BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Let's talk all things lovely about Ben...

SolarSystem · April 1, 2014 7:34 am

And also, I really do think that he is at a crucial point in his career right now. Of course he has a huge fanbase, but is he really that well-known among 'normal' viewers..? I'm afraid in Germany he still is practically fameless. I don't know about other countries of course, but I doubt he is a household name worldwide already. Even people who have seen STID and liked the villain probably don't even know how to pronounce his name yet.

Tinks · April 1, 2014 7:44 am

Agree, Solar - this is the point I was trying to make yesterday; he has a big fanbase (including us!) but I think he's not quite at the point where he can walk into any Movie role and ensure it's a Box Office smash, and at the end of the day, it's your ability to put bottoms on cinema seats that gets you the big roles - I've a hunch that that's partly what all this jetting around is for: to get his name and face out there on a worldwide basis, but I've got reservations about his publicists - that's just me though: I'm a bit weird sometimes!:D

He needs to do this, I think; he seems to want to try all forms of acting from the lowest level to the highest and good luck to him for going after what he wants.
I think he needs a massive break, though - a really big hit, to get there.
And I have a hunch that eventually he'll decide that the stage and TV is where he's most comfortable but we'll see.

Last edited by Tinks (April 1, 2014 7:46 am)

SusiGo · April 1, 2014 7:58 am

This is really an interesting discussion. Looking at some of the Hollywood output I am not sure that he would want to go there. He has been given big, demanding roles in Britain when nobody knew him but Hollywood seems to work differently. Of course it would be great if he had the chance to play a leading role in a wonderful, original big film. But If I could choose (which of course I cannot) I would always prefer the Hawkings and the Talbots and the Sherlocks to a big, expensive but gratuitous Hollywood production.

@Solar: And what you say about Germany is sadly true. Really no wonder if you remember that they hide Sherlock late in the evening on holiday weekends and that this is the part that made him famous.

Last edited by SusiGo (April 1, 2014 8:05 am)

SolarSystem · April 1, 2014 9:36 am

So I guess we all agree that he is almost ridiculously talented - but he's not quite there yet (wherever "there" might be for him).
I can imagine him in all kinds of movies, Hollywood or not, I'm just not sure if for example Hollywood can imagine him in lots of different roles in Hollywood movies, as well. For example, if I take a look at all the Oscar nominees for Best Actor this year, all I can say is: they were all great - and Benedict would have been brilliant in all of those roles, too. It's certainly not a question of talent, it's a question of what or rather who sells movie tickets (like Tinks already said). And in Hollywood right now that's not Benedict, I would assume.

Susi is so right, he did brilliant stuff for the BBC or in the UK before or during "Sherlock", and I wouldn't mind if it stayed that way. But the fact that nothing much seems to be in the pipeline for him, Hollywood or UK, indeed is a bit weird. I would imagine that filmmakers in the UK would just love to work with him...?

SpiralStaircase · April 1, 2014 10:51 am

To be honest, I imagine that we are all worrying about his career a lot more than the man himself probably is! He has been doing some fab things recently, and large or small parts, I'm sure he'll love everything he is doing and tackle them with his usual gusto. I don't see him as someone who is desperate for huge Hollywood parts, and sees them as the be all end all, but if he does get them he'll have fun and be happy. Perhaps this brief acting break will be good for him. Give him a chance to recharge his acting batteries.

Um...that's my personal opinion anyway!

SusiGo · April 1, 2014 10:57 am

On another note: I am thrilled to see that in the BA interview Benedict names five favourite cities and Berlin is among them.

SolarSystem · April 1, 2014 11:16 am

SpiralStaircase wrote:
Give him a chance to recharge his acting batteries.

Well, when did we last see him act? If I remember correctly it was in September, when he finished TIG, right? Of course I'm not an actor and I don't know how long it takes to recharge your acting batteries, but I would think that now would be a good time to start again.
I don't doubt for a second that he enjoys tremendously what he's been doing during the last months, and I'm also pretty sure that he wouldn't choose a project that appeared not very interesting or challenging to him. I'm just not sure that the fact that he hasn't been acting for half a year now has so much to do with 'recharching his acting batteries'.

But maybe you're right, Spiral, maybe (hopefully) we worry too much and all will be just fine.

SusiGo · April 1, 2014 11:20 am

I think TIG finished in November, but still. Re-charging your batteries is fine but when have we seen him not acting for five months at a time? And the way it looks it will be even longer. Of course I wish him fun and being relaxed but he always strikes me as someone who loves his work - the acting work, not the promo stuff - really much. Therefore such a long break seems a bit odd. But I am keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Tinks · April 1, 2014 11:31 am

It is odd - especially given the fact that he seems to have pulled out of Crimson Tide despite having nothing else on the Horizon (although if he felt the Movie wasn't right for him then I'm glad he pulled out).

I guess all will be revealed in time - we were worried about Hamlet but they did come up with a firm date eventually. Maybe in the next few weeks there'll be some kind of announcement - fingers crossed, anyway.

SpiralStaircase · April 1, 2014 11:37 am

SolarSystem wrote:
SpiralStaircase wrote:
Give him a chance to recharge his acting batteries.
Well, when did we last see him act? If I remember correctly it was in September, when he finished TIG, right? Of course I'm not an actor and I don't know how long it takes to recharge your acting batteries, but I would think that now would be a good time to start again.
I don't doubt for a second that he enjoys tremendously what he's been doing during the last months, and I'm also pretty sure that he wouldn't choose a project that appeared not very interesting or challenging to him. I'm just not sure that the fact that he hasn't been acting for half a year now has so much to do with 'recharching his acting batteries'.

