Even a Golden Globes party report seemed a bit sour about Cumberbatch, compared to comments made about other celebrities. A timeline of highlights of multiple post-awards parties included this item about Cumberbatch: “8:50 p.m. Posing for photographers at the entrance to the Fox party, Benedict Cumberbatch walks over to one partygoer snapping an iPhone picture. He calls her ‘rude’ and suggests she ask next time”.[309] This titbit might even have been hidden among the many items and famous names being reported, but the article’s headline specifically draws attention to Cumberbatch.
Such articles that strive for a bit of controversy are not quite the “tall poppy syndrome” evidenced by the media and public-commentary backlash regarding Cumberbatch’s words about Downton Abbey or “poshness” a few years ago. Those required the actor to discuss being misquoted or to explain that his words had been taken out of context; he then made a few talk-show appearances to smooth over the controversy. Now that Cumberbatch is better established in Hollywood and is given so much media attention nearly every day, articles that try to portray him in a less than flattering light have less bearing on what the public thinks of him. Such headlines attract readers who pick up on the use of his name, which is what those headlines are designed to do, but the stories really have very little to do with the actor or his career. They are more a feature of his celebrity.
Perhaps a little calculated edginess can be good for his image. In a photo shoot for GQ Style featuring Cumberbatch and Alice Eve, Cumberbatch’s co-star in Starter for 10 and Star Trek: Into Darkness, friend and photographer Tertius Bune wanted to capture a little rougher image. The photographer commented that his friend is most frequently portrayed as a very mannerly man, which, Bune admitted, is true, but being “edgy” is also part of who Cumberbatch always has been. The photographer wanted the GQ photo shoot to have an “outlaw” quality appropriate to Eve or Cumberbatch at this phase of their careers because they are “grabbing” so many Hollywood roles from other actors. Bune noted that
[I]n particular I wanted to show his edgier side. Which is not something I contrived, he has it. I see the media painting Benedict as the proper British boy (yes, this is part of him), but he has a vast range. And I’m not just talking about actor or character range.[310]
In short, Cumberbatch’s every public act, word, or expression is going to be reported and analysed. If he suddenly became known as a “bad boy” in the media, the shift in public persona would likely turn away some fans or tarnish the public’s perception of him. However, a few rough edges make him more human without creating dissonance between the persona the public sees or the one that fans want to believe is real and the human being who, like everyone else, is not perfect.
Reaching Out to Fans
Rupert Graves, Detective Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock, knows that “Benedict Cumberbatch’s life changed the moment the first episode of Sherlock aired. His profile has become extraordinary. I think he found it overwhelming at first”.[311] During the “big year,” Cumberbatch may have felt deluged by more fan love than ever before, but he began to orchestrate ways in which he could more effectively and safely interact with at least some of the many fans who want to say hello, take a selfie, get an autograph, or simply touch him.
Fan conventions proved one new way to meet and greet hundreds in the U.K. and Australia. During an unexpected filming delay leading to a break between projects, Cumberbatch headlined a Sherlock Q&A at StarFury: Elementary in Birmingham and grinned through photo ops for fans. He and his vast audience seemed to enjoy the actor’s first official foray into conventions. Two months later he talked with fans during exclusive Q&A sessions at Oz Comic Con in Adelaide and Sydney.
Although during San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 2013 he memorably explained Sherlock’s survival from the fall by using hand puppets, his participation was video-only from Japan, where he was promoting Star Trek. During the 2014 SDCC, however, Cumberbatch joined the Penguins of Madagascar panel on Thursday and stuck around for the Hobbit panel two days later, both offering a great deal of publicity and opportunities for fans to meet him.
These encounters gave fans Cumberbatch’s complete attention and a chance to ask questions in a controlled setting. As Cumberbatch noted in an SDCC interview, he prefers sitting on stage with a mic, answering questions from the audience. Part of this preference is the controlled environment, but part of it is the ability to communicate directly with fans and to have a conversation.[312]
At some conventions, a limited number of fans had the chance to pose with Cumberbatch and spend a few seconds with him. Such events are lucrative for conventions, and yet another way to make money for Cumberbatch, but they also make him a more accessible celebrity. Most movie stars do not attend conventions, and Cumberbatch’s stature as a rising film star and a hot television star make him more of an exclusive “commodity” for fan events. As well, the limited number of events that Cumberbatch has begun to attend also increases his “value” for conventions, because not every convention - or continent, or country - has been able to bring the actor to his fans in this way.
Cumberbatch pointedly has stated that he does not have a Twitter, Facebook, or other social media account and often finds social media to be a less than hospitable place. Nevertheless, he uses social media in limited, controlled settings as another means of interacting with the public. In 2013 he thrilled fans with an hour-long Reddit chat, teasing his audience with suggestive comments about Tom Hiddleston and posting a photo taken in his hotel room during the chat.[313] “Talking with” his vast Internet fandom through a Reddit chat allowed him to be funny and brash without leaving the comfort of his hotel.
