Sherlock in Real Life

(we can't blame it all on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)



Things I Would Do If My Name Were “Benedict Cumberbatch”







"We had some fun times when we were filming in Belgium. I was desperately trying to put on weight, so there was a lot of [eating] rubbish food and drinking alcohol without worrying about it. With Sherlock, it’s lots of seeds, juices, swimming and running, but on this I was doing lots of beer, wine, chips and the most f*cking amazing proper steaks and goulashes. I still didn’t put on enough, though. But for Star Trek, I went up about three suit sizes."

—Benedict Cumberbatch



"Little Martin? Can you imagine that? He wouldn’t be allowed anyway, he’s got to be the grumpy Hobbit. He’d be down on the ground looking all cool and mod-like with his shades, listening to some ska going, “Yeah that looked like fun, you tw*t.” Whereas I’m there jumping around like Tigger."

—Benedict Cumberbatch , on skydiving in New Zealand



"Yeah, sometimes you want to go, “I actually do mind having a photo taken because it’s one o’clock in the morning and I’m off my face.”

—Benedict Cumberbatch



‘Someone will always hate what I say. There’s always going to be somebody spitting blood about my wooden-faced, toffee-named, crappy acting.

—Benedict Cumberbatch



‘There were bean bags, but it wasn’t like, “Hey guys, let’s hang out and talk about sexuality” when I was five.’

—Benedict Cumberbatch , on his home life as a child



‘I remember watching Star Trek, but I wasn’t obsessive about it. There were other programmes I’d always tell my mum I wanted to watch. Mainly Knight Rider, The A-Team, occasionally Buck Rogers and, funnily enough for a child, Baywatch. Good old Pammy!’

—Benedict Cumberbatch



‘I’m trying to look after my Sherlock jawline, otherwise I’d have loved the cake.'

—Benedict Cumberbatch, on the apology cake he was offered by a Twitter stalker



'I struggle to learn by rote. I’ve had meltdowns on set. Which is embarrassing and shameful.’

—Benedict Cumberbatch



“I’m not very geeky. I’m quite homespun. I would say I’m more modern rustic than gadget-orientated. I like woollen things and log fires and whiskey…”

—Benedict Cumberbatch



I was on the Tube in London and this teenage girl eyed me up and said: “Alright, Mr Sex?”. It threw me. The daft thing was that she was quoting a line in the show but I’d forgotten it because it had been a while since filming,’ … ‘I just thought I was looking particularly hot that day. Well, it’s better than being called Mr F***wit…

-Andrew Scott



“Benedict has his own gravity, both as an actor and a human being. He pulls you in and you are powerless to escape. I never knew whether to cry out in fear or weep in his arms.”

-Damon Lindleof



“I know people are touched by it, because they write to me and send me pictures– often of me having sex with Benedict Cumberbatch…”

-Martin Freeman



"I can’t stop traffic on Fifth Avenue, not unless I walk in front of an oncoming cab."

-Benedict Cumberbatch



"Do I like being thought of as attractive? I don't know anyone on Earth who doesn't, but I do find it funny. It's new to me, and I'm sure I'll get used to it and find a way of dealing with it, but at the moment it is quite odd. I look in a mirror and I see all the faults I've lived with for 35 years, and yet people go kind of nuts for certain things about me. It's not me being humble. I just think it's weird. I dislike the size and shape of my head. I've been likened to Sid the sloth from Ice Age… I have a long face, retroussé nose and have been known to be quite camp… I know I don't fit into some archetype. I'm comfortable with it. People have a hindrance if they are extraordinarily beautiful. It can be a problem. You are not given the challenges and then, when you are, all eyes are on you to see if you can pull anything off other than being beautiful to look at."

--Benedict Cumberbatch



“If I were the [producer], I’d be frightened of the dynamic of male friendship that you’d lose,” he confesses to TVLine, “because that is obviously the bedrock of the books as well. [Now] there might be sexual tension between Joan [Watson] and Sherlock, which is [a different dynamic than you'd have] between the two men. So, that’s a new thing to explore.”

--Benedict Cumberbatch (on CBS' Elementary )



Mycroft’s popularity doesn’t surprise me at all. He is, after all, incredibly beautiful, clever and well-dressed. And beautiful. Did I mention that?

