Benedict Cumberbatch on why he’s not on Twitter: ‘I DO sleep, unlike James Franco’

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Oh, lord. I just got thoroughly Batched. I’m covered in Cumberbatch. What happened exactly? I chanced upon GQ UK’s newly-released epic slideshow of excerpts from their Benedict Cumberbatch cover story. Even though I’m a ride-or-die Cumberbitch, I never did sit down and read the whole cover story last month, so I really enjoyed these excerpts. Except now I might have overdone it. I’ve overdosed on Benedict. Maybe. No… I can still write about him. Anyway, you can read the slideshow excerpts here, and here are some highlights (note: Benedict is a world-class talker on a normal day, but he was supremely chatty to GQ UK).

Making the cover of Time Mag: “I completely f***ing forget it was a cover, I just thought it was going to be a story inside. And I was honored by being one of the very few actors who get a profile inside of the magazine. When it came out literally thought it was a mock up that a fan had done: I thought, ‘That’s not my hand!’ So when I found out it was a reality I was genuinely floored. Floored in the same way I just sat on the sofa with one of my boyhood heroes [Harrison Ford], and he said to me, ‘I love what you do’. I just thought ‘Wow!’ I mean, two speechless moments, incredible moments.”

Working with his hero, Gary Oldman: “I really treat every job as if it’s the first time I’ve worked, otherwise I would be paralysed with fear. Like, otherwise, going onto a set with Gary Oldman, I couldn’t do it. You have to normalize that by becoming a co-worker. I mean, I remember Tom [Hardy] being really, really intimidated by Gary when he first met him, and I think I probably was too – I think he was in a corridor, and he was quite silent. He’s actually quite shy Gary. He just looked me up and down in silence, and I just didn’t quite know what to say. Little did I know the man was harbouring huge fears about the shoes he was going to step into. And I just thought he was sizing me up! But he wasn’t!”

Why he’s not on Twitter: “I DO sleep, unlike James Franco, and I know lots of other people who are busier than me, and they’re just better at being concise. And while that would be a good exercise, I would much rather put my energies into other things to be honest. And that’s no disrespect for the people who are on Twitter, I’ve just said from the beginning that social media is not where I’m at, with my job, it just isn’t. There’s a certain amount of me that likes to respect the idea that my work is public but my life isn’t. You’re really asking for an awkward bleed if you’re talking about who you’ve just seen, and where you’ve just met them. But who knows, maybe I’ll decide it’s a game I’d like to play? At the moment I’m just really enjoying the space I’ve got in the public, which is through my work, and this is an extraordinary year.”

His thoughts on 12 Years a Slave: “I saw a screening before Toronto [film festival], because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make the screening at the festival, but also I wanted to see it away from an audience, and let the impact of the film play out on me. Because I’m only playing a small role in it, I knew I could do that at a first viewing, and when you’re a lead or a role bigger than the one I’ve got in it, you just get in the way of being immersed in the film. But the way this evolves it wasn’t too distracting. I watched it, and I couldn’t look anywhere afterwards. When I was walking through Soho, everything was on mute, and I looked at every bit of Georgian or Victorian architecture, it just grabbed me, every brick looked complicit. The phone in my hand that I was trying to type some congratulations to Chiwetel [Ejiofor] and Steven [McQueen], I could only think that the elements in these chips, the logos everywhere, the stark multinational logos. [Slavery] still exists, it’s worse than ever. There are different forms of slavery, there’s debt slavery, where people are born into a situation that even though they work and earn money they’ll never get out of debt; there’s child labour, there’s child soldiers, there’s … just the f***ing thing goes on and on, you know. I mean, sex trafficking! All of that. And [in Soho] it was this gauche-rash-Friday-night-blargh-end-of-the-week-piss-up atmosphere, and I couldn’t hear any of that, it was all on mute. It was f***ing extraordinary film. I really do think it’s a modern classic. It’s a masterpiece.”

On Downton Abbey: “Well, not that I was ever offered [a role], but I mean, I think in certain circumstances I think I certainly would have done it. It hasn’t hurt Dan Stevens. And Dan had done great work before that. Downton is a populist vehicle, which is great.”

Wine: “That’s something I do like to spend a bit of money on. I do like to go a bit above the good £15 bottle in a newsagent, there’s nothing better. I don’t like more than really a glass, but if I’ve got friends over I will spend more on a bottle, like £40 or £50 for something really special, possibly, more, but not like, hey, look at my really expensive bottle of wine. It’s just such a pleasure but it’s something I have to share with other people. I’m not a solitary drinker, I never have been, and if I do that with a good bottle of wine I end up throwing half of it away. And I’ve done that once, and I don’t want to do it again. I’m not one of those people who thinks, oh, it’s there, I’ll just drink it! I just can’t. I don’t enjoy that sensation, I like being fit enough to read a book or do my work or see a film or just … and it’s not to say I don’t let loose, but not on my own.”

Tom Hardy: “Tom is like an incredible factory, he’s like a hungry puppy, he sort of sucks the oxygen into his flame, and sometimes it doesn’t leave you much room to manoeuvre but we became such good friends on that shoot [for Stuart: A Life Backwards], because it suited the dynamic, because I was very much in thrall to the spectacle of this human being, that was the dynamic.”

On women wanting to sleep with him: “You know. George [Clooney] was talking to me and he said, ‘Oh God, all these stories coming up! You know, it’s so much about projection.’ And that’s why I am happy about it, because to me it’s not just about the way I look, it’s about some appropriation of the work and what I carry with me.”

On landing the role of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness: “I remember with Khan I only found out about it three weeks before I was on set. I remember I was in a Cineworld in Cardiff, and Mark Gatiss [Sherlock co-creator] was like ‘OH MY GOD!’ I’m not a trekkie, I didn’t know … and not for a second did he go, ‘You’re not the right ethnicity!'”

