including Ben Affleck, Sasha Alexander, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Garner, Clark Gregg, Tom Hanks, SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lawrence, Jared Leto, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Marsden, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Röhm, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, and Oprah Winfrey.

Benedict Cumberbatch receives his first two Actor® nominations this year for cast performances in “12 Years a Slave” and “August: Osage County.” He will next be seen as Alan Turing in Morten Tyldum’s dramatic thriller “The Imitation Game” and as The Necromancer in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.”

The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center during a live simulcast on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). A primetime encore presentation will follow immediately on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT).


READ MORE HERE: http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/01/amy-adams-bradley-cooper-benedict-cumberbatch-tina-fey-among-final-group-presenters-announced-sag-awards-saturday-night/

Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in First Look at ‘The Imitation Game’ (Photo)

THE WRAP
DAILIES | By Jeff Sneider on December 26, 2013 @ 10:56 am



Black Bear Pictures’ drama co-stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong and Charles Dance

In honor of Alan Turing’s historic Royal Pardon on Tuesday, Black Bear Pictures has released the first official image of Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game.”

Showing his personal enthusiasm for the project, producer Teddy Schwarzman sent the still himself as an early Christmas gift rather than a PR firm.

Cumberbatch stars as codebreaker and mathematician Turing, who was prosecuted for being homosexual and eventually committed suicide via cyanide poisoning.

Keira Knightley co-stars alongside Matthew Goode, Mark Strong and Charles Dance. Morten Tyldum (“Headhunters”) directed from Graham Moore’s script, which topped the 2011 Black List.

In addition to producers Teddy Schwarzman, Nora Grossman and Ido Ostrowsky, the project boasts a top notch below-the-line team including Oscar-winning editor William Goldenberg (“Argo”), composer Clint Mansell (“Black Swan”), cinematographer Oscar Faura (“The Impossible”) and production designer Maria Djurkovic (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”).

READ MORE HERE: http://www.thewrap.com/benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing-imitation-game-first-look-photo