Sigh… it’s been too long since I’ve written about Benedict Cumberbatch. He’s about to start previews for Hamlet in London, and I keep hoping that we’ll get some big new interviews for his promotional work. So far, nothing. Instead, the press around his return to the stage has been all about how every actor wants to play Hamlet and how the Cumberbitches are losing their minds because Lord Otter is going to be live, in the flesh, as the Danish prince.
Speaking of Cumberbitches losing their minds, this week the New York Times did a piece about the global Cumberbitch Community – or as Bendy calls them, The Cumber Collective – and how so many of them are planning to come to London during his Hamlet run. Go here to read the full piece. It’s honestly kind of embarrassing. Lord… I know that you know that I love Benedict Cumberbatch, even though I’ve cringed through a lot of his machinations over the past nine months. I still like/love him though. But seriously, I am nothing like the Cumberbitches in that NYT piece. Give me some credit! Please? LMAO at this though:
The fans say they find him attractive — even if invariably they say his looks are unconventional — but many also say they are drawn to what they view as a decency in the way he seems to conduct his career and his life.
Decency? That’s not the word I would use, but sure. Let’s go with that. And it’s like the NYT is studying a completely new tribe of bizarre fan-girls who worship the one they call The Alien Otter King.
As for what’s next for Bendy… just after he completed his limited run in Hamlet, he’ll start Doctor Strange, which will probably be filming mostly in England and will almost definitely feature a supporting cast of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton. Later this year, he’s got to do some promotion for Black Mass as well – he plays Whitey Bulger’s brother and he’s doing a Boston accent. Here’s the latest just-released trailer with MOAR CUMBERBATCH than previous trailers.
I’ll admit it, I’m going to see this. For Bendy, for Joel Edgerton, for the supporting cast. I might even enjoy seeing Scarfy Depp do his thing. Black Mass is scheduled to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in a month – Bendy will not be there. Because of Hamlet.
Matt Trueman: What if Cumberbatch wasn’t doing Hamlet? – http://t.co/VVfribNOtn pic.twitter.com/AH3iKypIoq
— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) July 27, 2015
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Maybe decency=not sleeping with the nanny, doing drugs, knocking out women with ludes, dating and marrying his children’s sisters, and whatnot? There’s probably a different threshold in Hollywood. He doesn’t seem horrible, so YAY? He married a cute comet.
Yeah let’s remember how low the bar is set in Hollywood. Compared to a large chunk of them he’s practically saintly…and doesn’t that say a lot about Hollywood!
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/beaver-angel-12522193.jpg
No otter, this will have to suffice.
Close enough…and a thing of beauty.
Maybe this one will do? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/33/f1/ac/33f1ac31a99d2e5ee6bdf8deaeee5858.jpg It kind of looks like he’s holding a comet.
I used to feel the same way about his decency *until* the whole Oscars fiasco and throw into that the weirdness of the Otter courting the Octopus thingie and well, he lost it for me.
However, I did get a ticket to the show (for October) and am enjoying my plans to visit London and Paris. The show is basically an afterthought, but it should still be a good time.
But how does the Oscar thing have anything to do with decency? He got really annoying; he didn’t beat up a photographer (or sleep with a nanny) or anything.
Pretentious but hardly indecent.
Yeah, Mia4S, it’s not like he hired a hitman to knock out the competition or break his knees.
I’ve literally never seen anyone think it was a “fiasco” except obsessed stans who despise his wife (and any woman he’s ever been linked to) because the evil hussy stole their internet boyfriend.
He fell in love, he got married. Who cares.
@Bibby, exactly.
*hides under rock*
Bertie Carvel is hotter!
*hides under rock with PunkyMomma”
Bertie Carvel is x1000000000 times hotter! And he wore a dress to his press night this week, which makes me love him so much more. (The play itself is excellent and he plays three characters, a man, a man pretending to be a woman, and an actual woman.)
I saw that!! God I love him!
After Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, ….my goodness, the crush I have is ridiculous.
The NYTimes must have us confused for someone who builds a damn. Get it? Because he looks like–nevermind.