--Mark Gatiss



And yes, please vote for us in the YouTube thing. Cos if we lose we’ll be too upset to make any more. And I’ll axe Doctor Who as well. And shoot Santa Claus and some puppies.

--Steven Moffat



Sue: Sherlock to me feels like a Great Dane, you know, those dogs where the legs are too big.

Benedict: Yes! Yes. Except, more like a meercat, or a hybrid between a meercat and a Great Dane. A Great Dane on speed. A Great Dane that's just had a bowl of coffee.

Sue: What would John be?

Benedict: He's a big dog. He's sort of angular; there's something more predatory about him. A kind of creature of the night. Not the most sociable. Not a cat, but something very independent. Removed.

On Appropriate Sherlock and Watson Spirit Animals



"Is John a hedgehog? I haven't seen the hedgehog. When did that happen? Is it due to Martin's hair? Because if it is, I'll be really happy about that. "

--Benedict Cumberbatch On the Otter and Hedgehog Internet Memes



"It cuts me up and I can’t control myself from making funny sounds as I dive into my hands and eat my fist."

--Benedict Cumberbatch, on War Horse



"Pull the hair on my head the wrong way, and I would be on my knees begging for mercy. I have very sensitive follicles."

-Benedict Cumberbatch



"It’s always definitely a love story. I don’t see why that means that sex has to be involved. What a weirdly sexualized world we live in where you insist they much be having sex as well. Why would they? John isn’t wired that way, whatever Sherlock is. But I think that whole scene, when Irene Adler has to say she’s mostly gay, she has had relationships with men as well, it’s not what it’s about. Sherlock Holmes is indifferent to sex. So is Irene. She uses sex to get what she wants, and John Watson happily has a string of girlfriends. Sex is not really the issue among any of these people. Love is. Infatuation is. I think John Watson is infatuated with and fascinated by Sherlock Holmes. I think Sherlock Holmes absolutley relies completely and utterly on John Watson and is devoted to him."

--Steven Moffat



"He knows how to be charming, he knows how to play all the games we play in every social interaction, and yet he withdrawals from them. Purely, it’s an athlete thing. He’s reserving what he needs for when he needs it. That’s a huge difference between him and me. I kind of spend myself too easily I’m far more [makes a “putting it all out there” motion] “bleh,” and there it all is, heart and sleeve. But he’s incredibly controlled and that’s sort of what’s remarkable about him.

--Benedict Cumberbatch on Sherlock



"And I think, you know, the other thing I really enjoy is he is achievable. He is somebody that we could all be — not that we necessarily want to follow the personal traits, but these abilities. He doesn’t fly through space or have a sonic screwdriver, he’s somebody who has actually … Who has sonic screwdrivers?"

--Benedict Cumberbatch on Sherlock



"One minute he’s not quite so handsome. Then the next minute he’s gorgeous. What is that term? Jolie laide. It’s French for ugly-handsome."

— Una Stubbs on Benedict Cumberbatch’s looks



"I've gone up two suit sizes. The character I'm playing, he's strong, I can say that much. I've changed my physique a bit, so that requires eating like a foie gras goose, well beyond your appetite. Providing I don't feel too ill, I then work out two hours a day with a phenomenal trainer. It's the LA way."

--Benedict Cumberbatch



"There is weird fan fiction out there — weird. They write stories and do manga cartoons of what they think you get up to behind closed doors. Some of it’s funny. Some of it’s full-on sex. Get Martin to show you some. "

--Benedict Cumberbatch



“Benedict is a kind of magnificent, exotic animal as an actor. He doesn’t look like a normal person. He rarely plays normal people. He plays sort of exceptional people.”

- Steven Moffat



"Believe me: during my first years on stage and in front of the camera I often felt like nothing more than a moving piece of furniture. I still always gave the best of me."

--Benedict Cumberbatch



"And some idiot locked us out of our hotel room - who turned out to be Benedict."

--Steven Moffat, The Hounds of Baskerville commentary



"Everyone’s been asking us if we’re going any further with the relationship between John and Sherlock, and I’m thinking, well, why not? I really don’t see the problem with it, and Mark (Gatiss) has already asked us if it would be an issue if we were to kiss on screen. Of course he was joking, but I wouldn’t mind at all."

