Doctor Strange on building more than a blockbuster body
Cumberbatch on pre-shoot fitness and gender equality
THE last time I met Benedict Cumberbatch was April last year on the suburban set of In the lead role as a children’s author overwhelmed by grief following the disappearance of his daughter. Cumberbatch was preparing to shoot a scene in a bathtub – painfully aware that his toned torso looked out of place.
The actor was due to reprise his part as the disarmingly buff, dimension-bending Marvel superhero Doctor Strange. By the time we met, the actor’s pre-shoot fitness regime was well under way; hence those abs.
Fast-forward to earlier this month and Cumberbatch – a 41-year-old father of two – is in front of me once again, in a London hotel room, midway through the global press tour for This time he is fully clothed. Bulging with stars, the biggest Marvel film to date promises to be a superhero “Greatest Hits”, featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Doctor Strange appears to be the main goody, no less.
Ten years and 19 movies into the Marvel cinematic universe – and with this year’s receiving unprecedented critical acclaim – does Cumberbatch think the time for snobbery about superhero movies is over? If, say, Eddie Redmayne asked him if he should put on cape and tights, would he encourage his friend? “I’d say he’s got his plate quite full with wizardry right now,” he chuckles, referring to Redmayne’s role in J K Rowling’s franchise. “But, yeah, if you really are bored of that, come and join the party!”
If things had gone according to plan, we would by now have seen Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison in the historical epic
The original release was scrapped after its producer Harvey Weinstein fell spectacularly from grace.
Cumberbatch sounds far from disappointed. “If it takes us not releasing our film for a couple of years just to be rid of that toxicity, I’m fine with that,” he says.
He recalls being on the set when the Weinstein story broke. “You could feel people going: ‘This is important and this will change things’. And that’s terrific,” he says.
“But having worked with the man twice … ” he exhales heavily. “Lascivious … I wouldn’t want to be married to him … Gaudy in his tastes, for all his often-brilliant film-making ability … But did I know that was going on? A systematic abuse of women, happening through bribery, coercion, to physical force and threats, physical and to career? No. No.
“And it’s been covered up by an entire body of people through lawsuits and gagging and money.”
He shakes his head, aghast. “I have a film company. Our head of development is a woman. There are two women running the television side of SunnyMarch. Countless times I’ve brought up issues of equal pay and billing. And so to realise that this attitude is so deeply ingrained – that was my rude awakening. We have to fight a lot harder.”
That’s toxic masculinity dealt with; now bring on Thanos!
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