I needed this! LOL
I meant to add: snort!
Dramatic pause!
hahahah awesome
Does anybody want to talk about his Black Mass accent, or shall we all just pretend that we watched the trailer with the sound down?
I am willing to talk about the accent. I am of the opinion that Americans need to get over the accent thing. Nobody else cares. The rest of the 6 billion people in the world don’t care about the American accents.
Why do we torture actors and make them learn different accents? Especially since in the most of the world the movie will be voiced over / people will not know the subtle difference in the accents/ American accent sounds bad to most other people. British accent sounds much better to the ear, yet we make British and Australian actors to “ugly up” their speech.
I am a proponent of people speaking in whatever their original accent is, unless it is too far from mainstream and difficult to understand.
Authenticity is not your thing, I take it.
Well, as an English person with a not lovely accent and a liker of good films, I would prefer authenticity over pretty. And let’s face it, Black Mass isn’t striving to be Merchant Ivory.
ETA: for the record, I also think that the Boston accent is smoking hawt. I loves me some East Coast city boys.
> Authenticity is not your thing, I take it.
It takes an extremely good ear ( a professional singer level) and a lot of practice to learn an accent, and it is still not going to be good enough to the native speakers. They will still hear very subtle differences. I just think the goal itself is not worth the effort.
An actor cannot spend 5 years perfecting one accent, when there are so many of them. And 80% are simply not capable of doing it anyway because their musical ear is not good enough. So, after all the effort the result is worse than if they just spoke in their original accent.
Given what BC is doing to the accent of a man, who is a skilled public speaker, I would agree
I’m pretty sure that a actor, who trains, researches, and then gets paid lots of money fits your definition of professional. I don’t think that asking for aural accuracy is going above and beyond.
I can not have suspension of disbelief with one Brit accent in Boston, or a Brit accent as a NY-ER, for example. Imagine Cumberbatch uttering “You talkin’ to me” in Taxi Driver, but with his own speech patterns. Nope, no. The accent IS often an integral part of the character, the roughness, the delicateness, the texture, the pacing, the jargon. Unless you are making some alternative-type of film that intentionally avoids any semblance of reality for surrealism, or a different universe, it doesn’t work. Or if you are casting all the roles for Brits, or whatever other language for a specific viewing audience, then at least you have consistency, where it won’t offend the ear.
Otherwise, if one actor can’t master the accent to portray a character, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof, then I would suggest that the casting is the problem.
> I’m pretty sure that a actor, who trains, researches, and then gets paid lots of money fits your definition of professional.
You think BC could be a professional singer? It is clear to me that his musical ear while above average is not that good. Even for a professional singer it would take immersion and probably several months to get an accent right.
I think if BC lived in the US he could get there but he doesn’t live in the US.
I guess, what I am saying is that the expectations of the actors accents are unrealistic. And that will always lead to disappointment.
An inaccurate accent is distracting and therefore takes away from the movie viewing experience. I can’t tell you how difficult it was to enjoy “O Brother Where Art Thou?” due to Clooney’s odd southern drawl. I would have LOVED that movie had I not been cringing at his overdone accent.
For as much as these folks get paid, they should be able to master it or give a pretty close rendering of the real deal. Popularity over professionalism, really.
No, but he isn’t a professional singer. He’s an actor and that is part of his job. Plenty of actors can master accents infallibly. If that isn’t his strong point, then he needs to work harder at it, or not take the job.
Actor, know thyself.
Honestly, a good chunk of people can’t pick up accents in a relatively short period of time even with studying, listening to tapes and the help of a solid dialect coach. It’s not necessarily a “professionalism” issue but a casting one.
> An inaccurate accent is distracting and therefore takes away from the movie viewing experience.
I understand where you are coming from . But with exception of may be 20 million in the US nobody would be able to tell the difference. If those 20 millions mattered then they would’ve cast a Bostonian but in the great scheme of things these 20 million people are just a drop in the ocean.
It is not like these actors are not wanting to get the accent right, it is simply they cannot do it.
We understand that when they are playing a singer or piano player or a sport figure etc., they are not at the level of the original because they are simply incapable of getting there. The same with the accents.
