This is a very interesting interview. He does not mince words or hold back out of politeness. This does not mean he is impolite, not at all, but he is more outspoken than in some other interviews. Maybe because he is a bit of an outsider there, this is not his own industry and he does not have to promote a certain film or show on this occasion. 

And, yes, him playing Bowie in a Freddie Mercury biopic could be awesome. He said "no commen" and I seem to remember he said the same about "Dr Strange" before it was confirmed. So keeping fingers crossed. 

Such a good interview. I love watching him speak like this. He is so honest, thoughtful, eloquent, funny, insightful...

Now that you mention it... Yeah, I do remember having a little bit of a cringe at those couple of moments. There was also another bit, I can't remember what it was now... maybe it was when he said something about not being as good looking as Aidan Turner, I had a bit of an inward groan. Maybe it was something else, I can't remember. I wonder if someone will type up a transcript?

He does sometimes let his mouth run off, but I think he really has gotten to the point where he doesn't care if people like him or not. I'm sure it's not arrogance, perhaps it's just Benedict growing a thicker skin to all the slings and arrows thrown at him.

Last edited by ukaunz (May 1, 2015 12:07 pm)

I watched the youtube video of the Summit interview and found it really refreshing.  He was in a very talkative mood obviously and I did feel that near the end he was finally getting to cut loose some of his tamped down feelings about the vile things that are said about him in the media (Daily Mail etc.) and on websites that are run by a few people who make cruel, uncalled for "definitive" statements about him and his family and friends that are based on hateful imaginations, arrogance and bile (over his marrage and forthcoming child). 

And frankly, I think he was quite restrained. 

You can hear it in his voice how aware he is of this nonsense and yet at the same time how he knows, and how he tries, to distance himself from it all - it can't be easy. Especially telling when he caught himself near the end when he said "That's where the lure of social media has often raised it's head and I've gone, 'Oh I really wanna get involved with this one. I really want to punch this dickhead back. I really want to get out there and put the record straight.'  I'm not spoonfed... I'm not gonna go into them all now (I am so tempted to), the myths out there about me. But in a way that's the Trojan Horse.  That's what people want because then the cycle can continue."

That attitude shows a true maturity and intelligence.

Bravo for him for handling as well as he does.  I doubt there are very many here (including myself) who could live through what he has done in recent times (fame, expectations, demands on his time, etc.) and handled it any better.  I love his comment right near the end about "the measure of success is how much you can step away from success."  This will keep him sane in some very insane situations and bring balance to his life.     

Nothing in this interview made me raise an eyebrow.  He handled every question with the right amount of humility, intelligence, humour and grace that any human being could ever muster I thought. 

If anyone has a right to curse and rant a bit about the idiots who judge, not his work, but him as a person and his wife and life, it is Benedict Cumberbatch.  It must be an ongoing struggle not to get in the trough and wrestle with the porcine media and internet hater faction that only want to see him fail because of the way he has chosen to live his life recently.

Nothing about this interview made me feel uncomfortable with how he answered the questions.  He was genuine and engaging.  Pushy isn't even part of the equation as far as I am concerned.  Yes, his answers were long - that's the way he is.  To be succinct when he gets revved up about a topic would be false for him.  I don't think the person doing the questioning minded at all.

If anything this interview helped me see that this is a fellow who is capable of handling things that are thrown at him in a very thoughtful, balanced way and is confident in who he is and how he lives his life.  And after hearing this interview I also think there isn't a chance that he will let the craziness of the profession he is in take over his personal passions for family and friends.  This is a strong, intelligent man who lives his life as he sees fit - more power to him!

-Val

Last edited by Ah-chie (May 1, 2015 5:49 pm)

Ah-chie wrote:

I watched the youtube video of the Summit interview and found it really refreshing.  He was in a very talkative mood obviously and I did feel that near the end he was finally getting to cut loose some of his tamped down feelings about the vile things that are said about him in the media (Daily Mail etc.) and on websites that are run by a few people who make cruel, uncalled for "definitive" statements about him and his family and friends that are based on hateful imaginations, arrogance and bile (over his marrage and forthcoming child). 

And frankly, I think he was quite restrained. 

You can hear it in his voice how aware he is of this nonsense and yet at the same time how he knows, and how he tries, to distance himself from it all - it can't be easy. Especially telling when he caught himself near the end when he said "That's where the lure of social media has often raised it's head and I've gone, 'Oh I really wanna get involved with this one. I really want to punch this dickhead back. I really want to get out there and put the record straight.'  I'm not spoonfed... I'm not gonna go into them all now (I am so tempted to), the myths out there about me. But in a way that's the Trojan Horse.  That's what people want because then the cycle can continue."