— Martin Freeman



“He found the part that he could make live uniquely, that he could inhabit, that could make him a leading man. He is never going to be a conventional leading man, he’s not going to be James Bond. But he is going to be the sexiest Sherlock Holmes there has ever been.”

--Steven Moffat on Benedict Cumberbatch, London Evening Standard Interview



Of course I’d like to live a few months a year in Hollywood, then I’d at least get a bit of sunshine. (laughs) But surrendering completely to the American way of life? No fucking way!

--Benedict Cumberbatch



“I try to get them to write ‘Sir Benedict’ on it. Occasionally they oblige.”

--Benedict Cumberbatch (about his polystyrene cup of coffee)



"A militant one. Dungarees, moustache, all men are rapists, you know the drill... Seriously, though, I'd like every man who doesn't call himself a feminist to explain to the women in his life why he doesn't believe in equality for women. I think Page 3, Nuts and Zoo are bullshit. I don't wax my pubic hair off. I don't think working in a titty bar getting fivers shoved up your bum is empowering. And I'm bored of pictures of women in their smalls on buses with fuck-me mouths."

--Louise Brealey (on what kind of feminist she is)



"We just were looking for someone with the most awesome name in history. That was the casting call. We asked for someone with the most awesome name in history, ever, and Benedict Cumberbatch showed up, so we were like, “You’re cast!”"

--J.J. Abrams (on casting BC in the new Star Trek movie)



"One day we were in the make-up trailer and someone was brushing out Benedict’s stunt double’s wig - and we decided to put Martin in it. We put Sherlock’s coat on him and stood him on top of one of the make-up chairs so he looked tall and took the photo from low down. And when Benedict came in we got the make-up assistant to ask him to autograph the photograph. She handed it over - and this is how Benedict’s mind works - and he went “I don’t remember wearing my coat with that colour scarf"

--Lara Pulver



"Martin said a few things but they were harmless. They were both supportive and by the end of it I wouldn't move on to the next line until Benedict had stared at my boobs!"

--Lara Pulver, on being naked in Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia



"But it doesn't matter how many times you say that [they're not gay], an entire forest of dirty fiction has arisen as a result. And long may it continue, I don't know what it's about. . ."

--Mark Gatiss



"I'm very aware of it, God, I'm aware of it because people come and talk about it every time we do any kind of event but I suppose the history of it is going way back. I think it started with Kirk and Spock. Anything like that has a kind of slash element and it's an interesting thing because you've brought up the idea of heterosexual men get off on the notion of lesbians but the flip side is just as powerful, particularly I think for girls of a certain age. The idea of two sexy men getting it on is a really powerful aphrodisiac."

--Mark Gatiss



"I was the boy that turned a girlfriend into the most celebrated lesbian on television. I got so much stick for that. "

--Benedict Cumberbatch on his role in "Tipping the Velvet"



As an actor, you can do weight loss, weight gain, put on silly noses, crazy accents, move like a dragon, inviting people to look at the fireworks and admire how different you’re being. But with acting like that, it’s all about look-at-me, when what you should be doing is helping the audience care about the person they’re watching.

— Benedict Cumberbatch - Radio Times Interview 2011



"He is alarming, strange, possibly psychopathic, but perfectly happy. He clearly adores John, he's not got some deep emotional problems with connecting to people, he just can't be arsed. He'd rather be out solving crimes."

--Steven Moffat on Sherlock, Total Film Dec. 2011

"John is a little bit more in control. There’s an understanding and a balance there, now that they’ve been at it for about nine months. Sherlock is kept in check by him, and he funcitons better with him."

--Benedict Cumberbatch



"I guess like any friendship, marriage, or whatever it is familiarity breeds more contempt, and more love. They’re just more settled with each other now."

--Martin Freeman



“I remember very clearly someone saying, ‘Don’t shake hands with the cactus,’ and I thought, ‘Well, why not? What could possibly go wrong?’ Shaking hands is a friendly gesture.” --Benedict Cumberbatch, on his schoolboy days



“This is amazing, thank you. It makes up for a blog I accidentally read last night that described me as “horse-faced, arse-named, wooden and untalented.” I can dispute the last two because you have honoured me with this [Actor of The Year Award], but the first two? Yeah: I am horse-faced and arse-named, but there you go - it’s what I was born with.”