[From GQ UK]

There’s a ton more at GQ – he goes on at length about Julian Assange, about Sherlock and he goes on and on and on about whether he’s attractive and how women project their Sherlock fantasies onto him. I think he’s right about parts of it – that many women want to “fix” the brilliant, mercurial Sherlock and that gets projected onto Benedict. He also talks about whether he considers himself smart and how he feels like he just keeps learning more things every year. Talk about a “hungry puppy.” Seriously! Maybe Benedict is more like Tom Hardy than we ever realized. And I do love that they’re friends.

Also – I want to drink wine with him. He doesn’t want to drink alone! I am always available for some wine-drinking (although I’d prefer a cocktail or a Scotch on the rocks).

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Photos courtesy of WENN, GQ UK.

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130 Responses to “Benedict Cumberbatch on why he’s not on Twitter: ‘I DO sleep, unlike James Franco’”

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  1. Sixer says:

    Do any other Brits remember the animation Noah and Nellie? Nellie always saved the day by knitting something. She knitted an oil rig once.

    I think Nellie knitted, not only the jumper in that top photo, but also a new neck for Benny the Bitch to put in it.

    (Like his remarks on modern slavery. This week, the UK Home Sec has put forward new legislation to try to deal with it).

    • T.fanty says:

      I don’t remember that. I could totally knit an oil rig.

      A good Cumberinterview is such a delight. He’s very cognizant of the world around him. You know, for an actor. I adore the Englishness of someone talking about buying a bottle of wine in a local news agents. The way he sometimes talks can make me quite homesick.

      Plus, so much name dropping. Gawd luv Mister Cumberbatch.

      • LadySlippers says:

        I wondered about that. So what is a ‘local news agent’ as it sounds different from what we Americans associate with news….and how can you but alcohol there???

      • Sixer says:

        It was by the same people who did Roobarb and Custard. All wobbly. Nellie’s oil rig wobbled. And Benny definitely needed a new neck for that jumper. He looks like a giraffe!

        A newsagent is a local shop that sells newspapers, magazines, sweets, cigarettes and the odd bottle of wine. But really, an off licence sells wine. A newsagent is unlikely to have anything over a fiver. (£)

        On a similar topic, what is a bodega?

        Fantster – don’t speak too soon. We got our first carol singers last night. Tuneless.

      • AG-UK says:

        @Ladyslippers
        Local newsagent is the little store near your house there are always a few or at least one that you can get newspapers, milk, bread small items and of course WINE and BEER. Just things you might happen to run out of. Also you can buy alcohol ANYWHERE here.

      • LadySlippers says:

        As many Americans know, buying alcohol varies state by state. Imagine my shock and surprise moving from Minnesota to Texas where alcohol is in GROCERY stores! Same in a lot of other states.

        But in Minnesota (true in Wisconsin too), if a parent is present, kids can drink (within reason) — not true here in Nebraska. Kids aren’t even allowed to taste which drives me bananas.

        Thanks for the answers. 🙂

      • T.Fanty says:

        Sixer,

        A bodega is a NY style deli. It’s a tiny little grocery shop that just sells everything. Do you have/did you have Spar near you? It’s the NYC equivalent of that. It’s also usually about 200 square feet in size and packed with everything from bicarbonate of soda to tampons and lottery tickets. Many of them also have a little hot griddle and do fried egg sandwiches.

        I have our school’s Christmas carol concert tomorrow. I love my kids, but sadly, they got their father’s musical ability. It’s like hearing a someone sit on a cat.

      • Sixer says:

        @Fanty

        Ta. Our village shop is a Spar!

        When we first moved here from London, it came as a shock that the school still did proper nativity plays. I was used to Winter Festivals Around The World productions. Both my kids are tone deaf also. This year, they’ve volunteered to set up tables for the Christmas Fayre (which isn’t a fayre, it’s a jumble sale and tombola with pretty lights) so there are no performances. I can’t lie: I’m disappointed!

      • T.Fanty says:

        I send my kids to Catholic school, so it’s the old-school nativity with shepherds wearing tea-towels on their heads* and holding staffs made of brown taped up mop handles, and everything. I just spent a week making angel wings and convincing the Fantling that the homemade halo doesn’t stick into her head. It’s pretty darned cute.

        My sister lives in a rural area and they don’t do a nativity, so I’m surprised your area still does. They are fun. I miss caroling, but even in England, it wasn’t that common by the time I had left.

        Our village shop was a Spar about 27 years ago. I come from one of those towns where you can tell who belongs by whether or not they still refer to the newsagents as the Spar, Mr. Gees, or the new newsagents.

        *in a home-made costume way, not an offensive stereotyping way.

      • Sixer says:

        Sixlet Minor once took part in an Old Time Music Hall end of year show. He warbled “two lovely black eyes, ohhhhhh! what a surprise” and made me cry.

        He was kind enough to NOT cry at my hapless efforts in the costume department. Tea towels rock!

      • T.Fanty says:

        *snickers*

        I love that. Did they have a Punch and Judy show, too?

        On an almost similar note, I introduced Miss Jane to Wizzard’s Christmas song yesterday, by sending her the video. It was quite fun seeing it through the eyes of someone who didn’t grow up with a glam-rock homeless man singing Christmas music. She was quite bemused.

      • Sixer says:

        Oh, I love Wizzard. I even love Slade. Poor Miss Jane. Spector’s Christmas album Schmector’s Christmas album.

      • T.Fanty says:

        I have spent the past six to eight months in a state of high anxiety in case Operation Yewtree ousted any members of Slade or Wizzard, forever tainting my Christmas joy. Rolf Harris was bad enough – I couldn’t lose Christmas, too.

      • Sixer says:

        My ex-boss was good friends with Rolf Harris. They were Thames-living, Thames-boating neighbours. I have been wondering how that particular revelation went because my ex-boss was a straighter-than-straight-up family man.

        You do know that one of the guys from Slade got engaged to Rosemary West? Really, truly. The one with the page boy haircut, I think.

      • T.Fanty says:

        Eeew. I didn’t know that. I just downloaded “Coz I Love You” on my iPod, and it’s making me so happy. Marginally less so, now.

