Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born into an acting family in 1976 and was attached to the theater from childhood. His last name was the subject of ridicule at school, but he adamantly refused to change it, even when he became a star. He laughingly admitted to using it to practice his diction.
Multiple award-winning star of British and American cinema, the guru of masterpiece, complex biopic, a well-known philanthropist and showman Benedict Cumberbatch remains an extremely friendly and polite man, not subject to “star disease”. By the way, his natural hair color is red.
Here is a list of 29 best movies and four beautiful TV series with this wonderful actor with unusual appearance and brilliant talent.
Doctor Strange
- IMDB – 7.5
- Genre Sci-fi, fantasy, action, adventure
- Produced by USA / 2016
- Budget: $165,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $677,718,395
- Directed by Scott Derrickson
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Zara Pitian
“Doctor Strange” 2016 and the movie “Into the Multiverse of Madness” 2022 are separate Marvel stories about the character Stephen Strange, played by Cumberbatch. The actor has appeared in other installments of the franchise: “Thor,” “The Avengers,” and so on.
The first part of the dilogy – the formation of a character who went from an ordinary man, a successful surgeon, through tragedy, a terrible car accident, to superpowers. After discovering his ability to manipulate time and space, the doctor becomes the guardian of Earth.
In the second part, Strange saves America Chavez, able to travel through the multiverse, and encounters alternate versions of himself.
In the first film Cumberbatch had a false beard, but by the second film he grew his own.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
- IMDB – 8.2
- Genre: Sci-fi, action, adventure, fantasy
- Produced by USA / 2021
- Budget: $200,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $1,912,233,593
- Directed by John Watts
- Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marisa Tomei, Willem Defoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Thomas Haden Church, Rhys Evans, Jacob Batalon
A unique part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the third installment of the Spider-Man series. Tom Holland plays Peter Parker, who faces real persecution. His identity is revealed and Spider-Man’s journalists, fans and enemies don’t leave him alone for a minute.
In desperation, he turns to Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who offers to cast a magic spell, deleting the planet’s memories of Spider-Man. The Supreme Wizard of Earth Wong warns of the dangers of magic, and both Parker and Strange must face the consequences of their own indiscretions.
In an interview about the film, Benedict Cumberbatch admitted that he had not read the script in its entirety, wanting to surprise himself with the result.
The Mauritanian
- IMDB Rating – 7.4
- Biography, drama, thriller
- UK, US production / 2020
- World Box Office grossed: $7,527,030
- Director: Kevin MacDonald
- Starring: Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Levi, Saamer Ousmani, Denis Menochet, Cory Johnson, Nuhe Hamadi Bar, Saadna Hamoud
A strong biographical drama starring Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jodie Foster and Shaley Woodley.
Mohammed Ould Slahi, the main character, was arrested by U.S. intelligence agencies on suspicion of involvement in the 9/11 attacks. He was imprisoned in Guantanamo, where he was accused of recruiting participants in the attack.
The prosecution is represented by Stuart Couch (Cumberbatch), a former airman who has a personal grudge against terrorists. To defend her husband, Slahi’s wife turns to the experienced lawyer Nancy Holander (Foster). It is up to them to find out the extent of Slahi’s guilt…
The film is based on the memoir “Guantanamo Diary” by the real-life Mohammed Ould Slahi, who served more than six years in the most gruesome prison in the United States.
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
IMDB Rating – 6.8
Biography, history, drama
Production: UK / 2021
World Box Office: $1,509,173
Directed by Will Sharp
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Jamie Demetriou, Olivia Colman, Andrea Riseborough, Toby Jones, Sharon Rooney, Amy Lou Wood, Hayley Squires, Stacy Martin
A charming biopic with quirky SEALs and a sparkling performance by Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. By the way, the narrator in this story is British Olivia Colman.
It’s the life story of Louis Uyen, an artist and great Victorian storyteller who spent his life drawing anthropomorphic cats. He was born in 1860 in London, to a large textile family and surrounded by 5 sisters who had lived with their mother all their lives.
Against his mother’s wishes, at age 23 he married governess Emily Richardson, who died of cancer three years later. Louis stays with his wife’s cat Peter, teaching him various tricks and beginning to paint as he tries to cope with the hard circumstances of his life.
