Dr Strange and the seven-month Kiwi lockdown
British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed how he and his family were (happily) marooned in New Zealand last year when he was filming his latest movie as the pandemic struck.
The highly acclaimed actor, who starred as British World War II computer genius Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and as the mysterious Dr Strange in the Marvel franchise, had been in New Zealand to star in Sydneybased film director Jane Campion’s
latest movie – a western called The Power of the Dog.
He had brought his octogenarian parents, actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, with him for the shoot, as well as his theatre director wife Sophie Hunter and their three young children – and they all ended up trapped there for what he described as seven months of “lockdown heaven”.
“New Zealand held us at a very precarious moment in our shared human history, as a family – my wife and my children and my mum and my dad as well,” Cumberbatch said.
“We were very fortunate to be together in that country,” he added, saying it was a rare treat for the family to spend so much time together and praising New Zealand for its beauty and the people for their hospitality.
Campion’s latest film also stars American actor Kirsten Dunst.