Sunday, August 16, 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch told 'not to go into acting' by leading Harrow drama teacher

 THE TELEGRAPH
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
2:51PM BST 16 Aug 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch (ringed) as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre in 1994

Benedict Cumberbatch was encouraged not to enter the ‘tough business’ of acting by his drama teacher Martin Tyrrell, according to fellow schoolboy thespian.

The Oscar-nominated actor, pictured in The Sunday Times today playing Petruchio in a school production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre, greatly impressed in the performance.

However he was advised not to pursue a career with his “dazzling” talent, according to Alexander Gifford, who performed alongside the young Cumberbatch in the play.



Mr Gifford, now a theatre director and playwright, told The Sunday Times: “Benedict was the complete star of the acting scene at Harrow and funnily enough I remember in that show...it was like he had gone to a whole new level and had a vitality on stage and an uninhibited freedom that was dazzling.

"I do remember our drama teacher, Martin Tyrrell, advising him not to go into acting because it was such a tough business.

“We were a really rich crop of young actors. We had Laurence Fox and Patrick Kennedy, and that was down to Mr Tyrrell. Benedict stood out as being preternaturally gifted."


Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11806074/Benedict-Cumberbatch-told-not-to-go-into-acting-by-leading-Harrow-drama-teacher.html

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