As Cumberbatch and the venues where he works get a better understanding of a fandom that has been labelled everything from devoted to rabid, the actor develops more opportunities to talk with fans but yet keep the encounters manageable, unlike a mob scene after a dramatic reading in 2012. In the past year, Cumberbatch’s much-publicised fan encounters seem to have been positive experiences for him and his followers, but the opportunities also have been effectively controlled.
A Fashion Statement with a Global Impact
Among the many measures of Cumberbatch’s celebrity and the power of fandom is his ability to influence his fans’ tastes in fashion. Sherlock’s classic Belstaff coat even received a meta reference in series three’s “The Empty Hearse”. It became a coveted accessory that many fans tried to buy and, when Burberry no longer carried the coat, began to creatively design on their own, for everyday wear or as part of cosplay. Perhaps it is no wonder, then, that when the actor who plays Sherlock is frequently seen sporting a fashion accessory, fans also take notice and check where to buy a similar item. The result can mean an impressive amount of business for a small company.
When Cumberbatch was frequently photographed wearing what he described to a reporter as a “Swedish band, a silver band my friend gave me ages ago, which is for good luck,”[314] his fanbase took notice. The black leather bracelet peeks out from his shirt cuff on the Hollywood Reporter cover and is far more visible during Cumberbatch’s guest stint on Top Gear and media footage from San Diego Comic-Con 2014.
This is where SwedArt entered the picture. Swedish entrepreneur Margareta Lidskog’s line of handmade bracelets/leather bands has been worn by the famous in the entertainment industry, including Sheryl Crow and, more recently, Cumberbatch. Word travelled rapidly throughout fandom about the small company specialising in unique, wearable cultural art. From her home base in Boston, Lidskog designs and makes bracelets as often as time permits and forwards some orders to the Lapland artists with whom she works back in Sweden. Making jewellery is more than the Lapland artisans’ livelihood; their art makes its wearers aware of the historic significance of the friendship band and the ancient Sami culture it represents. “For a small company like mine, I felt that I had been very lucky to be able to have that many celebs wear SwedArt jewellery al
ready.... And then along comes Benedict Cumberbatch,” and his fans “are even more excited” and appreciative of the bands.[315]
When Cumberbatch lost his bracelet, Lidskog offered to replace it and also sent him another style to try. The actor’s thank-you note later was shared online, and Lidskog was astounded that the post received 2,000 hits in the first hour[316] and more than 17,000 within a few days.[317] Cumberbatch’s association with a product, even one for which he is not an official (paid) spokesman, can bring fame and a great deal of good fortune to small businesses, all through the buying power of a fandom that observes the details of the actor’s fashion sense and can turn a bracelet into an international symbol of Cumberbatch fandom.
Unusual Tributes to His Celebrity in 2014
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum has been a fixture in London (and around the world) for its unique commemoration of popular culture. As new celebrities gain public favour, wax figures of them are added to the collection on public display. As yet another marker of Cumberbatch’s celebrity, Madame Tussaud’s worked with the actor to get his likeness just right. Not terribly surprising, the “look” chosen for the figure is Cumberbatch’s “immaculate red carpet style... paired with a warm and relaxed expression, and his famous tousled hairstyle”.[318] That the waxwork matches the public persona Cumberbatch and his management prefer is a tribute itself to the way the actor is perceived by the public, and his inclusion in the museum’s exhibit further establishes his official public persona in the minds of the thousands who visit the museum annually.
Cumberbatch explained the process, which interested him as much as his becoming the latest addition to the popular museum’s tributes to the famous. “The main privilege for me was the process... a wonderful combination of old and new, hi-tech and lo-fi skills”. The actor also quipped that his agents were thrilled to have a clone of him and he could now photobomb himself.[319]
Madame Tussaud’s may be the most visible and famed of the recent tributes to Cumberbatch, but it is hardly the only way that he is being immortalised in popular culture. Cumberbatch became the subject of a colouring book, one that includes Mel Elliott’s art of him photobombing U2 at the Oscars as well as having a “cuteness face-off with some kittens”.[320] A colouring book is a strange yet oddly important measure of his celebrity when it becomes the focus of media news.
Another interesting tribute to the celebrity is a play written about “perfect Benedict Cumberbatch”. Three New Zealand fans brainstormed their fantasies about the actor before deciding their obsession was inappropriate adult behaviour as a result of Cumberbatch driving them crazy; they jested that Cumberbatch must die in order to break his spell over them. The result is a play, entitled “Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die,” performed in June 2014 at the BATS Theatre in Wellington. The play’s promotional art features Cumberbatch-as-Sherlock (wearing the character’s purple shirt of sex, as fans have called it) in front of a red-and-white heart-shaped bull’s eye-style target.
The play spoofs fans’ adoration of Cumberbatch. The three performers, one who wrote the script, created the play not to strike terror in Cumberbatch but to inspire quite the opposite reaction. “We thought if we performed a play about him he might come and see it and fall in love with us... We sent an invitation to 221b Baker St and even though he’s not on Twitter, we’ve been tweeting his colleagues and friends like Mark Gatiss and Amanda Abbington”.[321] The play became newsworthy around the world and gained a much higher level of attention than it probably would have without the actor’s name in the title.