        The Rolf Harris thing just makes me sad. I used to rush through dinner to be done in time to watch Rolf Harris’ cartoon time on a Saturday evening.

    • AG-UK says:

      This is how tired Texas is (yes I am from there but please) in Kroger buying groceries and my son (11 years old) trying to help put things on the counter he picked up the bottle of wine and the lady said “mam he shouldn’t really be touching the wine by law” I never see alcohol (spriits) maybe not looking in grocery stores in the US thought you needed a liquor store?? Oh I don’t know anymore.

      • Marty says:

        No, you’re right. They do not sell ANY hard liquor in grocery stores in Texas. They only sell wine, champange, and malt liquor. And liqour stores are closed only Sunday in Texas.

      • Bubbles says:

        The first time I went to the States I was surprised by the fact that there is no liquor in stores. Or in caffes. Here, it’s quite common to order liquor with your morning coffee. A lot of the older generation does that.

      • Delorb says:

        Some Fiesta’s (if you’re in Texas you’re familiar, LOL) have a liquor store attached to the grocery store. They have separate entrances. That sales person was just being a jerk, IMO, as its a “nunya”* and “nacho”, if a child is touching a bottle.

        *nunya is basically ‘none of your’ and nacho, is ‘not your’ said fast.

  2. Virgilia Coriolanus says:

    Sooooo….he was talking about Fashion Bitch, when he talked about George Clooney and the rest of it, right?

    I didn’t get why people were up in arms about the whole thing—I could see freaking out if they were actually dating, but at best they slept together a few times. I was rereading a few threads last night, and I remember someone saying that he had gone out of his way NOT to be seen with her, even when she was blabbing about him to the press—saying that he was coming to her play (when there were 20 seats open, and he was out w/friends all month).

    • LadySlippers says:

      No, I took that as an overall.

      BUT it could be that *she* was projecting on him (I won’t call her names nor will I use her name).

      Projection is very true though.

    • Lindy79 says:

      I remember that. I think the fact that his team confirmed who the red haired friend, Charlotte, at his birthday in London was, and said nothing about Ibiza was very telling from a PR perspective so whether nothing happened, they hooked up or whatever, he got well and truly burned by someone who saw a chance to associate with someone who was in demand. As telling was also her initial “nothing happened, I have a boyfriend but Ben is teaching me acting” then after realising she was being ignored, changed it to “things happen on holiday”. He was in London a good bit of the same time she was, and when her play was on and if he had gone you can be damn sure she’d have made sure he was photographed going in/out. He steered well clear.

  3. Kay says:

    Mmmm pop open a bottle of moscato and meet me by the fire Cumbers.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      Oh, then my $8 bottles of champagne might seem a little “cheap” to him!! I’ll have to bust out the good $10 bottle of wine I have if he ever comes for a visit! I can knit him a twitter account whilst he drinks it.

  4. V4Real says:

    Why he’s not on Twitter:

    I’m not a Cumby fan but I like his response to that question. Unlike Clooney he didn’t insult other people in the business because they choose to use social media.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      I actually like the part where Benedict says his work is public, his life is not. I think celebrities who give full access to their lives through social media then bleat on about the lack of privacy when it suits them are hypocrites. Of course some fans are going to go over the top when they feel like they are pretty much living with their crush because every detail of their celeb life is played out on the computer each day. Benedict has done well to keep that side of his persona private, which I think makes him more likeable. A guy with a bit of mystery about him is sexy!

      Tom – “I ate a baked potato today”
      Squirrel – “Meh”
      Benedict – ” ”
      *squirrel swoon*

      Perfect example is Shane Warne and Liz Hurley. They lived their romance through their twitter accounts, then when things went pear-shaped, everyone knew immediately because the tweets suddenly stopped (or were cryptic and “moody” (if its possible for a tweet to be moody!)). You live by the tweet, you die by the tweet.

  5. Miss M says:

    ““I DO sleep, unlike James Franco, and I know lots of other people who are busier than me, and they’re just better at being concise.”

    This b*tch… Shading my beloved douche= Franco… How dare you, dragon?!

    • T.fanty says:

      Because he is better than Franco. At EVERYTHING.

      My CB man could kick your CB man’s arse. Actually, in terms of his 12 Years review, he just did.

      • Sixer says:

        My douche (Idris) is the DOUCHIEST. Ner.

      • Miss M says:

        Actually my CBman is Hunnam. Franco is my fave douche… You can’t really keep up with the titles, that’s OK! hahaha.
        How do you know he is better than Franco AT EVERYTHING? this needs clarification…

        ps: he wishes he was soooo artsy as Franco. He spends too much time explaining he is not a reptile and keepnig up with his posh imagine. Please…

        pps: I know, Franco’s reviews are another level of douchery diversion… lol

      • T.Fanty says:

        Please. Franco has to remind us constantly that he’s’ arty. Cumby wears linen caps, unintentionally bad clothing, and talks about dying his dong muff. Franco talks the talk, but my boy walks the walk.

        (as a literary Ph.D, you have NO idea how much Franco’s douchery offends me. He’s the quintessential douchey grad student that talks about how important his work is and spends sixteen years in the program. I ran into a grad student yesterday who joined the program the same time as me, and still hasn’t completed his second set of exams. I made a general inquiry as to how it was going, and he told me that he was taking his time finishing because he was reading much more theoretical work than I had probably read. Therefore, I doubly distain Franco today.)

        ETA: EsCon just reminded me of the time Cumby said that one of his teachers compared him to William Blake. Dammit. I think they’re back on equal footing.

      • T.Fanty says:

        *whispers*

        It’s because Franco’s words are empty, like the artistry in his soul.

      • Sixer says:

        Show me the guy who called you a doctoral lightweight.

        I will poke him the eye with Nellie’s knitting needle.

      • T.Fanty says:

        It’s okay. I just waltzed off to buy a fancy latte that I can afford because I have a salaried position.