The film about the artist was shot in 3:4 screen format to emphasize the era of the events taking place, when there was no widescreen cinema yet.
The Power of the Dog
- IMDB Rating – 6.8
- Drama, western
- Production: New Zealand, UK, Canada, Australia / 2021
- Budget: $35,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $271,009
- Directed by Jane Campion
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Cody Smith-McPhee, Genevieve Lemon, Thomasin McKenzie, Ken Radley, Sean Keenan, George Mason
One of the best films of 2021, Netflix’s hit western flick. The events take place in early 20th century Montana. Two brothers, Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons), own a large ranch and run a business together. Phil is a brutish brute who brags about his exaggerated masculinity and mocks the weak, while George is a polite and poised man.
An encounter with innkeeper Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) changes their lives. George marries Rose and moves her to the ranch with her son Pete. Phil hates both the woman and her offspring, but soon the true face of everyone involved in this difficult story begins to be revealed.
Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch got so into the characters of their characters that they showed their dislike for each other even outside the filming. By the way, Cumberbatch learned to play the banjo for this role.
The Courier
- IMDB Rating – 7.2
- Thriller, drama, war, story
- UK, US production / 2020
- World Box Office: $26,001,227
- Director: Dominic Cooke
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, Vladimir Chuprikov, James Schofield, Fred Haig, Emma Penzina, Maria Mironova, Anton Lesser
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the tipping point of the Cold War that nearly destroyed the entire world. The Courier is based on the memoirs of Greville Maynerd Wynne, a British engineer, spy, and liaison to GRU officer Oleg Penkovsky, the West’s most effective agent. According to many analysts, it was Penkovsky’s activities that ultimately helped resolve the Cuban crisis and save the world, although the colonel himself was executed.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Greville Winn himself, who, because of his frequent trips to the USSR, is approached by the CIA and MI6 with a request to go to Moscow and meet Colonel Penkovsky.
Reading the script, director Dominic Cooke immediately introduced Cumberbatch in the role of Winn, and the actor himself, having received the proposal, was simply fascinated by his character.
Brexit
- IMDB Rating – 7.0
- Genre: Drama, biography, history
- UK production / 2019
- Director: Toby Haynes
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Belcher, Malcolm Freeman, Lucy Russell, Oliver Birch, Ross Hatt, Liz White, Simon Paisley Day, John Heffernan, Lee Boardman
“Brexit” is a political drama about England’s exit from the European Union. The chief strategist of the Vote Leave campaign, Dominic Cummings, is played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Cummings agrees to lead the movement only if he has full control of the campaign and strategizes the promotion, using the Internet and social media instead of conservative leaflets and phone calls.
Soon Cummings receives an offer to team up with a nearly identical society, Leave.EU. He declines the offer, and has to fight for his place and his own beliefs.
Cumberbatch himself, by the way, was an opponent of England’s exit from the EU.
1917
- IMDB Rating – 8.2
- Genre: Military, action, drama, history
- UK, US, India, Spain / 2019
- Budget: $100,000,000
- Worldwide gross of: $384,479,940
- Director: Sam Mendes
- Starring: George McKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburk, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough
A World War I war film with a fine cast, nominated for 10 Oscars. Benedict Cumberbatch played the minor role of Colonel McKenzie.
The plot revolves around two British soldiers, Will Scofield and Tom Blake, who must deliver a message to Colonel McKenzie, commander of the Devonshire Regiment, about a cancelled offensive. Intelligence revealed that the German army had prepared a trap for the British, and if the offensive succeeded, more than 1,500 British soldiers would be lost.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s second film in which he portrays a British soldier during World War I. The first was “War Horse” (2011).
Mowgli
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Fantasy, drama, adventure
- UK, USA Production / 2018
- Director: Andy Serkis
- Starring: Rohan Chand, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Andy Serkis, Peter Mullan, Jack Reynor, Eddie Marsan, Tom Hollander
“Mowgli” 2018 is a unique project from Warner Bros. Pictures, in which live actors played the animals of “The Jungle Book” using motion-capture technology. An Avatar of sorts for Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale and Naomie Harris.
Cumberbatch played Sher-Khan, the lame lord of the jungle, the main enemy of a boy raised by a pack of wolves. The film is much more violent and realistic than Disney’s 2016 adaptation.
