Benedict Cumberbatch Quotes & Sayings

[on Martin Freeman playing Bilbo Baggins] It was great. I got to hang out with him, and I kept a straight face for a bit and then I started giggling because I know Martin, I don't know Bilbo. For Martin to be sitting there playing Bilbo is amazing. He's going to be amazing, he's going to be fantastic in this film. — Benedict Cumberbatch

You come into this world as you leave it, on your own. It's made me want to live a life slightly less ordinary. — Benedict Cumberbatch

There's a huge raft of roles that actors in our culture perform, and you can see any one of about three Hamlets in a year. It's not something to be completely daunted by. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Maybe it's because I was an only child, but I've always wanted kids. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm not confident in social situations; just going up to someone in a bar and saying 'Hi' is going to be even more difficult because they won't know the real me. They will just know me as a fictional person I play on the screen. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Any irrational fears?no, i'm quite a rationalist. i'm not superstitious, i think life is too full of natural wonders and logical complexities to worry about illogical things. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I suppose my bodily proportions are quite flattering. I'm ripped, doing something I wouldn't normally do with my body, or having done to it, involving Watson, — Benedict Cumberbatch

Upper class to me means you are either born into wealth or you're Royalty. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I was happy as an only child, but I've always wanted to be part of a bigger family. — Benedict Cumberbatch

If people ask, 'Are you Sherlock Holmes?', it's horribly naff, but I say, 'I'm not, I just look a bit like him' - which is how I feel. There are bad attributes of his that I really don't share! — Benedict Cumberbatch

People's hands fascinate me. It's tempting to look at a businessman's left hand and see if there's an indentation from a missing wedding ring. Or maybe there's a tan line and the skin is pressed down where's he's worked a ring off his finger. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I have an appetite for the normal in my life, as well as the abnormal. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm quite sensitive to people noticing me. There are times when I'm relaxed, then others when it does make me self-conscious. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm not loyal to one genre. I want to mix it up. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I never was obsessive about anything I watched when I was a kid, except maybe 'The A-Team' and 'Airwolf' ... And I loved 'Knight Rider' and then later 'Baywatch.' — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise. You are never what you seem. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'll always do 'Sherlock' - it's something I'm not going to give up on. — Benedict Cumberbatch

All the backstories are there but not talked about. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I am a PR disaster because I talk too much. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm not very geeky. I'm quite homespun. I would say I'm more modern rustic than gadget-orientated. I like woollen things and log fires and whiskey — Benedict Cumberbatch

I want to do it all. I want to climb mountains, go through jungles, fight wars in space, get the girl, shoot the bad-guy full of lead, have all the zippy one liners, bulge muscles out of a singlet, drip sweat and blood on screen, all of that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Because reading is one of the joys of life, and once you begin, you can't stop, and you've got so many stories to look forward to. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've been very lucky at what's happened in my career to date, but playing something as far from me as possible is an ambition of mine - anything from a mutated baddy in a comic book action thriller, to a detective. If anything, I'd like Gary Oldman's career: he's the perfect example of it. I've love to have a really broad sweep of characters - to be able to do something edgy, surprising and unfashionable. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I was thrilled with how the first series of 'Sherlock' was received. It was such great fun to film, which makes it so rewarding when something you enjoy is so well received. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I love theatre, and you learn too much as an actor and enjoy too much of it not to want to go back a lot. — Benedict Cumberbatch

'Sherlock' fans are, by and large, an intelligent breed, so they've gone through my back catalogue and got what I've done, why and how I've done it. There is some obsessive behaviour, but I worry for them rather than me. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I wish my 15-year-old self had known about my allure to the opposite sex! — Benedict Cumberbatch

I keep myself amused and others confused — Benedict Cumberbatch

I wasn't born into land or titles, or new money, or an oil rig. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Our daily lives are so mundane, we get taken over by what is immediately in front of us and we don't see beyond that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

It's difficult because nothing's preordained by plan and you can't control it. That's one of those joys and thrills and nerve-racking realities of being an actor. A lot has to do with luck, no matter what your talent or contribution can be. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm interested in art for all. I don't want it to be only the sons and daughters of Tory MPs who get to see my plays. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Do awards change careers? Well, I haven't heard of many stories where that's the case. It's a fun excuse to meet colleagues and celebrate people who've done well that year in certain people's eyes, and it's nothing more than that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