Also, from personal experience, I speak several languages and I know what it takes to get an accent right, which to date I haven’t managed in any of the languages I speak, Simply not everyone is even physically capable of learning an accent.
gotta disagree up there. most actors are meh at accents with a few exceptions tbh. they can get it to passable, but not great. ive a good ear tho.
effort is part of it, but it’s also time-the longer they have, the better it will be-natural ability, incl. memory and ear, and the set, ie. having a coach on set to signal for retakes when the accent was off, etc.
Of course we would expect that of a professional singer or sports star. I don’t want Matt Harvey in the line up if he just physically isn’t capable of stealing a base.
(Note to self: never use Mets hitters as an example of professional competence)
I think that American and British accents are sort of a default requirement for British and American actors. I do sort of expect them to do it when it’s central to the plot, like when they are portraying a famous person, for example. In movies where they play a fictional character whose background can easily be changed, it doesn’t bother me if they keep their accent. Like when Laura Linney speaks with an American accent in an otherwise completely British “Love actually”. Well, there could be a number of reasons why an American is working in Britain, and it doesn’t really matter, so no big deal.
I’m even a little surprised they made Hugh Laurie do an (excellent) American accent for years. They could’ve easily told us that his Mom was British or something, and that he schooled in Britain, but did his medical studies in America, and let Laurie use his normal accent.
Timbuktu, Hugh Laurie was fantastic. I had no idea he was a Brit, for a while.
Neither did I, Kiddo. Hugh’s American accent was spot on.
I know, I was shocked the first time I heard him in an interview, like “why is he talking in a fake British accent???”.
When casting House, Bryan Singer said he was looking for a quintessential American actor and didn’t really want to see any audition tapes from Brits or Aussies. After seeing Laurie’s tape, he said, ““See, this is what I want: an American guy,” True story!
I think people can get TOO hung up on accents but really, you have to have at least a decent approximation if you’re going to believe what you’re watching, don’t you? I’m a Brit and I can’t tell really tell the difference between the various American Southern accents, but I can tell if someone’s supposed to be doing Southern and it’s just Standard American. And I ground my teeth every time in GoT when Owen Teale forgot he was northern and lapsed into his native Welsh. It’s not a petty objection if a poorly done accent jerks you out of the narrative, is it?
Sixer, that’s a hilarious Laurie story. I haven’t seen him in anything since House, he seems to have disappeared.
“It’s not a petty objection if a poorly done accent jerks you out of the narrative, is it? ”
No, not at all. I’m from the US, and I thought the Gangs of NY was good because I love Daniel Day Lewis, especially as a villain, but Cameron Diaz had an appalling Irish brogue followed by a lousy one from DiCaprio, where at one point in the film I was like, “Oh Come on, that is just bad”, and remembered they were actors doing bad accents, and it did break the spell of the film.
He’s done a few indie films, Kiddo, and he’s in the current/last series of Veep. But I think mostly he’s just been indulging himself with that blues band.
Exactly.
@kiddo, DiCaprio can’t do accents. In The Departed, they came up with a story about his character’s parents divorcing and him being raised on the North Shore in Beverly, MA instead of in Southie to explain why he didn’t sound like Damon and Wahlberg so DiCaprio just used his own accent,. Which made me (and quite a few others in the theater at the time) laugh – sure, whatever, people in Beverly don’t sound that far removed from people in the city – but it spared us having to listen to him mangle it, which was fine by me.
@ Sixer, loved how the ending of this season’s Veep worked out for Hugh’s character.
Rather stark generalization about Americans there. I tend to think we are more defensive about our local accents. I live in Texas and I get annoyed at bad southern accents (although, having grown up in California, I don’t actually have a southern accent). His accent here? I didn’t hear enough to really make a judgment, but what I heard sounded ok.
All of the actors sound the same; like Christian Bale’s Batman smoked too much at a Red Sox game with small hints of FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
Accurate. I’ve noticed this before, that actors do a raspy, whispering thing in order to cover their inability to get an accent right. Honestly, it just makes things more irritating, though.