--Benedict Cumberbatch



The story of Sherlock Holmes, on the surface, is about deduction, but in reality, it's about the best of two men who save each other--a lost, washed-up war hero and a man who could end up committing murders instead of solving them. They come together. They become this perfect unit. They become the best friendship ever, and they become heroes.

--Steven Moffat



“I’m aware of the power of looks. I’ve wanted to play roles that have gone to much better-looking people and you just think ‘Oh well, that’s the pin up guy’s… an actor like my friend James Mcavoy, who’s gorgeous on screen. I’m not that. But at least I don’t have to worry about taking precious care of my face because it’s my commodity. That’s a great freedom. I’m not afraid of being heinous for the sake of a part”

-- Benedict Cumberbatch

"I’m always keen to use my body in my work, so I’m looking forward to the motion capture for Smaug. Both Gollum and King Kong were primates, whereas I’m playing a serpent, so it’ll be interesting - I’ll have to tie my legs together, possibly, or else they’ll be kind of splayed out to the side as a reptile’s should be."

--Benedict Cumberbatch, on playing Smaug in The Hobbit

'Seriously, WHAT kind of a man meets John Watson - sober, clean-living, ex-military - and instantly thinks of Sherlock Holmes - insane young genius who likes to beat corpses - and says, "Oh, I know just who you must meet.."? This guy's dinner parties must be legendary!'

--Jude Law, on Mike Stamford



"Benedict is bumbly, sweet, affable; the nicest man you've met."

--Mark Gatiss



I am very flattered. I have also become a verb as in I have cumberbatched the UK audience apparently. Who knows, by the end of the year I might become a swear word too! It’s crazy and fun and very flattering.

--Benedict Cumberbatch



At that minute Martin walked in and I just had a thunderbolt. It dawned on me: "Oh, God it’s him!" We flirted with each other all day and when I went home he texted me, saying "You left and I wasn’t done flirting with you. That’s a bit rude", which I thought was really smooth.

--Amanda Abbington on how she met Martin Freeman



He’s extraordinary. During auditions, the minute he stepped into the room I said to the producers, I don’t know if you want my opinion, but I want to work with him, because he makes my game better. I honestly felt myself get better as an actor playing scenes opposite him — he has brilliant level of humanity. We all know how funny he can be from his work of “The Office,” but he can also play so much pathos — it’s an unsung talent of his that’s often clouded by his “Office” fame.

--Benedict Cumberbatch on Martin Freeman





"Only one death threat, two demands for my immediate resignation, and two for my suicide. IT'S A HIT!!"

--Steven Moffatt on the mid series finale of Doctor Who series 6

"He is a little bit old fashioned so you’ve got some of the old ideas of him coming from another era but he’s also a modern young man and, you know, to be honest he’s a brilliant actor, very good looking, dashing and he’s what Sherlock Holmes ought to be."

—Steven Moffat on Benedict Cumberbatch

"It is a double act, and he’s my wingman and he’s just phenomenal, and he’s a joy to work with. In no small way, he keeps me afloat and happy during the day as well. And he’s just a brilliant presence to be around. He’s just a scream. And we adore each other. In a very *platonic*, non… you know, way."

—Benedict Cumberbatch on Martin Freeman at the 2011 BAFTAs

"Obviously it’s Sherlock’s show but there’s far more parity than I think there often is in that relationship. I know [creators] Steven [Moffat] and Mark [Gatiss] primarily wanted the show to be about that relationship as much if not more than anything else. [It’s about the relationship] and how it develops and how it changes and the things that wind each other up, the things that they genuinely sort of love about each other as well. It’s the gayest story in the history of television… People certainly run with that which I’m quite happy with! But we all saw it as a love story. Not just a love story, but those two people who do love each other - a slightly dysfunctional relationship sometimes, but a relationship that works. They get results."

---Martin Freeman

“I ate healthily, but there was no snacking, no drinking, no bread, no sugar, no smoking. Afterwards I had a pork belly roast.”

--Benedict Cumberbatch,

on fillming Third Star

“I made the mistake of calling in Benedict to solve a crime. He was absolutely hopeless!”

--Mark Gatiss

"Hitler. I’d tell him his paintings were great and to stay off the politics and get laid. Alive… The mother of my children and I’d ask them to take a deep breath and if they fancied a drink."