It still makes me giggle that I'm paid to act. — Benedict Cumberbatch

What a tragic waste o engagement (selfies). Enjoy the moment. Do something more worthwhile with your time, anything. Stare out the window and think about life. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The armoury of having any academic education does not necessarily set you up for being a good or better actor. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've said for quite a long time I'd like him to have a different haircut. I quite like my hair being short. You know, we've been away two years, let's f*** around with his outfit, let's f*** around with his haircut, let's do something different. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Every job is incredibly different, and I love it because you're picking up skill sets and experiences. It's the university of life. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I always get self-conscious about what I look like in a film, but less so if I'm a character very far removed from who I am. Then I just worry about the performance, and that's equally an odd experience. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Animations are really powerful - it's not just entertainment, it's a very cunning way to get good ideas across. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Conan Doyle is amazing in the way he has Watson describe Sherlock's posture, mood swings, his hand gestures, and so forth in the novels. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Live a life less ordinary. — Benedict Cumberbatch

We have a lot more unlikely heroes now. It's not just the guy with guns - it's the guy with brains. — Benedict Cumberbatch

When you start getting jobs, and see your mates from drama school, you don't really want to talk about it, because you have this innate sense of guilt that it's not fair that others aren't doing exactly what you're doing. I do have that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I realised quite early on that, although I wasn't trying to make a career speciality of it, I was playing slightly asexual, sociopathic intellectuals. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I drive a motorbike, so there is the whiff of the grim reaper round every corner, especially in London. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Look at you lot, you're all so vacant, is it nice not being me it must be so relaxing. — Benedict Cumberbatch

When you freefall for 7,000 feet it doesn't feel like you're falling: it feels like you're floating, a bit like scuba diving. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I can feel infinitely alive curled up on the sofa reading a book. — Benedict Cumberbatch

It's always important to have the blessing. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I had parents who were working actors, who did really well in their careers, but it was a living. So it was a reality for me growing up; it wasn't a fantasy. It wasn't sitting there going, "I want to be adored." It wasn't that at all. Not to say that the screams of fans aren't a smile-raiser, but that was never the pull for me. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Fame is a weird one. You need to distance yourself from it. People see a value in you that you don't see yourself. — Benedict Cumberbatch

There are moments when, like all of us, you get a bit self-conscious and you'd rather not be living any of your day in public. Those are the awkward times, but you've got to have fun with it. — Benedict Cumberbatch

As an actor, you are aware of how a role can seep into your real life. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I am very flattered. I have also become a verb as in "I have cumberbatched the UK audience" apparently. Who knows, by the end of the year I might become a swear word too! It's crazy and fun and very flattering. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I was brought up in a world of privilege. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I think what I loved in cinema - and what I mean by cinema is not just films, but proper, classical cinema - are the extraordinary moments that can occur on screen. At the same time, I do feel that cinema and theater feed each other. I feel like you can do close-up on stage and you can do something very bold and highly characterized - and, dare I say, theatrical - on camera. I think the cameras and the viewpoints shift depending on the intensity and integrity of your intention and focus on that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The world of 'Sherlock Holmes' and the world that we live in now is big enough to take more than one interpretation. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The first time we did cavalry charge I was so breathless with excitement I nearly fell off the horse. I actually saw stars in front of my eyes and thought I was going to faint. The second time I had a bit more control but was still giddy with excitement. And the third time I was an emotional wreck. I had to really try hard not to cry. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've been quite a late developer on the clothes front, but I've suddenly realised it is one of life's joys. — Benedict Cumberbatch

'Frankenstein' was all about the idea that, through electricity and the destruction of night, man creating light and darkness, we took on god-like powers and then abused them like gods, and we are only men. That's a story about man making a man in his own image. The inversion of natural order. — Benedict Cumberbatch

We're living through a time where we are fighting wars fostered by politics, admittedly not on the same scale as the First World War, but with equally tragic realities for our soldiers and their families. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Not that i had a big arse but even that was toned. — Benedict Cumberbatch