@sixer It wouldn’t let me reply to your comments about High Laurie. Being from the area his accent was supposed to be from he nailed it! Except for one issue. Amber. We don’t say it like that. But you asked about his current projects and he is going to be in The Night Manager with Tom Hiddleston.
I need a sedative Perhaps if he had spent some time listening to tapes of Billy Bulger, he wouldn’t sound like the strangled thug from God Only knows where but it isn’t a Boston. William Bulger is a triple eagle with 11 years of education from the Jesuits. He speaks, even in casual conversation, with a charming lilt. God awful
But does he have a musical ear?
@Abbott, he’s a crooner.
He is also pretty tall to play Billy. Although I am pretty sure his posh English background is the most offensive part of this whole mess, as far as Billy is concerned.
I agree. I have a very East Coast accent, often get confused for someone from Boston, and I could tell all accents were off. I think Dakota is not even trying. Depp is kind of meh. Benedict’s seemed off based on that ONE line we heard. I look forward to listening more of his lines.
Didn’t BC have a lot of free time before and after Black Mass? Either his accent coach is shite or he is unable to portray characters with different accents than his own.
I wish Tom Hardy was somewhere in this film – he’s one of the few actors able to pull off accurate accents.
@Cee, he signed onto Black Mass when it was already filming. Not sure how they handled it, but I think there was less than a month between his signing and him filming.
Billy is about 5 4 and has a Napoleonic complex that is a major part of his personality. So, yes, he’s a bit too tall to convey that aspect of Billy
I feel your pain. It’s cornpone Southern accents that do it for me. My Cousin Vinny is near the top of my Most Hated Movies list.
@Cee, he was going to car races and tennis matches and fashion galas
@Lilacflowers – Well, that would explain his accent.
Him being out ≠ not studying an accent. It’s done remotely, cheaper for the studios.
Usually it takes about 8-12 weeks for a passable accent, however. Cumberbatch had half that time, so I didn’t have high expectations.
I expected more from Depp here than I got accent-wise.
@Kaye, Depp is pretty much just recycling his bad accent from Blow. There aren’t many examples of Whitey’s voice but there are plenty of Billy’s. Between this trailer and the earlier one, BC sounds like he didn’t even try. Billy is highly refined and well-educated, not an undereducated street thug. He polished his speaking presentation. Instead, BC seems to have gone for his own approximation of an uneducated street kid from the Southie projects
Yes, I thought Depp sounded George Jung-ish too. He had months to prepare, so it’s a little disappointing.
I’d have to hear more than one line from Cumberbatch. Black Mass the book asserted Billy spoke far less formally in private than in public and would occasionally stress an Irish affectation back in his campaigning days, so the director may have ran with that.
Cumberbatch does have a good work ethic reputation, I’d be surprised if he suddenly put in zero effort (or that the director didn’t care either).
@Cee
” I have a very East Coast accent, often get confused for someone from Boston, and I could tell all accents were off. ”
I’d love to hear you. I imagine that people in Buenos Aires must be very strange if they confuse you with someone from Boston. And you, from Argentina, can distinguish all the different American accents?
Talk about the dog on Internet.
@Kaye, I’ve reached the point where I think if the director doesn’t understand the accent, it is going to be a problem and if they use a “dialect coach” who is from somewhere else, well, they tend to go for the “Rose Kennedy after a stroke” affect. Affleck seems to have had good success with getting actors from elsewhere through the accent. He assigns them someone from the neighborhood/cultural class of the character and has them shadow that person for a month before shooting and all through the filming. As a result, Jeremy Renner did a convincing job in The Town and Amy Ryan was fantastic in Gone Baby Gone.
I think he’s shown pretty conclusively he can’t do a good American accent.
^^^THIS^^^
Especially after his ‘special’ Little Charles on A:OC.
What very little of what I could hear from the trailer, BC sounds okay. But maybe the editors purposefully cut the trailer this way because he does sound bad.
Same, Boston Green Eyes.
