He’s… Mercurial. Shear talent. A genius. One of the leading actors in the world. An incredibly formidable presence. A Porsche 911.
Great people about Cumberbatch.
"Hands down, I believe that he’s the most versatile, surprising and charismatic actors of our time." Christina Bianco, actress
"Benedict transforms, he doesn’t act. He becomes Turing.”, Morten Tyldum, director
"Even as a 13-year old, he was obviously an outstanding actor - a combination of intuition and intellect. It’s probably once in a lifetime that you find a boy actor as magnificent as this. I don’t think I had to speak or work with him in any way when I was directing him. I felt like I was working with a fellow professional rather than a schoolboy." Mr. Tyrell, Cumberbatch’s acting teacher in Harrow
"Benedict is witty, mercurial… thoughtful and expert. He’s very intelligent but he doesn’t let it show by commenting on the character he is playing.” Richard Eyre, theater director
"He has a sensibility and an oddness to him… and a directness and a fantastic sense of humor (…) So I respect him on a pretty fundamental level (…) He’s an actor who has the ability to play in the outer field of basic acting work (…) He is a very generous, very sensitive, very thoughtful, focused, disciplined actor and, you know, when you work with somebody like that it’s just like playing… like Ronnie Scotts with B.B. King… it’s just a question of when or if… you know when someone’s got it and he’s got it." Tom Hardy, actor
"He’s a fabulous actor and happens to have the zeitgeist. Sherlock has lifted him into a global star but he manages to combine stardom with utter brilliance which is really rare." Hay Festival director Peter Florence
“Cumberbatch is a remarkable actor. He can quietly project the inner turmoil that more animated actors can only mimic.” Matthew Gilbert, TV critic
"Benedict Cumberbatch is shear talent. I mean he’s such a fantastically talented actor. He has a marvelous look of course, he has cheekbones you could shave Parmesan of and he’s just a magnificently talented actor. I’ve seen him do so many different things, with such style and he’s also an incredibly nice man and he deserves the enormous acclaim he receives around the world." Stephen Fry, actor
"He is phenomenal. The amount of work that goes into his roles, he has a great work ethic and a genius mind, he is so inspiring. He really raised the bar for me and he had this integrity and genuineness. I feel really blessed to have worked with him. Plus he is so much fun, he’s become a good friend." Adelaide Clemens, actress
"Everytime Benedict Cumberbatch opens his mouth it is positively electric… At the time I was getting really into Sherlock series one and I was just totally hypnotized by Benedict and I said to JJ ‘You gotta watch this guy, and one thing let to another and… Thank God! …. All credit goes to Benedict but I was smart enough to realize he is a genius.” Damon Lindelof, screenwriter
"I didn’t really know him as a stage actor. I knew what a fine screen actor he is. But there’s a physicality involved in the theatre. It’s not just about mannerisms or impersonation, which screen often is: it’s about sustaining a narrative with mind and body. When I saw him for Frankenstein, that was the only thing I wanted to know. Did he have that physical capacity? And of course he does. We met and I asked him to do a few things and he was extraordinary in the room. He’s as fit as a boxer, which you have to be for the stage. You have to have an internal fitness that allows you to carry the story so it never sags. He had this combination of the cerebral and the physical which you can see when you look back at his screen work – in Hawking, it’s there. Frankenstein was a great one for using it. That’s why he’s now what he is: one of the leading actors in the world." Danny Boyle, director
"He’s a genius. There are certain actors who have the ability to take a line of dialogue and add a ring to it that you didn’t even know you put into the dialogue, into the line. And he’s one of those really brilliant actors. Just listening to him talk…you could enjoy him reading the phone book.(…) And he’s an incredibly formidable presence. He’s amazing." Alex Kurtzman, screenwriter
"We found Benedict Cumberbatch fairly early. We needed a very good actor, someone young enough to be believable as an aristocratic, an almost slightly dislikeable character who is an adolescent in terms of his views of the world, his upbringing. But we also needed someone who could hold the screen for four and half hours, in every scene. We needed someone with experience who was not only a very good actor, but also with terrific comic timing. Benedict was the ideal answer to that." David Attwood, director (To the ends of the earth)