    • EscapedConvent says:

      Calm yourself, Miss M! The Dragon was paying a compliment to your Franco! He’s saying that Franco is busier than he is, & still manages to keep his statements Twitter-length!

      Cumby knows he can’t speak in 140 characters—it would be silly for him to try! He’s the Dragon Supreme Blithery Blatherer, after all.

      (I’m not criticizing because I can’t do it either. I find I like to use a lot of letters in my words & they just add up SO fast….)

      • Miss M says:

        EsCon: I will look on the bright side.
        @T.Fanty: we get some of those in Science too, but the thing is the timeline of accepting them taking the time to graduate is 10 years max due to special circumstances (one of my friends had to start a brand new thesis because his PI passed away, that’s why he took 7-8 years).
        @Sixer: Idris will never make my Hollywood fave douches list. He is in another level that my douchemeter can’t take it.

      • Sixer says:

        @Miss M

        I concede that he is. But it’s ok. Have ball gags. Will travel.

      • T.Fanty says:

        Yes, @ Sixer. I’m with Miss M on this one. I think Idris broke the douchometer, and that’s why Miss M’s judgment is SO off.

        My old program is now actively trying to get people out of the door a little faster. When I was in there, there were people who had meandered along for a decade. How any of them got jobs, I’ll never know.

        Oh, and Escon – my comment got misplaced. It’s above yours, for some reason.

      • T.Fanty says:

        @Sixer,

        With Idris, it wasn’t even the talk that forced Fanty to recognize that Fanty no longer lures him. It was the fact that he thought he knocked one woman up, found out it wasn’t his, then a year later, knocked up another woman that he’d been dating for about four months. It shows (at best), a lackadaisicalness (my god, according to my Mac, that’s actually a word) that’s a little disturbing to me.

      • Sixer says:

        I think my douchemeter is probably broken.

        Well, no. I live in SixerFantasyLand. It’s absolutely superficial. We only let them in for their looks. We aren’t interested in their opinions. We don’t care to hear them speak (outside of fruityspeak, that is). We just ball gag ’em up and have at ’em. When we’re bored, we send them home. THEN they can offer their opinions. To other people.

        (But I hear you, Fanty, and accept you’re almost certainly on the money).

      • T.Fanty says:

        I like SixerFantasyLand. I enjoy Cumber-talk and Cumber-name-dropping, so he’s allowed to talk in FantyLand. However, in my world of Cumberwonder, dumb skinny rent-a-wife blondes don’t exist and it’s actually true the boys all want smart women.

      • Sixer says:

        It is true. Isn’t it?

    • allons-y alonso says:

      That’s it!! He shaded that tosser James Franco. He’s perfect

      • allons-y alonso says:

        Also, a quick note on the social media thing. What Cumberbatch says is fair enough. I don’t think he’s succinct enough for something like twitter but that’s only because I like his tangents and rumblings. I think some famous people can do twitter really well – Joss Whedon, Simon Pegg and Nathan Fillion spring to mind. That being said, it’s not for everyone. I only have a twitter account and a tumblr (I know!) for networking. They give me a good platform to get my archaeology and museum writing out there to share with other people that share my interests.

  6. GeeMoney says:

    He throws away wine?!? Oh, the horror!

    Call me up Cumby… I’ll help you polish off the rest of the bottle anytime.

  7. Sullivan says:

    I simply can’t take your word on this, BC. Would it be possible for me to come over tonight and observe?

    • LadySlippers says:

      Of course to preserve scientific integrity. I do applaud your slavish devotion to the truth. It is commendable — as is your willingness to take one for the troops!

  8. LadySlippers says:

    I read all the 25 slides from GQ and most were absolute gems. I love hearing his interviews without the filter of the journalist.

    As an FYI — there are grammar and editorial errors on the slides so be forewarned. Some mess up the understanding.

    Example: On the slide @ 2degrees left of handsome he talks about women being attracted to his roles and uses James (from Third Star) as an example but the editors inserted McAvoy in which doesn’t make sense.

  9. Jen says:

    “and not for a second did he go, ‘You’re not the right ethnicity!’””

    Is that his attempt to explain away the fact that any dumba** knows a guy named “Khan” isn’t a pasty white fool like Cumberlizard?

    • LadySlippers says:

      No what he meant was that Gatiss, as a Trekkie, didn’t comment on his casting. Not that Gatiss speaks for all Trekkies either.

      I honestly think people voted STID as the worst ST movie because JJ didn’t stay true to Roddenberry’s ideals. THAT’S what pissed people off. And the director, writers, and producers of JJ’s reboots need to own that.

      • Jen says:

        As someone who’s half Indian, I was pissed off that they made Cumberlizard’s pasty white British ass into a character that was intended to be South Asian. I know Kaiser doesn’t have a problem with it and she’s similar to me, but I attribute that to her terrible taste in men ( :p )

        And then the fact that BOTH JJ and Cumberlizard didn’t own up to it further pissed me off.

    • EscapedConvent says:

      Wow, you hate Cumberbatch! Did he do something horrible to you when you were a child?!

      • Jen says:

        Besides saying a LOT of ignorant crap and having really annoying fans and looking like an alien? Nope, he hasn’t done anything.

    • Katie says:

      @ Jen

      I already knew he didn’t know who he was playing until it was too late to back out without significant repercussions, thanks to Bob Orci. Didn’t realize it was that close to filming though, Jesus. The studio would have spent millions by then…

      Abrams should say something but I gotta laugh if you think the actor is going to, he’d get crushed. He’s not big enough to take a go at Paramount and Abrams. Actors are cogs in the machine save the few who manage to become a huge brand (think RDJ). It’s like yelling at a store clerk when corporate raises prices.

      • Lindy79 says:

        *claps*
        Recent example is Charlie Hunnham dropping out of 50 shades. He got less flack because the movie will be a hot mess but there was a lot of talk in industry blogs and print about how close it was to filming and it was unprofessional given he had accepted the role.
        BC was and still is in now way a big enough name to go up against studios.
        Blame Abrams and Paramount by all means.