I did follow the screenings (hoping for a Depp comeback) and there weren’t complaints about his accent in those either.
the worst accent in aos is mcgregor. he sounded like an angry Canadian
“the worst accent in aos is mcgregor. he sounded like an angry Canadian”
I LOL’ed at that one!
Don’t destroy my illusions, j. Canadians are the nicest people in the world, they never get angry.
@Alice, they never get angry? Clearly, you have never watched a NHL game.
Actually, I never have watched hockey, Lilac. I just remember all the lovely online Canadians who invited us to cross the border the first time GWB was elected(Ha!!!)president. (Elected by SCOTUS)
Yes, I want to talk about the accents! I’m a Bostonian and I’m worried. Why didn’t they just hire actors from Boston?! I know, I know, you need “star power” to get movies made these days. But, it really takes me out of the story to hear these actors struggling with the Boston accent. Also, it seems obvious to me that it is distracting to them, too. While I don’t think either Depp or Cumberbatch should have been cast in this film, they are both decent actors, and I feel like we won’t even be getting their best because of their evident nervousness about the accent.
This story is an amazing tale. It’s one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” situations, with larger than life personalities involved, and I wish they had cast it better. 🙁
I would also like to add that I enjoy a good Boston accent, Southern accent, NY accent, Midwest accent, etc, depending on the speaker. Beauty is in the ears of the beholder. Some Brit accents are pleasant and others not so much.
I think it’s a little silly to wage a “this accent sounds nicer than that accent” argument as if it is based on some global consensus.
@Kiddo Thank you. That statement really bothered me. I know people from so many different places who’s accents are incredibly appealing. I mean I love Charlie Hunnam, but when he starts speaking normally it’s so weird and unappealing to my ears at least. David Beckham as well. A cockney accent isn’t exactly appealing to my ears.
Yep, I actually learned my English from Americans, and when I first encountered a Brit, I found their accent not only hard to understand, but also harsh and weird (all subjective opinions, of course). It took me 10 years of living in America to start appreciating British accents and find them sophisticated and whatnot.
I never thought accents were defined for films based on their likability, unless it’s important for the story. It’s supposed to be realistic. I find it really disappointing and a shot at the film’s credibility when the accents are off. It’s like a bad wig (the photos from the new film with Angelina and Brad annoyed me bc her wig was really awful and I KNOW I won’t be able to overcome that). And it doesn’t matter if most people won’t notice the accent, if you are spending millions making a quality film, I thinks it’s important. English is not my first language but I’m naturally good with accents even with languages I don’t speak fluently but can read and I suppose that others who get the sounds of languages as me do notice when it’s off. And I also feel it’s important to actors to know what they should and should’t do, I see value in that instead of doing things that end up being self-serving. *end of rant* hahaha (I agree with everything you wrote before too).
I didn’t mean to offend anyone. But I didn’t just pull that statement about the people thinking the British accent being more attractive than American out of nowhere. It was from a study I read a couple years ago.
@EN: I know that study (I actually think there’s more than one) and even agree. But I meant what I wrote above in the context of a film, where the accents used should serve the story instead of their attractiveness to the listeners.
I’m not offended EN. I like Brit accents too. I just don’t think any accent or language is superior, maybe the quality of one’s voice, study or no study, KWIM?
But people *thinking* British accents are more attractive is extremely subjective as well. Americans are quite conditioned to find British accents more posh and sophisticated (even though there are so so many British accents, and they are so different, some of them are so hard to understand for me, I couldn’t find them “attractive” just because of that). “Love actually” makes fun of that rather well.
I honestly do not understand what defined an “attractive” accent. There are accents we KNOW are educated/standard/aristocratic. There are others that are regional/spoken in “bad” parts of town, etc. Remove all that, is there really anything in the quality of the sound that is inherently more attractive?
> Remove all that, is there really anything in the quality of the sound that is inherently more attractive?
Most definitely. French and Italian languages , the way they sound are much more attractive than English, for example. And you would be able to tell it even if you didn’t know English, French or Italian. The gentle vowels are more pleasing to the ear than sharp harsh consonants. Singers know that , this is why they sing the way they do, swallowing the consonants and emphasizing vowels.
