The actor spoke with THR as part of BAFTA's "In Conversation" series, which will debut in full next week.

"It's the blessing of having a weird face -- somewhere between an otter and something people find vaguely attractive."

This was the self-deprecating response of Benedict Cumberbatch, one of Britain’s most talented and popular young actors, to my assertion that he feels sort of "timeless" as an actor.

We spoke last Thursday at The Standard High Line in New York for the first installment of "In Conversation," an exciting new series on which BAFTA and The Hollywood Reporter are partnering to provide artists with a forum through which they can discuss their creative processes in depth.

STORY: The Confessions of Benedict Cumberbatch

The full video of my conversation with Cumberbatch will premiere exclusively on this website after the holiday weekend.

Cumberbatch, 37, is coming off a banner year: on television, he starred in the third season of the hit series Sherlock, and he also starred in five films: 12 Years a Slave, August: Osage County, The Fifth Estate, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Star Trek Into Darkness. Over the course of our time together, we discussed all of these projects and many more.

Twitter: @ScottFeinberg