To get a horse to hit a mark without a rider, to get it to stand up, to get it to rear, to get it to pick up a bucket and bring it over is amazing. It's hard work and very rewarding but can be dangerous. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm always keen to use my body in my work, so I'm looking forward to the motion capture for Smaug. Both Gollum and King Kong were primates, whereas I'm playing a serpent, so it'll be interesting - I'll have to tie my legs together, possibly, or else they'll be kind of splayed out to the side as a reptile's should be. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've seen and swam and climbed and lived and driven and filmed. Should it all end tomorrow, I can definitely say there would be no regrets. I am very lucky, and I know it. I really have lived 5,000 times over. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've turned up to costume parties in the wrong costume. I've made social faux pas a plenty. I've put one foot in front of the other and fallen over. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I was the boy that turned a girlfriend into the most celebrated lesbian on television. I got so much stick for that. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I actually do mind having a photo taken because it's one o'clock in the morning and I'm off my face. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm really not Sherlock Holmes. I look a little bit like him and sound like him. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm very proud of the work I do, but I genuinely can't involve myself with an audience as early as somebody who's not part of the film can. So there's that side of theater that appeals to me, where you give something and the response to what you've created is a communion between you and the dark that contains however many people. It's thrilling not having a reflection other than through the people you're communicating with. But people ask, "What do you prefer?" and I don't have a preference. I love them both. I really do. — Benedict Cumberbatch

A woman who knows that she doesn't have to get all decked out to look good is sexy. A woman who can make you feel smart with her conversation skills is also sexy. I believe the sense of humor is important. — Benedict Cumberbatch

My first, big, silly role at school was as Arthur Crocker-Harris in Rattigan's 'The Browning Version,' where my job was to make school-masters' wives weep with recognition. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The number of people my age, younger now, a whole generation younger, who are fiercely bright, over-educated, under-employed and who are politicised and purposeless really upsets me. It's soul-destroying. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I have memories of clouds whisking by while sitting in the pushchair on the roof of my parents' flat. I loved it! I just loved staring at the clouds and dreaming away. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun. — Benedict Cumberbatch

If I'm playing someone who's smart, suddenly every character I've played is smart. If I'm playing a bad guy, every character is a bad guy. I suppose it's that thing where people want to see a through-line to understand you. I mean, you know, I have played pretty ordinary people too. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Looking for happiness is a sure way to sadness, I think. You have to take each moment as it comes. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I remember very clearly someone saying, 'Don't shake hands with the cactus,' and I thought, 'Well, why not? What could possibly go wrong?' Shaking hands is a friendly gesture. — Benedict Cumberbatch

You have to sometimes just run with the problem rather than trying to solve it with hi-tech wizardry and lots of planning. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I think with any characterization there's a point where you empathize, no matter how much of a deviance his or her actions may be from your understanding of humanity. — Benedict Cumberbatch

It does get strange when you realize people will hang around for hours to get a glimpse of you doing scenes outside. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I have actual acting scars. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Do I like being thought of as attractive? I don't know anyone on Earth who doesn't, but I do find it funny. — Benedict Cumberbatch

My mum and dad had worked incredibly hard to afford me an education. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Being on set is quite difficult, because it's so big and you've got to try and relax, which isn't easy when you know you're in a massive film. I was terrified for quite a long time. — Benedict Cumberbatch

[While voicing cartoons] you have to lose your sanity and inhibitions and any kind of dignity and just throw yourself around a bit. — Benedict Cumberbatch

There's no shame in stealing - any actor who says he doesn't is lying. You steal from everything. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I had the privilege of being able to choose, or at least have the opportunity to work at, being anything but an actor. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I can't stop traffic on Fifth Avenue, not unless I walk in front of an oncoming cab. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I got live tweeted once by someone who was opposite my home in some rented accommodation. He was actually describing on twitter what I was doing. 'I took a shirt off, I went to the window, I put a shirt back on ... ' And I've got blinds in my flat! — Benedict Cumberbatch

I want to be able to play trailer-bound fatties in a Judd Apatow comedy. — Benedict Cumberbatch

New York City is crazy and beautiful and really close to my heart, and I've always had dear friends here - family, actually, I would say. — Benedict Cumberbatch

[on BBC's Sherlock] It's a rare challenge, both for the audience and an actor, to take part in something with this level of intelligence and wit. You have to really enjoy it. It's a form of mental and physical gymnastics. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Lines are very difficult to learn. — Benedict Cumberbatch

I've realised now that the reality of children is you have to be in the right place with the right person. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Cumberbatch - it sounds like a fart in a bath, doesn't it? What a fluffy old name. I can never say it on a Monday morning. When I became an actor, Mum wasn't keen on me keeping it. — Benedict Cumberbatch

Any privacy in public is a hard thing to negotiate. — Benedict Cumberbatch

The more charming person is the person who admits the other person is more charming. — Benedict Cumberbatch