This film is the directorial debut of Andy Serkis, the motion-capture technology professional who created Gollum.
Patrick Melrose
- IMDB Rating – 8.0
- Genre: Drama
- UK, USA Production / 2018
- Director: Edward Berger
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Maltz, Jessica Raine, Prasanna Puvanaraja, Pip Torrance, Anna Madelay, Indira Varma, Gary Beadle
Patrick Melrose is the heir to a wealthy British aristocratic family. He is a rich and debauched man who spends his days in the most primitive pleasures: drugs, alcohol, casual liaisons. All this in order to never, EVER remember his past, which pushed him to the suicidal flames of vice.
A great solo performance by the wonderful actor Benedict Cumberbatch in a strong, deep, empathetic drama about struggling with childhood traumas and trying to find yourself.
The project is based on the autobiographical novels of Edward St. Aubyn, a frank account of Britain’s high society. And, by the way, Cumberbatch admitted in a 2014 interview that he would like to play this character.
The Current War
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Biography, history, drama
- Production: USA, Russia, UK / 2017
- Worldwide Box Office: $12,217,160
- Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Holt, Catherine Waterston, Matthew McFadyen, Oliver Powell, Sophia Alley, Tuppence Middleton, Woody Norman
A beautiful dive into the world of rapid progress, where a confrontation between two great minds, Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Holt) and Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), unfolds against a vintage cyberpunk backdrop. The competition between the two different systems for transmitting energy, alternating current and direct current, is known in history as the “War of Currents.
The events of the scientist film begin at the end of the 19th century. Edison is obsessed with the electrification of the United States, but his grandiose plans are thwarted by entrepreneur and engineer George Westinghouse, who argues that direct current cannot be transmitted over long distances. Westinghouse soon finds support in the Serbian émigré Nikola Tesla, a fan of alternating current.
The Child in Time
- Rating IMDB – 6.1
- Genre: Drama
- Production: United Kingdom / 2017
- Broadcast: $39,221
- Director: Julian Farino
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kelly McDonald, Stephen Campbell Moore, Saskia Reeves, Andrea Hall, Jim Creighton, Frans Ashman, Anne Madelay
“The Child in Time” is a film based on the 1987 book by British classicist Ian McEwan. The events of this unbearably heavy drama are transported to modern times.
Stephen Lewis is a successful children’s author who adores his family. One day in a supermarket, he loses his 4-year-old daughter. The search for anything leads to nothing, Stephen and his wife Julia in despair, the established life is rapidly turning into ruins.
Two years later, Stephen is a downcast, withdrawn man who is still unable to come to terms with the tragedy of the past. But for the first time, painfully and anxiously, he tries to start his life anew.
Benedict Cumberbatch considered this film very personal because of his incredible empathy for the main character. And, by the way, during the filming the actor used clothes from his own closet.
Black Mass
- IMDB Rating – 6.9
- Drama, crime, biography
- US production, UK / 2015
- Budget: $53,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $99,775,678
- Director: Scott Cooper
- Starring: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, Corey Stoll, Dakota Johnson, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour
“Black Mass” is a film based on true events, telling the story of gangster Whitey Bulger, who for half a century committed the most heinous crimes, but remained free because he successfully snitched on rivals to his childhood friend, FBI agent John Connolly.
Gradually Connolly becomes a loyal cover for the bandit, his character changes, and he begins to take expensive gifts from Whitey. However, a new assistant prosecutor, Fred Weiszak, appears in Boston, determined to put an end to the outlaw’s outrages. Whitey Bulger is brilliantly played by Johnny Depp and his brother William (Billy), a politician in touch with his brother, is embodied by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Benedict Cumberbatch is 20 centimeters taller than the real William Bulger.
The Imitation Game
- IMDB rating – 8.0
- Genre Biography, war, drama, history
- Production: UK, USA / 2014
- Budget: $14,000,000
- World Box Office: $233,555,708
- Director: Morten Tyldum
- Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Keener, Allen Leach, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong, James Northcote, Tom Goodman-Hill
The portrayal of the digital legend, mathematician Alan Turing in The Imitation Game is certainly one of Benedict Cumberbatch’s best roles. The socially-challenged genius managed to crack the code of the Nazi encryption machine Enigma, which brought the victory over fascism much closer.
