Benedict Cumberbatch Speaks!
How did you get involved in Eric?
My first proper engagement was sitting down with [writer] Abi [Morgan] and [director] Lucy [Forbes]… The minute Abi started pitching it to me, I was hooked. She’s an incredible storyteller and she enticed me into this complex, multifaceted and troubled character’s journey, the drama around him and the other protagonists, and the central conceit of the psychological split whereby his creation of an imagined puppet [Eric] becomes a reality. It felt very original.
Tell us about Eric…
He’s a mood-shifting entity. He can be everything from the foul-mouthed buddy to the thing that can say the things we can’t. He’s many dierent things to [my character]vincent at dierent stages. He’s an enabler at one point. He’s a protector, a shadow-self, a friend, a needy partner.
How much preparation did you do for the role?
Quite a bit. I looked at puppetry in that era, the whole Jim Henson [creator of the Muppets] world of it. The aesthetic of the time – everything from facial hair and body type, to the journey of that group of people,[muppets star] Frank Oz in particular. Music, culture, everything that was shifting in that time, the politics, the societal ills. Doing puppet workshops and getting used to how it operates. Also looking at issues of mental health and how they manifest.
How do you think Eric stands out in the television landscape?
I’ve never seen a serialised story told quite in this way about that era before. We’ve had nostalgic pieces about wrestling or about cops from that era. The amalgamation of this cross-section of that time – the people, the society and the culture of it all – is pretty unique. Abi’s sewn them all together into this extraordinary tapestry that’s resonant with things we know, but is utterly its own creation – it’s pretty special.