Political Messages and the Use of Celebrity
Do an actor’s political concerns warrant media publicity? More important, do an actor’s comments have an impact on the way the public thinks - or the government reacts? When Cumberbatch was working on the third series of Sherlock, paparazzi photographs taken on location showed the actor holding up a political message. That action effectively garnered the attention of global media and allowed Cumberbatch to “interact” with them without talking directly to them (and risking the possibility of being misquoted or badgered into saying more than he wanted).
A Wales Online article first reported the actor, head down, in a dark hoodie and shades, holding a handwritten note in front of his face. The politicised photo was not the article’s focus; in fact, the headline emphasised a new cast addition and featured several photos of Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington. Nevertheless, other publications quickly picked up on the Cumberbatch photo and the message clutched in his hand: “Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important”.[322]
Within four days, approximately fifty news outlets around the world had republished the photo and commentary, and each website had received thousands of hits. Some comments regarding the photo were positive, praising Cumberbatch for wanting to focus on an increasingly volatile situation in Egypt.
An Esquire blog on August 19, 2013, summarised the potential of using celebrity to create greater political awareness of a situation, even while recognising that a single sign or message is likely a futile gesture:
What if all of the stars, hounded by the dogs of photography, started blocking their image and holding up signs about what is really important in the news?... [P]erhaps,... public figures... can earn their acclaim by doing something that is right. Redirect social attention to places and people that need [it].[323]
Other bloggers and commentators, however, raised questions about the propriety of an actor stating his politics, especially when such a famous man knows that the paparazzi waiting for him to emerge from his trailer will photograph him. Also on August 19, Now Daily asked, “What gives Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch the right to take the moral high ground?” The article questioned why Cumberbatch should trivialise the photographers’ jobs and added “one could argue that his job isn’t exactly doing much to change the world either”.[324]
Such articles note that one person’s - even sought-after Cumberbatch’s - words or the rather passive action of holding up a sign may not change anything. However, Cumberbatch’s “sign posts” got a lot of attention.
After the initial success of the note about Egypt, Cumberbatch followed up with a four-page message concerning a political issue closer to (geographically, his) home. On August 21, Metro published a photo of the actor, dressed in Sherlock’s trademark form-fitting suit and his own shades, holding up the new message as he prepared to film a scene. He stood out in the open, holding up a page at a time and, in the Metro photo, seemed to be smirking in the sun as the media photographed his message.[325] It was a very different look from the defensive “go away” presentation of the Egypt sign.
The media publicised Cumberbatch’s political statements and “silent protest” against the government’s decision to detain the partner of a Guardian journalist under anti-terror laws. The actor’s messages brought up questions he believes citizens in a democracy have a right to ask:
Hard drives smashed, journalists detained at airports. Democracy? Schedule 7 Prior restraint - is this erosion of civil liberties winning the war on terror? What do they not want you to know?... Does the exposure of their techniques cause a threat to our security or does it just cause them embarrassment?[326]
Whereas video from Egypt had been broadcast on international television news for weeks and Cumberbatch’s fans likely were at least somewhat aware of what was going on (or at least was being reported), they collectively may not have been as aware of David Miranda’s detention without arrest over the previous weekend. Nevertheless, as posts commented on one of my blogs about Cumberbatch’s use of political notes, many fans keep up with news and are sociopolitically active; they do not need Cumberbatch to direct their attention to what they should know about these topics.
Additionally, the signs ask questions without Cumberbatch positing any answers, but the tone and phrasing of the questions indicate the actor’s political disquiet about the journalist�
��s detention and surrender of personal property. Cumberbatch would hardly put himself in an increasingly prominent media position to state a political message if he did not believe in what he is doing. He understands how much media attention his political views will earn. During a two-week span during 2013, when the actor was mute before the press and relied on handwritten messages to deliver his thoughts, he had an incredibly loud voice.
In subsequent interviews regarding the roles he chooses, Cumberbatch has said “I’m an actor, not a spokesperson, a political pundit or an expert”.[327] Nonetheless, Cumberbatch’s occasional political comments led to media follow-ups months later.
David Cameron invited Cumberbatch, as part of a guest list including Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, for a modern Cool Britannia gathering in late June 2014, but many A-list actors did not turn up. At the time, Cumberbatch was working on a film in the Boston area, but, as one writer noted, “Ben has a history of sharing his political opinions, ones that often don’t align with the Tory party,” suggesting that Cumberbatch’s absence may have been “an almighty diss”[328] politically rather than a scheduling conflict. This comment accompanied reprinted photographs of Cumberbatch holding up his political messages and reminded readers that the actor may use his celebrity for political purposes in the future.
Rumoured and Real Film Roles
Benedict Cumberbatch, Transition Completed Page 21