        And you can’t blame him for his fans. He doesn’t encourage them.

      • Katie says:

        @Lindy79

        And Hunan backed out before the studios dropped a dime on a movie that most people view as a mistake.

        STID went into production before the cast had scripts. Anyone who dropped out would owe the studio the money that would be lost because of delays caused by the exit.

        I’m not condoning his casting but I’m certainly not taking the piss on the wrong people. You want change, you’ve got to go after the right links in the chain.

        Actors are not nearly as powerful as people think they are, there’s fair more of them than roles and they generally have little or no leverage during contract negotiations. I’m not so unrealistic about myself that I think I would seriously damage a career I spent years building because I trusted the wrong team.

    • Miss Scarlet says:

      Right…because Star Trek IV, The Search for Shamu, was such a work of art.

      • Happyhat says:

        It’s my favourite one!!!!!!!!! As much as I loath JJ for just re-doing the films, I really hope he re-does Star Trek IV…

  10. Granger says:

    If the only thing I’d ever seen this man in was Sherlock, I wouldn’t find him half as attractive. He’s a great actor, and the chemistry between him and Freeman on Sherlock is mesmerizing, but the character is such a dick that I don’t find him attractive at all. Interesting and intriguing, yes, but not attractive. I do think, though, that Cumby’s appeal has a lot to do with that character. Some women have that crazy-stupid-masochistic thing where they’re just SURE they’ll be the one to soften the heart of the super-intellectual dickhead, so Sherlock turns them on. But I didn’t really start thinking of Cumby as attractive until I saw him in a couple of interviews and realized that he really IS an intelligent guy, and he’s so articulate he makes my head spin. Combine that with the posh accent and … yeah. Nice.

    • GeeMoney says:

      I can honestly say that seeing him in Sherlock made me like him, but it wasn’t him as the character that I found attractive. I like Cumberbatch because he’s smart.

      After the first 20 minutes of A Study in Pink after he went into that monologue about Watson, I was just instantly attracted to him… b/c I realized that only a really smart guy could recite his lines that fast and that wonderfully (sounds a little weird, but that’s what happened).

      I prefer men who are smart over men who are ridiculously attractive. Don’t get me wrong… I find Chris Hemsworth extremely attractive… but is he smart? Could I carry on a conversation with him? I don’t know. But I sure as hell could with Cumberbatch. I’d take him any day of the week over Chris.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        This comment is being reported to Anna & Miss Eyre. Batten down your hatches, GeeMoney!

        (Even though I completely agree!)

      • GeeMoney says:

        @EscapedConvent

        LOL… I don’t know what that means… I’m a little scared! Should I be?

      • T.Fanty says:

        Oh, come on, EsCon. Does anyone want CHemboy for his brain? If he were that smart, he wouldn’t have married Remora.

      • Marty says:

        E tu T.Fanty?

        Is it fair to compair the two? That’s like comparing apples to oranges. If your apples liked to read a lot and drink expensive wine; and your oranges liked to surf a lot and do publicity stunts with his wife. O_o

        And T.Fanty, you’re going to have to clarify that last quote for me because Cumby came off hella whinny with that “ethincity” quote.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        @GeeMoney,

        Ha! I just meant that Anna & j.eyre both love Hemsworth! (although Miss Eyre does say that Hemsworth looks bewildered much of the time.)

      • GeeMoney says:

        @EscapedConvent

        LOL… good to know.

        Not to mention, even though I love love love Cumberbatch, I do have a Chris Hemsworth poster taped up on the back of my office door at work. My co-worker and I set aside time every few days or so to look at it and relax (and drool, too).

        He’s so dreamy… http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chris-Hemsworth-Poster-24-x-17-2-/111239274438?pt=Art_Posters&hash=item19e6609fc6

      • T.fanty says:

        Marty, lovey. Calling him dumb doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t hit it like the hammer of Thor. In fact, I would probably be more likely to.

        Re: the other comment. I adore spoiled Whinybatch. I think he’s a riot when he starts complaining about stuff.

  11. TheCountess says:

    There are very few Twitter accounts that are interesting enough to follow, and smaller still from that pool, celebrities who are interesting period. A celebrity who avoids Twitter automatically moves up in my estimation. Keep your every thought to yourself and maintain some bloody mystery. I don’t need to know, nor do I care about, your every brain fart.

    • EscapedConvent says:

      I couldn’t agree more. Most celebrity Twitter-ers are downright embarrassing.

      • T.Fanty says:

        Do you follow AccidentalAlanPartidge? It’s a collection of the most mind-numbingly dull celebrity tweets you can imagine. It’s weirdly hilarious.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        I’ve never seen that. I think I’ll look for it. I expect a lot of them are about their trips to Starbucks & the fascinating things they put in their coffee.

      • Sixer says:

        Another day, remind me to dig out my favourite ever celeb tweet interaction. Between Eddie Marsan and Rupert Penry Jones. Next time we talk about posh-bashing, remind me, and I’ll find it.

    • GeeMoney says:

      I think it depends on the account… I find some celebrity twitter accounts interesting. And find some others to be dull.

      I say, if you are a celebrity and want to use it, use it. And if you don’t, don’t. I don’t think anything negative either way.

  12. EscapedConvent says:

    Of course he’s not drinking alone! Fanty would not have that!!

    • T.Fanty says:

      Never! And I will only allow my darling DUC to pour wine away if he’s doing it on my magnificent bosom!

      • EscapedConvent says:

        He may have to pour some of it away, Fanty. Certain wines will clash with your gin-bosom marinade.

  13. Enny says:

    I’m surprised he’s not on social media, honestly, cause the boy sure loves to name drop.

