Another week, another Benedict Cumberbatch extravaganza! I had a thought this morning: what if Bendy and Sophie Hunter do some quickie wedding over the holidays? God. If they make me work on Christmas, I am going to be so pissed. Anyway, Bendy took part in Variety’s Oscar roundtable stuff, and Variety has been posting various video clips of Bendy and Edward Norton talking about acting, fame, etc. But Bendy also sat down for a proper interview with Variety – go here to read the full thing. This seems to have been done recently, although I’m not sure if the interview was conducted, like, this week. Benedict does seem aware that he’s reached the point of oversaturation. Some highlights:

Fear of overexposure: “The more work you do, the more publicity you have to do. That’s the only time I get worried — the idea that people might get sick of me not because of what I’m doing as an actor, but because of the proliferation of me in the media.”

Winning the Emmy for Sherlock: “I literally won in my sleep,” he quips. His biggest regret was not being able to make the ceremony and receive the prize presented by “True Detective” co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. “They announced my name and just wandered off. Probably smelted the statue into a bong by now.” And while he’s honored by the win, he jokes that it comes with “a ludicrous subtitle. Something like, ‘Lead actor in a motion series or drama single episode with Martin Freeman in it but not the one with Moriarty.’”

He didn’t have to audition to play Alan Turing but: “I would have done cartwheels naked through crowded streets just for a shot.”

Turing’s life: “Alan Turing is a war hero, a gay icon, a man whose work ripples on into our lives now. He forged a life so brief and tragic, yet so profoundly important, it shaped the world. And then he was thrown away by the very society he helped keep safe. Awarded with persecution and prosecution for being different.”

Playing real people: “I am determined not to carve out something two-dimensional. But you do have to make leaps as to what people are like behind closed doors.”

Praise for his TIG performance: “The biggest compliment I got was when his family came to the London premiere, and said (that watching the movie) felt like being with him again. That’s the only review I need.”

His public engagement announcement: “That’s how I would have done it if I wasn’t in the position I’m in. So that’s again me trying to normalize things.”

Losing his anonymity: “I don’t burn with regret at losing parts of my anonymity. I guess because this has happened to me in my mid-30s, not my 20s or teenage years.”

He doesn’t want to become a meme: “The amount of people I get asking me” — here, he puts on his best Valley Girl accent — “ ‘Omigod, can you photobomb me?’ No. I’m not a performing monkey. When it gets really banal and reductive, I’m like, let’s move on.”

Dealing with his Oscar campaign: “Thank God I have mechanisms and people and places to help me deal with this.”

What can we expect from Richard III? “A few beheadings, some near-incestual marital arrangements, a hump and a limp. Something very sexy, witty and dangerous.”

[From Variety]

First, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him acknowledge his Emmy win. Maybe I missed it, but he never even issued a statement of thanks after he won (and wasn’t even there to pick it up). As for his flat-out indignant comment about not being a “performing monkey”… uh, yeah, right. DANCE MONKEY. *tosses dollar bills at Bendy*

Meanwhile, I read an interesting possible SPOILER for The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Please turn away if you don’t want all of the MARVEL SPOILERS…

Okay, here goes: there’s a rumor going around that not only will Tom Hiddleston’s Loki definitely and totally make a cameo appearance in Age of Ultron, but Benedict’s Doctor Strange will be seen as well. Apparently, Bendy’s Doctor Strange could appear as a “nameless surgeon” in the end credits or something. You can read more about it here.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.