"Everyone just looked at it and went “Oh. All right.” Meryl looked at me and gave me a big smile, which is Meryl’s way of saying “Well done”. It was not the best quality you’ve ever seen. And his face was very close. But he was wonderful. At first I didn’t realize that he was British because his southern Oklahoma accent was very good. There’s nothing guarded about him. It can be a little daunting because you have the clear impression at all times that he might be more intelligent than you are." John Wells, director, about Cumberbatch’s iPhone auditioning for August: Osage County
"The difference between stars and just great actors is that stars can make parts into them, rather than themselves into parts; they make those people them. They never quite play it like you expect them to, so it becomes very much Benedict’s Sherlock. Look at how Sean Connery owned James Bond." Steven Moffat, producer and writer
"He’s a stick shift; he’s changing up and changing down. He’s a Porsche 911." Gary Oldman, actor
"I would like to officialy declare my love for Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes, that’s right. I’m in love with him." Paul Feig, director
"He’s an immersive actor; he’s physical. You have to keep feeding him, trying to keep him stimulated. The engine has to be stoked all the time. The joke is that Hollywood thinks it’s investigating him right now to see what he’s made of. The truth is: He’s investigating them." Danny Boyle, director
"Watching him physically train to play James (He dieted, ran the cliffs and swam in the cold sea), and also delve into the meaning of every line in rehearsals, and then plot the effect of his illness on his body and mind as it would be in each scene (shot in the wrong order), while all the while being a joy to be around was impressive to witness. To see it as one performance in the final cut was remarkable. - He is rare even amongst the acting breed. If the character description says handsome: he is. If it says Nasty: he is. Older: he is… Younger: he is. For this reason I just can’t wait to see what he will become." Vaughan Sivell, producer and screen writer („Third Star“)
"Being on the set with him… I think everyone was bringing their absolute A-game. I think, frankly, in a way, [his] presence sort of elevated everything. Time and again, every scene, Benedict brought a surprising, unexpected, grounded, real and often terrifying aspect to the role. So we are incredibly grateful, all of us." JJ Abrams, director
"Benedict Cumberbatch is one of my very favorite — excuse me, favourite — actors today, and he brought his brilliant mixture of confidence and strength to Khan in a way that, with all due respect, Montalban never did. Never once does Cumberbatch make the obvious choice, his performance is always subtle, always controlled, and when he finally goes full-Khan, scary as hell." Will Wheaton, actor
"I think he’ll be one of the guys who lasts, that’s my take. It’s what George [Clooney] said to me ten years ago: If you can pull off ten years in this business, then you’ve done something, and we both kind of agreed that that was kind of the benchmark. And I think [Cumberbatch] is of the new crop." Matt Damon, actor
"Benedict Cumberbatch is truly one of the greatest actors I’ve ever seen. And my favorite thing about him in this movie is that instead of his bad guy being adorned and wearing some crazy mask and costume and hair… he is just a simple man standing in a black shirt and black pants, just a common man… and his performance is so powerful in it’s simplicity… and that to me was an incredibly exciting thing to see: how little he needed to be that powerful." JJ Abrams, director
"When he was at school, parents came to see him in plays their own children weren’t in - THAT is how good he is." Tatler magazine
"Yes, Benedict has darkness. He has a light, brilliance, wit, sophistication, an imposing presence. He’s threatening; he’s physical. He’s also sympathetic. He does these things and makes it all look so damn easy. And the other actors … it was so funny. Every time we were doing a scene with Benedict, they were standing a little bit taller. He has a presence that is ridiculous and that voice, oh my God. There wasn’t a day working with Benedict that I didn’t think, this is insane. He elevated that moment. He made that thing that I thought was going to be really hard, authentic. He’s not like his character in any way, physically or emotionally, but he transformed himself physically. He was suddenly this wildly intimidating big guy. And he’s not. When you talk to him, he’s sort of slight. But in the movie, I spent a year editing him (Benedict’s footage). So it was like I got to see him every day. I got so used to him as that character. So when I saw him again recently, I thought, God, he’s so small, compared to how he is in the movie—he’s so epic. He is an utter chameleon who I think can do anything. He’s one of the best actors I’ve ever seen, let alone worked with. He was able to bring all of these incredible nuances and attitude to a role that in lesser hands would not have worked remotely that well.” JJ Abrams, director
Wonderful!
Because not enough good things can be said about this beautiful human being!