    • MissMary says:

      I get the feeling his PR team rides herd hard on that. He used to have a Facebook before and during the very early days of his fame and it became a “thing” when people found out after S1 Ep1 of Sherlock came out. HIs then-gf was bombarded with friend requests from people trying to get on his FB and see his posts. Nothing ever leaked except one or two pics IIRC and they were stuff that she had already posted via twitter. He probably locked that shit down pronto and if his PR people (esp Karon) are astute, they’re dissuading him from social media (at least under his own name…side eye Hiddles about the fake FB name…) to keep fan meltdowns and flails to a minimum. I can’t imagine the level of wtfery that’d happen if he got a twitter or FB under his own name and made it accessible.

      • Violeta says:

        But why the side eye? Hiddleston fandom is batsh*t crazy it’s a bit understandable LOL!

      • Lindy79 says:

        I had no clue about all that…not shocking when you see it’s happened to Hiddleston with several female friends.

        I don’t blame him to be honest, he values privacy as someone in the public eye and you can’t really achieve that and have personal thoughts and pictures out there on the internet.

      • MissMary says:

        Violeta: LOL more the side eye because Hiddles attempt was really hamfisted and easy to figure out, apparently.

      • Green Girl says:

        I am still laughing while trying to picture Cumby being succinct.

        Offtopic, but I just had a thought the other day. Remember when he wanted to meet with Assange and was turned down? Can you imagine if those two had met? It would be a 12-hour conversation about who-knows-what.

  14. Enny says:

    +1 and jinx for my comment below 🙂

    • T.Fanty says:

      Man alive. I’d heard some allusions to the fact that it was a train wreck, but that sounds painfully bad.

      • Joanie says:

        ! know! Moran preparing her questions in a taxi on the way over to the panel? Harping on a mistake in the episode, embarrassing the director and producers? Barely including Sue Vertue in the discussion, even though she was the only woman on the panel? Pressuring Benedict and Martin to read Johnlock fic, although they were clearly uncomfortable? Caitlin Moran got yelled at by the head of BBC Drama after the Q+A was over.

    • Lindy79 says:

      I have seen the video of the fan fiction bit and it was SO bad. I have no clue what she was thinking, anyone who did an iota of research would know BC is sort of uncomfortable with it and besides it has ZERO to do with the reason they were there.
      I have read Moran’s books and I genuinely enjoyed them, so I didn’t hate her from the get go like some people I have seen commenting on it, I just think she forgot that she was there to do a job and the fact she is friendly with Benedict (that interview at his parents is still fantastic) and the crew took over so she thought it would be funny.
      The fans seem to be up in arms about how she disrespected them, I’m more concerned with her pointing out flaws in the direction with Moffat, Vertue and Gatiss sitting right there, repeatedly bringing up Amanda Abbingdon being Martin’s partner and how that got her the job (although she called them married which is incorrect and as a journalist asked to do a job showed a ridiculous lack of research) and failing to ask any interesting questions at all.

      • Miss Scarlet says:

        I saw that video too, and you could tell that the actors were trying to be good sports while trying to put a stop to it, stopping and starting the reading, changing the subject (especially Benedict). I was happy to see Benedict chastise her afterwards (‘Is there a punchline to this, or something you want us to say? Because the fans can do whatever they want, but this is not our universe’). This event, with cast, crew, directors and producers, not to mention fans that have been waiting for this episode forever, was just not the venue for this nonsense.

      • Lindy79 says:

        That’s it exactly!
        I physically cringed at it, it was so obvious Benedict in particular didn’t want to do it, but they were probably worried about offending a room full of fans. When Mark Gatiss says something like “and then they all went home!”. He was trying politely to put a stop to it and she kind of picked up on it but then kept going.

        She seemed to realise at the end, the huge error in judgement, but the damage was done.

      • MissMary says:

        The author of the fic in question is so mortified and replied to someone who asked what she would say to the actors and to Moran with a very well thought out and well written response that someone sent (without the author’s suggestion) to Amanda Abbington on Twitter and asked that it is seen by “the right people” (that would’ve mortified me as well, in addition to the fic being read!). Someone who was at the event said the head of BBC Drama was absolutely yelling at Moran after and was tearing her a new one for what she had pulled, and there’s also suggestion that what she did is copyright infringement under UK law (a lawyer from the UK weighed in on that online on his own blog and a few discussions).

        I think it was pretty shitty for her to do. She can make fun of fans all she wants but ffs, this was not her twitter feed, her own time, whatever. And she willingly, knowingly, embarrassed someone because she found it funny and finds them pathetic. I’m not a Caitlin Moran fan in the first place (“oh tee hee I’m feminist because I say fart and I talk about sex in front of men! Hee hee! But fuck other women, they suck! I’m going to make fun of them because they make me uncomfortable or I don’t understand them!” is always the impression I get from her–your mileage may vary) and this stunt was just sad and I feel so bad for the writer, and also for the people on stage that night who had to suffer her antics.

      • Joanie says:

        I feel like Caitlin Moran felt like she was ‘in’ with the Sherlock cast, based on the fact that she moderated the last Q+A, wrote one of the most famous interviews of Benedict to date, met and hung out with his parents, and hung out with him and his peeps at the Lady Gaga concert a while back. She thought she was a special snowflake, and neglected to remember that this was an official BBC event.

        I also think she fancies Benedict more than she’d like to admit, which is one of the reasons she trashes the fans. It’s misdirection – “I’m not like THOSE girls! I’m in the cool crowd!”

        I did really enjoy Martin’s reaction to the fanfic reading – “I always enjoy getting new scripts.” Sarcastic bastard. He’s so funny.

      • Lindy79 says:

        I enjoyed her books, I don’t read her twitter to be honest but Joanie that is a really plausible theory. She acted like it was a party or she was hanging out with mates instead of doing a job. It’s worked for her when interviewing some people (she goes out and gets pissed with them) but here it failed spectacularly mainly due to her seeming to want to make fun of the popularity and fans rather than focusing on the actual show they were there to discuss.
        Such a wasted opportunity. Bet she’s kicking herself.
        I did lol at Martin!

