The Sherlock Holmes depicter on the popular British series reveals he almost turned down the role because he worried about the attention that he would get with it.
- Jan 17, 2014
AceShowbiz - Benedict Cumberbatch is now a household name thanks to the popular British series, "Sherlock". But the actor has just revealed that he nearly missed a chance to gain worldwide fame as he almost turned down the role.
"My reservation was 'Well, this is a very iconic character, there will be a lot of attention on it,' " he tells Entertainment Weekly. "This was before I had had any significant success [but] I knew there would still be a lot of focus on it. And while I had done work, it wasn't stepping into the populist limelight like playing a character like Holmes. So I did have a pause for thought."
But then he thought, "If I'm going to do this, if I'm going to step into the limelight with a large leading role of iconic status, then I might as well do it these people. They know what they're doing and I completely trust them." He goes on recalling, "I felt like I was being asked to join the family and have some fun. There was nothing businessy about it. And that's how to operate it."
Following his performance as the famous fictional detective, Cumberbatch has snagged roles in big Hollywood films like "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", "Star Trek Into Darkness" as well as the critically-acclaimed "12 Years a Slave". He reprises his role as Sherlock Holmes in the third season of the crime drama series which will premiere in the U.S. on Sunday, January 19.