Against the background of his hard work on the Enigma code, the man’s character, his attempts to build relationships with his colleagues and his great vision – the creation of a machine that could decipher any code, performing many operations per second – the prototype of the modern computer are gradually revealed.
Cumberbatch admitted that in one of the final scenes of the film earned a nervous breakdown – so he empathized with his character.
The Hobbit
- IMDB rating – 7.8
- Genre: fantasy, adventure, action
- Production: New Zealand, USA / 2012
- Budget: $180,000,000
- World Box Office: $1,017,003,568
- Director: Peter Jackson
- Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, Dean O’Gorman, Aidan Turner, Stephen Hunter, Sylvester McCoy, Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch immediately warned that he would only take part in the trilogy as a voice actor. However, he embodied two more characters – the dragon Smaug, the main antagonist of this saga, and the Necromancer. And all this with the help of motion-capture technology. So while watching the movie, you will now know whose facial expressions are those of the fearsome dragon Smaug!
The film itself is based on the book of the great Tolkien “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again,” is a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins’ grand march to free Erebor from the power of the nightmarish dragon Smaug.
Star Trek Into Darkness
- IMDB Rating – 7.7
- Genre: Sci-fi, action, adventure
- USA production / 2013
- Budget: $190,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $467,365,246
- Directed by: JJ Abrams
- Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Peter Weller
The new story of the iconic “Star Trek” universe features quality effects, an exciting plot with unexpected twists and a great cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch as the main villain.
Admiral Marcus gives Spock and Kirk back the rights to the Enterprise, which they were removed from control in 2259, and orders them to hunt down and kill Starfleet officer John Harrison, the destroyer of all life.
Details of the script was hidden from the public until the release of the film. A representative of the studio flew to Cumberbatch a week after his approval for the role with a briefcase containing the script, strapped to his wrist.
12 Years a Slave
- IMDB rating – 8.1
- Drama, biography, history
- Produced by USA, UK / 2013
- Budget: $20,000,000
- Worldwide Box Office: $187,733,202
- Director: Steve McQueen
- Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Elfrey Woodard, Edepero Oduye
In 1814, free black musician Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is sold to a plantation because he fits the description of a runaway slave. At first he works for the benevolent William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), who favors Solomon, but is later forced to sell him.
Solomon ends up with the cruel planter Epps, who believes that the white man’s sacred right to bully a black slave is written in the Bible. Solomon must go through hell and do the impossible to regain his freedom.
According to director Steve McQueen, the color of the plantation signifies the character of its owner. Ford, played by Cumberbatch, has the juiciest colors.
August: Osage County
- Rating IMDB – 7.2
- Genre: Drama, comedy
- US production / 2013
- Budget: $25,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $74,188,937
- Directed by John Wells
- Cast: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Julianne Nicholson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Misty Upham, Sam Shepard
The second title is August: Osage County. The film, with a marvelous cast, is based on a tragicomedy by playwright Tracy Letts, who won the Pulitzer Prize for it.
The real shambles begins at the memorial service on the day of Beverly Weston’s funeral, where numerous relatives of the deceased have gathered. They all have complicated life problems, which they share with the rest of the family.
Carefully hidden secrets spill out of closets, the air sparks with lingering resentments, and only cousin Charlie (Cumberbatch) didn’t show up for the show – he forgot to set his alarm clock. But he, too, will get a solid dose of affection!
Ewan McGregor and Benedict Cumberbatch hold forks in their left hands, according to European rules, since both were born in Britain. The American actors hold their forks in their right hands.
The Fifth Estate
- Rating IMDB – 6.2
- Genre: Thriller, drama, crime, biography
- Production USA, India, Belgium / 2013
- Budget: $28,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $9,058,564
- Directed by Bill Condon
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, David Thewlis, Alicia Vikander, Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie, Peter Capaldi, Moritz Bleibtreu, Jamie Blackley
The basis of the state structure of mankind is the three powers: legislative, executive, and judicial. Independent journalism is called the fourth power, and of course this makes sense. However, we live in the age of the fifth power – the world wide web.