      • Maureen says:

        She seems like she got an “in” with Benedict somehow and she’s now spoiled from it. She thinks she’s hot shit and she can go around making fun of his fans and mocking people who show up in line early for his show (people do this for rock concerts and for iPhones and Black Friday sales and whatever– it’s not new or novel behavior!!) and people who are virgins (!!!). She thinks her shit is all that.

      • T.fanty says:

        @Joanie,

        I think that’s probably accurate. She also trades on being an off-the-cuff smart ass. She really missed the mark on this one. Even if she and Cumby hang out and take the posts out of fans in private, it’s poor form to do it publicly. Especially as this kind of cult buzz REALLY gave Sherlock a life outside of England. As Maureen points out below, it’s entirely akin to bullying. These kids didn’t wait a day in the cold to be treated like crap and humiliated in front of their idols. If they wanted that, they would he beliebers.

      • Chrissy says:

        @Joanie “I also think she fancies Benedict more than she’d like to admit, which is one of the reasons she trashes the fans. ” Totally agree. She is Batched to the nth and can’t handle it (unlike we folk here). Haven’t heard that she issued an apology. If she has, can someone comment?

      • Green Girl says:

        I read about that fanfiction reading, and I felt awful for the person who wrote it as well as BC and Martin Freeman. I know the fan fiction is based on the characters, and not Benedict and Martin, but it is still pretty weird to have to read it. In a way, it’s not unlike someone writing a fan fiction about Sam in PR and Pat in accounting, and then making both of them read it at the company holiday party.

        I really do like Caitlin Moran’s work, but this left me speechless. I agree with Joanie’s points above, too.

      • Miss Scarlet says:

        The writer of the fan fic that was read at the Q+A did make a (very classy) response to the whole kerfuffle.

        http://mildredandbobbin.tumblr.com/post/70156524860/if-you-could-one-thing-to-say-to-caitlin-or-benedict

        Out of curiosity, I read the story (it’s called ‘Tea’). Regardless as to how you feel about fan fic, I have to say that this one is pretty hot and well written. She has nothing to be embarrassed about, but I can understand why she’s upset. Anything that’s put on the internet will be circulated – everyone knows this – but Caitlin Moran should have asked permission (which the author explicitly states she would NOT have given). That’s what’s not cool (along with the mocking and #virgins Twitter tag, of course).

  15. Han says:

    I dont fancy him at all. But he is a talented guy and his comments about twitter are great. This is why he, as opposed to Hiddleston will have a long career. He know when to lie low and just let the work speak.

  16. Londongal says:

    Squeeeeze the bunny! Squeeze it til it’s eyes bulge!

  17. EscapedConvent says:

    Yes, he does…..everyone from Ted Danson to Harrison Ford to William Blake (who it is fairly well documented never actually met Cumby).

  18. betsy says:

    She knows how to endear herself to Sherlock fans!

    Apparently there are people ALREADY QUEUING for Sherlock at the BFI tomorrow #dedication #frostbite

    — Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) December 14, 2013

    @caitlinmoran #virgins

    — Rachel Roberts (@scouserachel) December 14, 2013

    @scouserachel SO HARSH SO TRUE

    — Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) December 14, 2013

    • lunchcoma says:

      Ugh. I’ve always loathed her, and she was a terrible choice. I’m fine with mocking fans for bad behavior, but what’s wrong with lining up early? Let people be excited in their harmless ways. The idea that excitable fans are virgins is also tiresome, and is unfair to both fans and to virgins.

      • Maureen says:

        I’m not in a fandom. I’m not a Cumberbitch. I don’t have a tumblr blog or Twitter. I don’t write or read fanfic. But I can say this: Caitlin Moran’s treatment of those fans who fall into these categories is ATROCIOUS. She has no business involving herself in what they do. She has no business holding them up for public mockery. She takes delight in shaming and mocking and ridiculing them and getting others to join in. She is an awful person, a shameful person, and these antics of her would put real life high school “mean girls” to shame. I have my own opinions about some of the more extreme fans but I would NEVER publicly humiliate another human being this way because they have a hobby or interest that I might find … for lack of a better word…silly. This is also, indirectly, really insulting to the actors involved in Sherlock. Her mockery of THEIR fans is a direct reflection of them as actors, because if they have such (in her view) weird fans, then they must be weird people, too. And it’s just not true.

    • Lindy79 says:

      Wow. So being a virgin is an insult?
      Way to empower women, by agreeing with someone using that as a negative to imply they are sad/pathetic.
      *shakes head*

      • Maureen says:

        This!! +1,000

      • Lindy79 says:

        Its even more offensive when you think of how she was chief campaigner in that quit twitter for a day thing because of threats being sent to various female politicians and journalists.
        Im not equating people getting rape/death threats with her agreeing with the #virgins but if you’re going to be a spearhead against online abuse you need to tread very carefully in what you do and say online.
        It’s really disappointing.

      • Sixer says:

        Caitlin Moran has always been a “give it out but can’t take it” person. It’s why I dislike her. She turns the slightest little bit of yawnsome internet graffiti directed at her into a huge nonsense about vitriol and abuse and bullying, but regularly does self-aggrandizing horrible things like this.

        Harumph to her.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        I find myself wondering if Caitlin Moran’s reason to be at this event was to turn it into a show of how terribly clever she is. It backfired on her. She should apologize to all concerned.

      • Lindy79 says:

        I think that was it in a nutshell. She expected they would all laugh along with her, and who knows if it had been done in private at a party they may have done but she was there to do a job and to discuss the episode that had aired.
        I doubt she will say anything on it to be honest. The only people she will apologise to, if she does, will be Benedict, Martin, the Sherlock crew and the BBC.
        I had a look at her Twitter last night, nothing at all mentioned about it but in relation to the #virgins thing the person who wrote it (and Caitlin agreed with) is claiming it was a joke and it’s people’s fault for taking it up the wrong way. Its all very *sigh* you are all so stupid and we are so clever if you can’t see that.

        I would have thought that as a print journalist Moran would realise the power of the written word and how it’s open to misinterpretation, personally I can’t see how it was anything other than a dig at the fans (male and female). I doubt you will hear anything from her on it.

