'The Imitation Game' actor and 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' actress are among the 11 non-academics to accept the role.
- Feb 7, 2016
AceShowbiz - Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Watson are adding a new role to their resumes. "The Imitation Game" actor and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" actress are among the 11 non-academics agreeing to the role of visiting fellows at University of Oxford.
Cumberbatch was awarded a CBE by Queen Elizabeth for his services to the performing arts and to charity. He got positive reviews for his role in stage production "Shakespeare's Hamlet" and got an Oscar nomination in the Alan Turing biopic. He also helped raise awareness of refugee crisis.
Besides famous for her role as Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies, Watson is known as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador advocating gender equality. She has a degree from the Ivy League Brown University while Cumberbatch studied drama at Manchester University.
The two are joined by Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant, film director Beeban Kidron, and author Malorie Blackman as Oxford fellows. The role usually lasts for three years and those fellows are encouraged to visit the University for debates and performances.
Lady Margaret Hall's principal, Alan Rusbridger, explains that the appointees are "people drawn from a variety of backgrounds, callings and professions and we want them to form a bridge between our own academic community and the worlds they inhabit and represent."
The former editor of The Guardian adds, "We'd like them to do one thing a bit more structured: it could be a conversation or debate, a performance, a lecture or seminar, a form of outreach - or something we haven't thought of. We can imagine fascinating interactions or collaborations between them."
"They are welcome to come and stay in college if they'd like a place temporarily to think or work. And some have already suggested other ways in which they might engage with a body of 700 incredibly smart students and tutors in order to stimulate their own thinking or work in progress."
