Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed Doctor Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War and will reprise his role in Avengers 4. Cumberbatch also provided the voice and performed facial motion capture for Dormammu in Doctor Strange.

Significant roles

• Warren Reid in Silent Witness (2002)
• Rory Slippery in Fortysomething (2003)
• Stephen Hawking in Hawking (2004)
• Robin in Nathan Barley (2005)
• Edmund Talbot in To the End of Earth (2005)
• Will Parker in Broken News (2005)
• Patrick Watts in Starter for 10 (2006)
• William Pitt in Amazing Grace (2006)
• Joe/Charlie in Inseparable (2006)
• Paul Marshal in Atonement (2007)
• Alexander Masters in Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007)
• William Carey in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
• Stephen Ezard in The Last Enemy (2008)
• Luke Fitzwilliam in Agatha Christie's Marple (2008)
• Joseph Hooker in Creation (2009)
• Vincent Van Gogh in Van Gogh: Painted with Words (2010)
• James in Third Star (2010)
• Nick Kaufman in The Whistleblower (2010)
• Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock (2010-2016)
• Peter Guillaim in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
• Maj. Jamie Stewart in War Horse (2011)
• David in Wreckers (2011)
• Rosencratz/Victor Frankenstein/The Creature in National Theatre Live (2011-2013)
• Christopher Tietjens in Parade's End (2012)
• Dante in Girlfriend in a Coma (2012)
• Necromancer in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
• Humphrey Bogart in Electric Cinema: How to Behave (2012)
• Alan Rickman in The Simpsons (2013)
• Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Ford in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
• Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate (2013)
• Little Charles Aiken in August: Osage County (2013)
• Wallace in Little Favour (2013)
• Smaug/Necromancer in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
• Alan Turing in The Imitation Game (2014)
• Classified in Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
• Smaug/Necromancer in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
• Bill Burger in Black Mass (2015)
• Richard III in Hollow Crown (2016)
• Lewis in Magik (2016)
• Shere Khan in Jungle Book: Origins (2016)
• Harry Larkyns in Flying Horse (2016)

Quotes

• "I don't think it's a risk because of Marvel. Marvel is a stable of bringing out ordinary comic characters and turning them into screen-like gods. It's very different, it's an Astral Plane. There's a huge new element to this Marvel universe that's going to be employed in building this story and this character. But you know, I'm really excited about it, about working with Scott whose imagination is endless, and all the boys and girls at Marvel who know what they're doing. I've got a few things to get under my belt first. I've got to do that little stage production of Hamlet in the summer and the Christmas special of Sherlock, which we start shooting in about three days' time - Whoops! Yeah, that's there."
• "Ahh... you'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to be eked out on any spoilers or reveals now. It's quite a way off but I'm very excited about that spiritual dimension, obviously. It's something that's been a huge part of my life."
• "I meditate a lot. That's a huge tool in trying to calm myself, get away from the crazy circus of it all, have a focused mind as well as be a kinder, considerate person in the world. I took a lot of stuff away from my experience in Darjeeling, West Bengal, right at the Nepali border. It was Tibetan Buddhist monks in a converted Nepali house in India, with a view of Bhutan. It was a profoundly formative experience at a very young age. It's something I've tried to keep in my life. It features already."
• "Growing up, no. I didn't read many comics at all. Asterix a bit. I think that was it. There weren't many comics in my household - [in a self-mocking voice] 'I'm so deprived.' We didn't have Marvel so much. But you can bet your bottom dollar I'm reading them now, avidly."
• "I was always interested in the extreme mind-bending visuals of the comics. I had very ambitious for the visuals, which were rooted in the comics, that movies haven't done yet. And a lot of that goes back to the Ditko artwork and all that '60s craziness you see in the comics."
• "When this comic appeared in the early '60s, it really informed, in a way that is pretty amazing, a lot of the psychedelic '60s as we know it. Stan Lee and, in particular, Steve Ditko, had an amazing psychedelic style. I don't know that they were doing anything weird in the bullpen in Marvel, but certainly the stuff they were doing inspired all those people who were doing mind-expansion experiments at the time. So, that's inherent to the property. And that's our mission statement for the visual effects on this movie."
• "The sequence culminates in what we, behind-the-scenes, refer to as the 'Magical Mystery Tour,' which literally takes him in a shocking and very fast way through the multiverse," he teases. "The images can be just as trippy - for lack of a better term - as those Ditko images were in the past. So, that, we hope, is going to set this movie apart from any of the other movies. And, from any other movie. There's all sorts of craziness. Falling, flying, jumping, fighting, punching, getting punched. It's really rough and tumble. There's going to be crazy s–t going on."
• "It's a very different feel, different hero and different set of circumstances to what we've seen before. It's another moment during Marvel's evolution."
• "This man reaches the very bottom and then more. You think, How much more can this guy take? He's broken, he gets up again, he's broken - and that's really what makes him a superhero. A lot of people have asked me, 'What makes him a superhero?' That's really the answer I should have given. It's not the Cloak of Levitation. It's not the Eye of Agamotto. It's about his staying power. It's a marathon and not a sprint. The guy endures so much."
• "I really did think I had to kiss it goodbye. If you can’t jump on board when the ride’s going past, that’s usually it so the hugest compliment they paid me was to come back to me. It motivated me to try to fulfill their faith in me."
• "To get us all together will be quite something. That’s why this character is being introduced, to open up the next chapter. So watch this space to see how that unfolds."
• "I felt it was all about the part rather than everything else. I've been to Comic-Con, and it's a very nice way to give back to the fans that drive these things. It was quite scary. I felt like Pink Floyd. It's just like, "Hello, hi," after the fans are all screaming. That side of it is just phenomenal, and it makes me giggle, and I don't know whether I'll get used to that. I can't wait to see how it expands the universe. I'm also part of your crew! It's an amazing cast of actors. And it's the most fun hard work you'll ever do, I think, as an actor. They really know how to treat you right. And the material is challenging, witty, and a lot of fun to do. Doctor Strange is a complex, funny, but exciting character."
• "I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration. There’s a great deal that can be done in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and any comic universe. Whether it’s hiding a pregnancy, to having someone there who’s on another side of the world, but there’s only so much they can do without you. So, I’ll be there. Don’t worry. I’ve got a script and I’ve been reading it and it’s very, very good fun."
• "There’s lots of threats coming his way. He holds the Time Stone around his neck for a part of this film. We know someone is coming to get them for a big glove. It might not be. It says you’ll see Doctor Strange again at the end of the first one and you have. You’ve seen him in Thor: Ragnarok and you know he’s in this one. Doesn’t mean there’s gonna be any more of him, so you’ll have to wait and see."