  19. Miss so and so says:

    This man does NOTHING for me. You know you all call SJP a horse face because her face is LOOONNNGGG. Take a look at the first pic…. horse face 2.

    • Maureen says:

      I love how you sound like you’re telling is something we don’t already know…”look at this picture” … or that Ben didn’t already know as well.

    • Lindy79 says:

      I’d like to ride that horse (face) in the Grand National.
      Giddy up!!!!!

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        Ha Ha! A little light whipping* might be in order too?
        *not that I in ANY way support the whipping of any animal. Disgraceful to call it part of sport.

  20. Maureen says:

    A couple weeks ago there was a post in which he said something about his bed being favorite place. “I love it in there” or something, and one of the girls here cheekily wondered if that was innuendo. At the time I responded that I think he really did mean it without a wink and a nudge, and that I really think he loves to sleep. I do think he loves to sleep.

    I love his shade to James Franco. 🙂

  21. T.fanty says:

    There is a really interesting Cumby article on Lainey today. I liked the phrase “skating around the edge of other people’s bad decisions.” I personally didn’t like the R.Kelly thing, nor did I like the fact that it was R.Kelly they were parodying. It kind of reinforces the general cultural acceptance that solidarity is for white women, that is fairly pervasive and repugnant (which also kind of brings us back to Moran, in a roundabout way).

    • Maureen says:

      Somehow it got lost on me that I was supposed to be bothered by BC doing that. I mean, I have absolutely NOTHING but disdain and loathing for Kelly and for all who march to the “but he’s a good singer” drum. However, it didn’t bother me that Ben did that reading because I thought he (and the show) was mocking the song. Once I read over some other commentary (including Lainey Gossip’s post on this topic, which is really a fantastic read and I’m not usually a Lainey fan) I realized that the show and Ben were all complicit in perpetuating this myth that R. Kelly is harmless or that since you like his music you can look the other way. That’s the reason Michael Jackson got away with inappropriate behavior with children for decades. It’s the reason so many people — like Whoopi Goldberg and her “in Europe sexuality is different” and “it wasn’t RAPE rape” excuses fro Polanski. After I read several pieces I realized that despite my disdain for R. Kelly even I allowed the fact that I like Ben and thought his reading was funny — I allowed these very shallow reasons to cloud my judgment. From now on I’m shading ANYONE who promotes R. Kelly or any other abuser of women and children.

      • Katie says:

        @Maureen

        IA, but as the Lainey article points out, Cumberbatch was doing his job. If you didn’t get it until later, not sure why you’d expect him to in a matter of less than 2 hours. It sounded funny and it’s unlikely he gave it deep thought.

        Lainey also noted the issue of people buying his music–obviously if his stuff didn’t sell, he wouldn’t be here–but where does that stop? Do we toss out everything associated with everyone who’s done awful things? I don’t like R. Kelly but I know for a fact I’ve read and seen things I’ve enjoyed that were created by some bad people.

      • T.Fanty says:

        No, but we are the consumers. I personally think the posh-person-reading-crap skit is getting old, but I also chose not to participate, because I don’t like R. Kelly. I comment, it looks successful, people want to do it again, R. Kelly gets press for responding, more people hear him, more people buy his music. As a consumer, I choose to show my distain for him by not engaging. Likewise, I don’t rent or watch Polanski or Woody Allen movies, and I have no interest in using my purchasing power to support a business that uses Terry Richardson (to offer a couple of examples). My own personal line is whether the artist will profit by my engagement. Hemingway was a misogynist douche, but he’s not making money and acquiring more cultural power if I read “Hills Like White Elephants.”

        Also, this wouldn’t have been an issue (and it barely is an issue, anyway) if Cumby didn’t espouse his feminist values. Cumby is a public figure, and has been on the receiving end of backlash before. He should be aware that if he’s going to talk about feminism, then he needs to have consistent principles – not just when it applies to him directly. I don’t really think he’s on the hook for much, but I do think that there’s a point to be made here, especially as it pertains to women of color.

      • allheavens says:

        We are under the assumption that Cumberbatch knew who R. Kelly was?

        I read an article in which he stated that Martin Freeman “introduced” him to the music of Stevie Wonder, that was in 2010. I mean Cumberbatch didn’t know who “Stevie fking Wonder” was until 2010. That being said, Kelly could have been completely off his radar.

        Just throwing that out there.

      • Maureen says:

        @Allheaveans

        That is a REALLY good point. It’s highly likely that he thought this guy was just another American rapper and that was it. I am sure he’d be as repulsed as the rest of us if he knew … about that other stuff.

        I don’t think it’s strange that he might not have known who Stevie Wonder is. I think it’s easy to think that because someone is super famous, even legendary, that they MUST be known the world over. It’s just not true. The world is a very, very big place full of all kinds of people who may or may not to exposed to certain iconic figures. This is just not surprising to me or strange. Like Sherlock said when John was aghast that Sherlock didn’t know basic astronomy: “It’s not important to what I do”. I kind of admire people who have such full and active lives that they might be like, “Who’s Beyonce?”.

    • lunchcoma says:

      I didn’t think enough about the R Kelly incident when it happened, but after reading the LaineyGossip take on it…I think it was fair, appropriate criticism. She pointed out ways in which he was culpable and places he had the opportunity to speak up and do something better, and she also addressed the fact that the industry as a whole and the fans as well tend to enable this behavior by looking the other way.

      It’s certainly not going to make me stop liking Cumberbatch, but I think I’d like him more if he reassessed his choices and spoke out about the issue.

    • Lindy79 says:

      I know I took it as more them taking the mick out of R.Kelly and his awful lyrics but the article makes valid points which I agree with.

  22. Jojo says:

    I find it pretty strange that people seem to almost be expected to be on Twitter and if they choose not to, then the burden of expectation is on them to explain why. It’s odd that we all have this pressure to prove why we don’t want to participate in it.