But maybe you're right, Spiral, maybe (hopefully) we worry too much and all will be just fine.

Ah, I didn't realise it had been quite that long. I'm a bad fan!

But hey...he seems happy enough at the moment, which is the main thing. And we don't really know what he has been up to recently - what people he has been meeting with, what things have been discussed etc. I'm sure that there is more in the pipeline than we realise.

tonnaree · April 1, 2014 1:14 pm

I certainly hope Benny apprecaites how seriously we take his career!

One thing I do especially like about BC is the huge variety of work he has done and the mediums he has worked in. Film. TV. Stage. Radio. I would say he doesn't seem to feel any type of work is "beneath" him. That seems to be a particularly European trait.

It's getting better in America but there have alway been actors who consider TV a step down from movies.

SolarSystem · April 1, 2014 1:42 pm

tonnaree wrote:
It's getting better in America but there have alway been actors who consider TV a step down from movies.

But it's an interesting development, isn't it, that in the last few years lots of actors who did quite well at the movies decided to do televsion. Kevin Spacey, Lawrence Fishburne, now Billy Bob Thornton with "Fargo"... and there are lots more. They seem to appreciate the fact that a show on television gives them more time to develop their character and to tell a story.
Like I said, I don't need to see Benedict on the big screen, I'd be happy if he decided to do some television - maybe even in the States. There really have been some pretty fantastic tv shows lately.

Last edited by SolarSystem (April 1, 2014 1:42 pm)

tonnaree · April 1, 2014 4:14 pm

"There really have been some pretty fantastic tv shows lately.

Seriously. I would rather stay home and watch something like Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under or (yes of course) Sherlock than watch most of the crap that shows up at the theater every week.

miriel68 · April 2, 2014 7:11 am

It's not so much the fact that he hasn't been doing any film & theatre & television for half a year now, as the fact that we have not so much to looking forward to... "Hamlet" is due in 1,5 year from now and TLCoZ seems lost in the jungle somewhere... they even took it down from pre-production into "in develpement" now. There is IG, of course, but it is already done and we (fandom) need something more than adds, conventions and occasional interviews, to go on, I suppose....

besleybean · April 2, 2014 4:11 pm

Apparently the IMdB thing was an error.

SusiGo · April 2, 2014 4:22 pm

Yes, I read that, too. Something about a film automatically switched back to "in development" after a certain amount of time.

miriel68 · April 3, 2014 8:55 am

Yes, I read it too, but still the fact remains that we have had no solid news for months now - I think since the information about R. Pattison casting - so it is all speculation and our wishful thinking at the moment.

Tinks · April 3, 2014 9:37 am

I think Pattinson has only just finished shooting a Movie, so I don't know if that's having an effect on the delay?
I'd love to see Ben get some definite projects, with clear dates for filming but I guess an Actor's life is an unpredictable one.
Maybe he's taken a decision to hold out for one big role each year, rather that risk over exposure in lots of smaller roles, and if so, I don't blame him for that.
Again, I think the fact that so much money has been put into TIG may have had an effect on his plans; he can't commit to filming or promoting anything that will clash with TIGs release or prevent him from being available to promote it.
With that in mind, I'd say if he doesn't start filming anything in the next couple of months, then it may well be that this is a quiet year for him, acting-wise.

SolarSystem · April 3, 2014 9:48 am

Tinks wrote:
Again, I think the fact that so much money has been put into TIG may have had an effect on his plans; he can't commit to filming or promoting anything that will clash with TIGs release or prevent him from being available to promote it.

I'm not sure how the movie business really works and maybe you're right, but I'd say that an actor first and foremost wants to act and needs to act. Promoting finished projects certainly is part of the job, but it shouldn't be the most important part. So I think that if there was a project that Benedict really wanted to be part of, for whatever reasons, he should be able to do it even if it temporarily clashed with the promotion of TIG. I'm sure there are ways to negotiate something like this, and I can't believe (and I also probably don't want to believe) that he wouldn't be able to be part of a shoot that takes three or four months because he has to do, I don't know, promotion that all in all might require one month of his time.

So, what I'm trying to say is: I doubt that the promotional work for TIG is the reason why nothing definite seems to be in the pipeline for him.

Last edited by SolarSystem (April 3, 2014 9:49 am)

Tinks · April 3, 2014 10:17 am

I'm not sure Solar, I think at the level he's working at with TIG, money talks...anyone investing the kind of money Weinstein has will want everything done to ensure the Movie is a success - which will probably require a fair amount of promo work around Oscar time, too!
I'm not saying it should stop him filming anything this year. But I wouldn't be at all surprised that with this Movie, it's a requirement for him to be available to promote it.
I've seen Actors blamed in the past for a Movie failing to make big numbers because they've not engaged in promoting it properly, so I think it is considered part of the package - at least when the Movie is considered to be a big deal.
The other thing I wanted to say was that, if you think about it, if he was prepared to act in anything, then there's no doubt he would be working non- stop! I'm glad he doesn't do this though, and is able and willing to be selective about his acting roles
I should probably stop analysing now, though

Last edited by Tinks (April 3, 2014 10:23 am)