The Fifth Power is the real story of the emergence of WikiLeaks, a nonprofit Internet organization that publishes leaks of classified data. The information of this portal is often sensational. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the scandalous Julian Assange, the creator of the WikiLeaks website.
The real Julian Assange sent an email to Benedict Cumberbatch demanding that he not take part in this movie.
Parade’s End (mini-series)
- Rating IMDB – 7.5
- Genre: Action, drama, melodrama, military, history
- Production UK, Belgium, USA / 2012
- Directed by Susannah White
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Roger Allam, Adelaide Clemens, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Sasha Waddell, Janet McTeer, Claire Higgins, Tom Mison
Parade’s End is a film about a love triangle set in World War I. The noble gentleman Christopher Tietjens finds himself in the grip of a difficult choice between duty to his unloved wife, Sylvia, and his awe-inspiring deep feeling for the free-thinking suffragette Valentine Wannop.
Living by the outdated rules of propriety he calls Parade, Christopher long ago decided to be faithful to his wife for the rest of his life, despite her abuse and indifference even to his own child. But Valentine changes everything for Christopher, who is soon destined to go into the trenches of war…
Benedict Cumberbatch said about his character that he is very dear to him, because he embodies a lot of human qualities that the actor himself would like to have.
Wreckers
- Rating IMDB – 5.8
- Genre: Drama
- Production UK / 2011
- Worldwide gross: $10,962
- Directed by Diktinna Hood
- Cast: Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sean Evans, Peter MacDonald, Sinead Matthews, June Watson, Nicola Green, Georgie Smith, Ruairi Conaghan, Edward Harrison
A gentle rural family melodrama that gradually turns into a convoluted psychological thriller is the film The Destroyers starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy. They play the sweet spouses David and Dawn, who have returned to David’s home village and are building their own idyll.
Things begin to change when David’s brother, Nick, who no one has seen in 16 years, arrives to visit. Dawn witnesses unpleasant revelations about her husband, and then she begins to clearly understand that the man she loves and the real David are different people. The two neighbors, Gary and Sharon, who have known the brothers since childhood, add fuel to the fire…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Rating IMDB – 7.0
- Genre: Thriller, detective
- Production UK, France, Germany, USA / 2011
- Budget: £20,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $81,244,605
- Directed by Thomas Alfredson
- Cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, Konstantin Khabensky, Svetlana Khodchenkova
The film is based on John Le Carré’s book, based on real-life investigations in the 50s and 60s that uncovered the Cambridge Five, a network of Soviet agents in Britain.
The events of the film take place in the ’70s. Many British intelligence officers guess that somewhere in the bowels of the organization lodged a Soviet spy, but to calculate it by conventional methods is not possible. Curator Oliver Lacon asks a retired George Smiley (Gary Oldman) to find the mole. Together with his assistant Peter Gillum (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley takes on the task of checking the fired and current MI6 employees.
To prepare for his role, Benedict Cumberbatch visited places where the script visited his character, Peter Gillum.
War Horse
- Rating IMDB – 7.2
- Genre: Action, drama, adventure, military, history
- Production USA, India / 2011
- Budget: $66,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $177,584,879
- Director Steven Spielberg
- Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Nils Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Celine Buckens, Toby Kebbell, Patrick Kennedy
Steven Spielberg’s beautiful war drama, which he made after promising his daughter, an avid horsewoman, to make a horse movie once upon a time. He heard about a good play based on a book by Michael Morpugo, read the book itself, and soon DreamWorks bought the screen rights.
It is the story of the unlikely friendship between young Albert and Joey, a thoroughbred racehorse, who is sent to the battlefields of World War I. Albert runs away from home and goes to the front, looking for his friend. Benedict Cumberbatch played the regimental commander to whom Joey is initially assigned, Major Jamie Stewart.
Later Benedict Cumberbatch appears in 1917, another film about the First World War. By the way, it was thanks to his participation in War Horse that Cumberbatch was invited to take part in The Hobbit.
Sherlock (series)
- Rating IMDB – 9.1
- Genre: Detective, thriller, drama, crime
- Production UK, USA / 2010
- Directed by Paul McGuigan, Nick Harran, Koki Gidroych
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves, Louise Brealey, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Amanda Abbington, Jonathan Aris, Wynette Robinson
Perhaps this popular British series with the highest ratings needs no special introduction. Superbly coinciding with the image of Sherlock Holmes actor Benedict Cumberbatch in a free adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary cycle of the genius detective. Events are transported to the twenty-first century.