@EN
But how do you know they are more attractive? I’m actually not at all convinced that if we had an alien listen to French, Italian, and English, he’d swoon over French, are you? How much of your assessment of “attractiveness” of that language stems from culture, rather than sound quality? I’m not sure that “gentle vowels” vs. “harsh consonants” is an adequate explanation. English has vowels, too, surely some of them are “gentle”? And French has consonants, some of whom may sound harsh. I’ve never asked myself that, but off the top of my head, I can’t imagine that the ration of vowels vs. consonants is significantly different in French and English?
French and Italian have a long-standing reputation of romantic, passionate languages of love. How can you be sure that your impression of them is not colored by that?
I actually think that Spanish is an extremely beautiful romantic language, and, being a Romance language, it is not all that different from Italian or French, yet you didn’t list it, and a lot of people are surprised when I say that. I’m quite convinced that it is because here in America, people associate Spanish with menial workers, rather than poets and romance. Which goes to show just how much culture influences our opinions. Have someone chew you out in French, then tell me how attractive that sounded.
I actually used to think that about French as well, and then I learned it. Now I’m genuinely surprised when people tell me it sounds beautiful. Not that I think it’s ugly, I’m just too focused on the meaning of words to appreciate the sheer beauty of their sound at this point.
I’m absolutely convinced that our opinions of what is beautiful are shaped in huge part by our culture. For instance, very few of us would enjoy Eastern music enough to actually listen to it for pleasure, rather than education/exoticism. Yet, would anyone really argue that Eastern music, with its different harmonies and intervals, is less beautiful than Western music?
*raises hand* Me too, I would also like to discuss his accent: who is pinching his nose shut while he says his lines and how much did that cost to “erase” in post?
He now joins David Tennant in the ‘not all Brits can do American accents’ corner.
So much second hand embarrassment for them.
As long as it’s good enough to fool non-natives, I don’t see a problem. Accents are hard! And hearing your own accent will always be jarring because there’s almost no chance it will be perfect.
I find that extreme fans take pride in their extreme obsession. They love when people talk about how ‘hardcore’ they are. It’s live a hivemind of lunacy, but if you talked to most of the fans in person and pointed out the fandom’s behavior they would die of embarrassment. Anonymity and group think can lead to scary things.
This movie looks like a rip off of classic Scorsese movies, Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Departed.
Well, “departed” was a mediocre adaption of the far better hongkong movie (“infernal affairs), so not sure if it can count as a classic anything except classic “how hollywood manages to make mediocre movies out of great ones”.
Agreed. It’s a travesty that Scorsese won his Oscar for the Departed (truly a make up Oscar) and not Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, or Goodfellas.
I am looking forward to this film. I want to see if Depp can pull himself back to an acting powerhouse. (His accent is off, just as it was in Blow). I love films about my city and I’ve met some of the people depicted in this. The supporting cast, with the exception of BC, looks strong. Sorry, but BC is miscast as Billy.
Also looking forward to Spotlight with Ruffalo, Keaton, Tucci, Schreiber, and Rachel MacAdams
The pre-screen feedback is positive overall, with Depp, Edgerton and Cumberbatch getting praise. Weakest is Dakota Johnson from what I hear.
I agree that BC is miscast – even with the accent he still looks like an English posh boy.
nah, he looks like dennis quaid
ive heard he was good in this too from a bunch of ppl so i think it’s probably alright
Hmmm. I was pleasantly surprised by that trailer – I had thought that the movie would be a white hot mess, but it actually looks okay. And, yeah, it reminds me of the Departed. It seems that all movies made about Boston have to be dark and gritty – I guess following in the footsteps of the classic Boston movie of all time, “The Friends of Eddie Doyle.”
OOps. I meant “Coyle” not “Doyle”
I shouldn’t post on Friday mornings…
Cumberbitches attempt to explain the appeal of BC: He is not handsome, but at least he is decent.
Ok, got it.
But he IS handsome. 🙂
It’s like that blue dress/white dress. I actually watched Sherlock way after season 2 came out, so BC was already a fairly big deal for a year or two at that point, I kept seeing him in my FB feed and thinking “man, that dude is UGLY, I can’t believe he’s that popular”.