--Benedict Cumberbatch, when asked "If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would you say to them?"





"Finally on my way to see my little brother in 'Fronkensteen' at the National. He was always a grower not a show-er."

--Mark Gatiss

on Twitter

“Don’t you think my life is confusing enough? And listen, if John Simm could hear you, you would not live another hour. He came up to me after the press [junket] for the End of Time where he’d been saying ‘I think now that David has left as The Doctor, I would have to leave as The Master’ but then he pulled me aside and said ‘I didn’t mean that! And look at me, I’m fit! I’m OK!’ So Benedict has to wait in line probably. But how confusing would it be? All four cheekbones at once! I tell you, I stood between [Matt Smith and Benedict] in a photograph once. It’s a really good way to look extra ugly.”

--Steven Moffat

“I always seem to be cast as slightly wan, ethereal, troubled intellectuals or physically ambivalent bad lovers. But I’m here to tell you I’m quite the opposite in real life. In fact I’m a fucking fantastic lover.”

---Benedict Cumberbatch

“My new agent said, ‘Why aren’t you using your family name? It’s a real attention-grabber.’ I worried, ‘How much is it going to cost to put my name in lights?’ But then I decided that’s not my problem.”

--Benedict Cumberbatch

"I hate this distinction of me being some f***ing academic who has just managed to escape the allure of some postgraduate course, and Miller as this mad f***ing wild child with dyed hair from Trainspotting. We have different working methods but ever so slightly – we block on the same lines. We’ve got the same sense of humour and think much the same about what’s good and bad."

--Benedict Cumberbatch

"It's tough, our bodies are all in pain. It’s fascinating, sort of crippling ourselves doing this. I’ve spent time in X-ray today; I’ve got my hips coming out of joint, my wrist are developing into ankles, 'cause of work I do at the beginning. We’ve had all sorts of injuries, back problems and neck problems. It’s a hard show to do, but it’s also been wonderful. Thank God I like Johnny Lee Miller."--Benedict Cumberbatch



"I imagine Holmes probably got pneumonia on a couple of occasions in Victorian London. I got flu and kept braving through it while green stuff was coming out of me. I was told, ‘You’ve got man flu, have a couple of paracetamol’, but when I soaked the bed sheets with sweat three nights running in the middle of winter, I knew there was something really wrong with me. It’s not nice having liquid on your lung and it takes a long time to recover - the irritating thing is that I was so disciplined and living a very healthy existence… I’d swim a lot, do yoga and eat healthily. I was really annoyed with myself for getting flu in the first place and I did myself a bit of damage by not acknowledging that I needed a rest."

--Benedict Cumberbatch

“I always think of the Doctor, bizarrely, as the more human one. Because he’s sort of like, in my mind, an angel who aspires to be human. Whereas Sherlock Holmes is a human being who aspires to be a god.”

--Steven Moffat

“Sherlock and Watson are a love story”

-Martin Freeman

”Sherlock and Watson meet at the right point in their lives, when they need each other the most. It’s a love story. Sherlock is upset because nobody can see the world the way he does. Watson misses the adrenalin and the constant life or death situations,”

--Martin Freeman

"I had a superb audition with Martin, and I immediately knew that he was my primary choice. He was definitely the person that I immediately sparked off and raised my game for. He’s an adorable man and blissfully, ridiculously funny and entertaining. He’s a great support and companion in real life as well. We have tremendous fun doing the show."

--Benedict Cumberbatch

when asked how it was to work with Martin Freeman as Watson

Steven Moffat: Oddly enough, the thing [our kids] really enjoyed were the deductions. They were very, very hard to write.

Mark Gatiss: That’s why Conan Doyle stopped bothering.

SM: Or they become rubbish. ‘How did you know I was on the train?’ ‘I saw your train ticket!’

MG: ‘I was sitting next to you on the train!’

"Benedict (Cumberbatch, who is playing Sherlock) looks amazing. He's still got a Sherlockian silhouette, with a large overcoat, but in a classic cut. Watson dresses with an urban elegance, a touch of old school dashing, giving a feeling of both the military and medical profession. I suppose it's something they have in common as well. They're a bit metrosexual."

--Martin Freeman