John Watson, a military doctor returned from Afghanistan, moves into the apartment of Sherlock’s detective consultant, quickly becoming his friend and then a full partner in all things detective, experiencing many deadly, confusing and intriguing adventures.
By the way, Sherlock Holmes’ parents are played by Cumberbatch’s real-life mother and father (they’re actors too!) Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton.
Third Star
- Rating IMDB – 7.3
- Genre: Drama
- Production UK / 2010
- Budget: £1,500,000
- Worldwide gross: $14,586
- Director Hattie Dalton
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Burke, JJ Field, Hugh Bonneville, Adam Robertson, Rupert Fraser, Helen Griffin, Carl Johnson, Nia Roberts, Eros Vlahos
The Third Star is a stirringly sad emotional drama about the value of life and true friendship.
Writer James Griffith is only 29 years old and dying of cancer. Gathering his three best friends, Miles, Bill and Davy, he persuades them to travel together to Barafundle Bay, where he has long wanted to visit. Their plans along the way are often thwarted, but they persevere toward their goal, revealing much to each other, talking about important things and solving long-standing problems.
Benedict Cumberbatch wanted to shave his hair to better play a man dying of cancer, but he was not allowed to, as there was no suitable wig for the parallel actor starring in Sherlock.
Burlesque Fairytales
- Rating IMDB – 6.0
- Genre: Thriller, drama
- Production UK / 2009
- Directed by Susan Luciani
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Lindsay Duncan, Jim Carter, Sophie Hunter, Anna Andresen, Esme Bianco, Stephen Campbell Moore, Michael Ellis, Barbara Flynn
Don’t confuse this British thriller with the failed American drama Burlesque of the same year! Tales of a Woman directed by Susan Luciani is a special film, an amazing theatrical performance starring the best stars of British cinema: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Hunter, Jim Carter and others.
Invited audience members gather at the 30’s Chapple Theater, where they are locked in and obliged to watch five of Andersen’s fairy tales. It’s only gradually that the essence of what’s going on and the audience’s connection to what’s happening on stage is revealed…
In this film, Cumberbatch plays with Sophie Hunter, who in 2015 became his wife after 17 years of friendship.
Van Gogh: Painted with Words
- Rating IMDB – 7.9
- Genre: Drama, documentary, biography
- Production UK / 2010
- Directed by Andrew Hutton
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Parker, Aidan McArdle, Christopher Good, Rowan Cooper, Daniel Weyman, Ferdinand Kingsley, David Baron, Stephanie Jacob, Katherine Kanter
The documentary film Van Gogh: A Portrait Written in Words is based on the brilliant Vincent’s correspondence with his brother Theo. The deeply personal confessions of the artist, played impeccably by Benedict Cumberbatch, take the viewer through Van Gogh’s short life, from his poverty-stricken youth and insane amount of failure to his greatest paintings.
An extraordinary man with a deep and subtle sense of this world, he tried to describe it in words in his messages. The film is enchantingly complete with paintings of the artist and views of the beautiful places that inspired his masterpieces.
Creation
- Rating IMDB – 6.6
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, biography
- Production UK / 2009
- Budget: £10,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $896,298
- Directed by John Amiel
- Cast: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones, Bill Paterson, Robert Glenister, Jim Carter, Ian Kelly, Guy Henry
A biopic about the tragic fate of Charles Darwin as he writes his greatest work, The Origin of Species. Paul Bettany plays the main character as he goes through the death of his daughter, denying God, destroying his relationship with his pious wife and immersing himself in his work to the point of self-love and hallucinations.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Joseph Dalton Hooker, the brilliant British scientist and closest friend of Charles Darwin.
The script is based on the book Annie’s Box by Raindol Keynes.
The Other Boleyn Girl
- Rating IMDB – 6.7
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, biography, history
- Production UK, USA / 2008
- Budget: $35,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $77,713,866
- Directed by Justin Chadwick
- Cast: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess, Ana Torrent, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, David Morrissey, Juno Temple, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch
Another of the Boleyn Family is a slightly historical film, a feature-length biography of the two Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary, focusing on their conflict.