That attitude shows a true maturity and intelligence.

Bravo for him for handling as well as he does.  I doubt there are very many here (including myself) who could live through what he has done in recent times (fame, expectations, demands on his time, etc.) and handled it any better.  I love his comment right near the end about "the measure of success is how much you can step away from success."  This will keep him sane in some very insane situations and bring balance to his life.     

Nothing in this interview made me raise an eyebrow.  He handled every question with the right amount of humility, intelligence, humour and grace that any human being could ever muster I thought. 

If anyone has a right to curse and rant a bit about the idiots who judge, not his work, but him as a person and his wife and life, it is Benedict Cumberbatch.  It must be an ongoing struggle not to get in the trough and wrestle with the porcine media and internet hater faction that only want to see him fail because of the way he has chosen to live his life recently.

Nothing about this interview made me feel uncomfortable with how he answered the questions.  He was genuine and engaging.  Pushy isn't even part of the equation as far as I am concerned.  Yes, his answers were long - that's the way he is.  To be succinct when he gets revved up about a topic would be false for him.  I don't think the person doing the questioning minded at all.

If anything this interview helped me see that this is a fellow who is capable of handling things that are thrown at him in a very thoughtful, balanced way and is confident in who he is and how he lives his life.  And after hearing this interview I also think there isn't a chance that he will let the craziness of the profession he is in take over his personal passions for family and friends.  This is a strong, intelligent man who lives his life as he sees fit - more power to him!

-Val

Yes! Thank you Val, perfectly put.
 

For me the best way is to ignore this. I did not pay attention to the notes and would not have known anything about the commenter. And I try to keep away from the hate as much as possible. This must be very unhappy people.

In case I was misunderstood: I have no trouble whatsoever understanding Ben when it comes to such ugly things. Luckily I know very little of what that is about, and neither do I want to. Those kind of people don't deserve an ounce of anyone's time or energy.

So I didn't react at all to any of the stuff he said about that. I support him all the way when it comes to his attitudes towards fame and social media. I don't have any issue with his opinions, only with a few things concerning how he came across in this particular interview.

Vhanja, I don't think your post wasn't clear enough. If you feel a bit uncomfortable about a couple of moments that's perfectly alright and I would never dream that this could be compared to the "haters" strolling around tumblr. That said I don't think that this is what Val wanted to say at all.
I've never heard of the above mentioned blogger and the tumblr I checked were mainly pictures. Where does it come from he or she should be related to a bunge of haters?

First off I never even remotely suggested or even implied in any way that Vhanja's feelings about the interview were to be compared to the haters.  What I wanted to say was quite clear - my only feelings of uncomfortableness was the creepy feeling I got from knowing that a hater of Sophie (and I stand by that assessment of rainbowjay2 - just look at the header on her site "Impending Birth or Start of a new Disaster" in front of one a loop of Sophie short films) and someone who promotes the idea that Ben would be better off if Sophie and Ben's relationship ended, would be commenting on the transcript blogger site (with what I define as false friendliness to suit some other purpose). 

That is the extent of my feelings about discomfort as far as the interview goes - pretty much a periphery type of feeling I grant you but that's what I felt nevertheless.  As far as the interview itself - I feel really good about how it went and really good about everything Ben said (and how he said it).  I also think it is perfectly fine if Vhanja felt otherwise (and I don't think she needs to defend her views because of what I said - it's all just a matter of personal opinion).  Nothing she said upset me or initiated my other post.  It was purely a response from me because of seeing rainbowjay2's name in the comments section of the blogger transcript. Vhanja was quite clear in her original post that she liked the interview very much overall. Both of us enjoyed it in our own way.  

Secondly, I only mentioned this at all because it relates directly I feel to the contents of what Ben was talking about in the interview - the crazy misconceptions and outright lies about his personal life and the sense of entitlement of certain people to make judgements about how he conducts his life (commenting on how he holds hands with someone etc.) above and well beyond his actual work (acting).  I don't participate in engaging with the "Trojan Horse" (as Ben aptly put it) concerning the haters, but I do feel it warrants discussion in appropriate places (ie. this particular thread) because it is on topic and relevant to what is happening in recent times. 

-Val