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| I swear I did not even make up that name |
Benedict Cumberbatch is fairly unknown in the States. And by that I don't mean he isn't Tom Cruise yet, I mean he's below Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin and David Tennant as actors no one really knows unless you're from a fandom. But in that fandom, and in the UK he's a big deal.
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| Look in my twinkling eyes, and you'll know why |
American viewers might know him from
Atonement or his small role in
The Other Boleyn Girl. Fans know him from his fabulous work on the stage, and his new role as Sherlock Holmes on the BBC series featuring a Sherlock Holmes with a cell phone set in present-day London. It's brilliant. And well it should be seeing as it was written by
Doctor Who's Steven Moffat. In the UK Steven Moffat = Joss Whedon in case you needed some comparison.
Cumberbatch brings a bite to every line, and intensity of gaze that puts the viewer on edge. He delivers with such British precision; he has a face that, with a twitch of the lip or a furrow of the brow, speaks volumes. He can be cold as ice and then red hot. In addition Cumberbatch has a dash of swashbuckling in him, and a fierceness, not to mention a sense of comedic timing that will leave your shoulders shaking and your belly aching from laughing.
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| Did you forget how awesome I am? Here's a picture to remind you |
Just to cement in your mind how hilarious and awesome the Batch is let me reveal this to you: he does an Alan Rickman impression. And I don't mean he does that Hans Gruber impression I can do, I mean he does Alan Rickman better than Alan Rickman does Alan Rickman. Here's a radio clip of him singing Elton effing John as Alan Rickman
And in case you aren't convinced, here's an adorable Ben Cumberbatch reading a children's fairytale. He's so talented that I can't tell if he's serious or if he's trying very very hard to not laugh as he reads "The Little Red Hen" in his pretentious British accent.
So he's a top-notch actor capable of handling both ends of the Drama-to-Comedy spectrum, but let's not forget that he's adorable to boot. With that mop of curly hair, and those sparkling blue eyes, and those ridiculous cheekbones, he's quite the heartthrob.
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| Look at that cupid's bow |
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| LOOK AT IT |
But don't tell that to the Sherlock/Watson shippers, they're rabid fans of Ben's, and they're sure he's in love with Watson.
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| Oh come on, two guys living and spending all their time together? It's normal for people to assume |
The BBC's
Sherlock is utterly and without a doubt brilliant. I liked Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock, and I liked Robert Downey Jr. as the boxing buff detective, but then I saw Cumberbatch as Sherlock. He's phenomenal. He carries that show. He is walking the tightrope of how complicated a character Sherlock is with absolute and confident grace. Sherlock is at once lonely, and distant, and condescending, while at the same time being isolated, and cavalier, and downright dismissive or mean toward other people. Cumberbatch's Sherlock is so isolated from people, in many ways of his own accord because he thinks they're all idiots, and yet he knows the human insect so well that he can pretend for entire conversations to be as normal and friendly as they. That is the level of depth to which Cumberbatch will go.
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| Bloody 'ell I'm so brilliant |
Cumberbatch is a genius, I tell you. A genius.
But the UK already knows that. His last name is a verb now, something can be "cumberbatched". It means something ordinary has been immediately made more awesome.
IMDb
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| Sherlock=Cumberbatched |
