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agazine. “He gets scraped off the floor d then thrown right down to Hell ain and then slowly pulls himself ck up. There’s an heroic amount of effort at goes into making him a superhero the end of the film. He earns that oak. I wanted to take the audience on a urney where that transition is funny d awkward.
Controversy
Hopefully you’ll be as awed and nverted to the possibilities as he is.” The film has already caused controrsy, thanks to the casting of white tress Tilda Swinton as the Ancient ne – a male Asian character in the iginal comic books. But movie bosses insist it was important to introduce a female character into the man-heavy film. Writer Jon Spaights explains: “Tilda is an instance of us taking a male role and putting a woman in it, which I think the film badly needed.
“The comic world of Doctor Strange is very male. So we were looking for opportunities to have not only ethnic diversity, but also gender diversity in the film.”
The film also features Rachel McAdams as fellow surgeon Dr Christine Palmer and Brit star Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, another of the Ancient One’s students.
And Mads Mikkelsen, who played Bond villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, is again the baddie as Kaecilius, the leader of a sect called The Zealots. He says: “I always wanted to be Bruce Lee as a kid. To get to be tenth of him at the age of 50 was just impossible to say no to.” “I’ve done martial arts before but I’ve never had the chance on a big film to really go for it,” he adds. An epic battle between Strange and Kaecilius – plus the gruelling regime he endures to get his powers – meant Cumberbatch, 40, had to be in the shape of his life. He reveals: “One of my friends said, ‘Man, you got hench,’ I said, ‘What is that?’ She said, ‘You’re quite buff.’” And the actor, who played a sell-out run of theatre shows as Hamlet last year, reckons the “Shakespeare diet” was the secret to his success.
“From past experience, the Shakespeare diet usually involves a lot of ale,” he laughs. “But it was great. It was the bedrock of keeping me healthy and sane during that time.
Peak
“I started training when I was rehearsing Hamlet. So I’d do an hour in the morning, then I’d do a whole day on Hamlet, then I’d go home and hopefully see my baby in time for bed.
“Then, once the show was up and running, I’d be working out in the morning, then going to rehearse Doctor Strange, then coming back to play Hamlet. And Hamlet was like a three-hour cardiovascular workout.
“I don’t think I was in better shape during the film than I was when I was doing Hamlet and training for the film. That was probably when I was at my peak.”
Cumberbatch is also best pals with another star in good shape – Judge Rinder, who’s currently appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. The pair met at university in Manchester.
The actor told Radio 1: “He’s doing so well. He’s got endless love and energy about it and he’s got a really good attitude towards it.
“He’s really properly good – his gymnastics is phenomenal. That first dance we just sat on the sofa with our jaws on the carpet. It was amazing.” ¬
Doctor Strange is out in cinemas now.