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)

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...?

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

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. 

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 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)

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....

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

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.

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)