The Boleyn sisters are sent to court at the Duke of Norfolk’s patronage. One of them, the modest Mary, is already married. The second, Anne, dreams of becoming King Henry VIII’s favourite, and then, by golly, sitting on the throne. And she, as we know, succeeded.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sir William Carey, Henry’s favourite, Mary Boleyn’s husband, who happily puts his wife in the monarch’s bed and thus brings his family a lot of wealth and privileges.
By the way, Mary’s image in the film is quite ennobled. In fact, she was never modest, led a dissolute life, and did not raise her niece Elisabeth.
Stuart: A Life Backwards
- Rating IMDB – 7.7
- Genre: Drama, biography
- Production UK / 2007
- Directed by David Attwood
- Cast: Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nicola Duffett, Claire-Louis Cordwell, Edna Doré, Candice Nergaard, Joanna Maud, Trevor Sellers, Barbara Barnes, Hugh Armstrong
Another title is Stewart: The Past Life. Disgust halved with anger melts into understanding and then deep compassion for the film’s protagonist, which essentially has only two actors: Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch.
This is the story of the famous real-life homeless man Stuart Shorter (Hardy), who from his destructive bottom of alcohol, drugs and vagrancy dares to fight against police action against people living on the streets. The story, told backwards from late in life to Stuart’s childhood with the help of his friend, journalist and writer Alexander Masters.
The film is based on a book by the real Alexander Masters, a writer and journalist who works with the homeless in England.
Amazing Grace
- Rating IMDB – 7.4
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, biography, history
- Production USA, UK / 2006
- Worldwide gross: $32,075,488
- Directed by Michael Apted
- Cast: Ioan Griffith, Romola Garay, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Youssou N’Dour, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Nicholas Farrell
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries a young British politician, William Wilberforce, a model Christian and philanthropist, decides to break the vicious circle of the slave trade. He introduces a law abolishing slavery into Parliament and becomes a literal outcast, single-handedly trying to pierce the wall of rejection of his ideas. The decisive moment in his life is when he meets Barbara Spooner, who becomes his wife and inspires him to fight further.
Benedict Cumberbatch played the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, Jr. in the film, a friend who supports Wilberforce, who surrenders under the pressure of the shaky coalition’s varied difficulties.
The title of the film is a reference to the famous Christian hymn Amazing Grace.
Hawking
- Rating IMDB – 7.4
- Genre: Drama, biography
- Production UK / 2004
- Directed by Philip Martin
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Brandon, Tom Hodgkins, Christian Rubeck, Lisa Dillon, Phoebe Nicholls, Matthew Marsh, Anastasia Hill, Adam Godley, Peter Firth
The biopic Hawking made its feature-length debut (and immediately starred) actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The plot describes the university years of Hawking, who entered into a striking polemic with the authorities and set out to prove the Big Bang theory.
Parallel to the scientific work develops the line of Hawking’s illness and his first love, Jen Wilde. Doctors gave the young scientist no more than two years to live. But he was determined to survive and give mankind the priceless treasures of his mind.
Cumberbatch is the first actor to play the scientist Hawking on screen. He won several prestigious awards for it.
Fortysomething (series)
- Rating IMDB – 7.6
- Genre: Drama, comedy
- Production UK / 2003
- Director Hugh Laurie, Nick Phillips
- Cast: Hugh Laurie, Anna Chancellor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Neil Henry, Jo Van Moyland, Sheila Hancock, Lolita Chakrabarti, Emma Ferguson, Carol Harvey, Peter Capaldi
Cumberbatch, a young but already well-known theatrical actor, made his film debut in a cameo role in the 2000 series, and in the sitcom “A little over forty” he appeared in one of the leading roles, and there was also a wonderful acquaintance, which gave Benedict a friend – Hugh Laurie, the famous Dr. House.
The plot of the series revolves around the therapist Paul Slippery (Hugh Laurie), a neurotic man who suspects that his wife is cheating on him. Especially the woman has recently come back to work, having finally shaken off the care of her three sons (the eldest, Rory, is played by Cumberbatch) and she has a new, interesting life, while Paul is drowning in a rut.
Unfortunately, this entertaining sitcom was shut down after the first season.