But then I watched “Sherlock” and it just clicked and now I can’t unsee how attractive he is.
He is fug in still pictures, which is why he is not a model, but he is beautiful in motion. He has a dancer’s or athlete’s way of carrying himself, which only shows when he is on screen. And his face is fantastically expressive, but I found him, and still find him, rather unattractive in photos, sorry!
Oh and lets not forget his VOICE! Another big plus for me.
Am looking forward to Black Mass – i think this may be a comeback for Johnny.
I kinda wish that they had picked someone else to play Cumby’s character – his accent is not that great (he’s shit at accents) and I don’t buy him as an American politician – they could’ve cast someone like Jonah Hill.
Some british actors find it difficult to let go of their british persona, it’s like how they carry themselves I guess. I think that also happens with Matthew Goode.
Jonah Hill would have been a disaster as Billy Bulger for other reasons. They originally had Guy Pierce in the role and he would have been a better fit
> They originally had Guy Pierce in the role and he would have been a better fit
I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything. But isn’t he British too?
Australian maybe? Or English but lived in Australia most of his life? He nailed the accent in LA Confidential (I thought).
Why did Pearce leave the film, or was he asked to leave? I’ve always enjoyed his work, but then again I’ve purposely ignored some of his more obvious awful movies.
Guy Pearce was born in England but raised in Australia. I think he’s really good at accents, his English toff accent was great in The King’s Speech.
But I think regional accents are really hard, whether they are American or English. It’s relatively easy to do RP or generic US east coast, but a Boston or Geordie accent is much more difficult.
Eh, the article was mild compared to what it could have been. They didn’t go in to the loony hate campaigns against his wife.
Which is sort of a shame, because all that shit is straight up hilar. That main chick who accidentally outed herself as being 15 was just outed as being behind dozens of other twitter and tumblr hate accounts. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire thing is literally like seven obsessed fans who spend 24/7 posting online under different names. One of them already had a rep in other fandoms for doing this to male actors’ girlfriends and wives.
“That main chick”? I’ve been following BC/SH relationship pretty much from the start, I’ve no idea what your second paragraph is about. I think that people who like to bash “critics” exaggerate A LOT. Most of us are merely amused and sitting back and watching with some popcorn, not tearing hair out because we wanted to marry him.
Well, “merely amused and sitting back and watching with some popcorn” is really not how many of you sounded. When y’all use dramatic language like “fiasco,” for example. A number of you in the Cumberbatch comment threads have definitely sounded verging on mentally ill over the past year. Gossiping about how their marriage/baby was a publicity stunt, it’s a shotgun wedding, they don’t love each other, etc.–that stuff really didn’t read like mere “amusement.” It appeared nasty-natured and obsessive.
It’s not just jealous fans, Tippet, that’s true. Some people hate him yet obsessively hit up his threads here. Just as weird….
Well, depends on your definition of “mentally ill”, I suppose. I do think it was a shotgun wedding, does it make me mentally ill? I truly think there is a lot of objective evidence pointing to that fact. Doesn’t mean I hate him or her. It just means I can do basic addition.
Now, were there some people crossing the line? Yes. But that’s on them, not on fandom, there are crazy stupid people in absolutely every group. If gun advocates can object to being called out when one of “them” shoots up a movie theater, then I definitely object to being called crazy because of a few “crazies”.
I don’t know, the reason I started following the ‘fiasco’ was the OTT nature of how they were selling their ‘romance’. It was clearly a shotgun marriage, they clearly hadn’t been dating for 17 years, they clearly didn’t really know each other when they got betrothed. Nothing wrong with any of those issues in and of themselves, but they tried to sell it as the Romance of the Century when it was clearly just a marriage of convenience. Add to that, the whole thing was so poorly acted out by the participants that it became rather comical. It begged for conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork. I agree some of them were almost 9-11-Truther-level crazy, but you cant argue that this wasn’t a rather strange affair to begin with.
The girl who’s infamous as one of the leaders of the anti-MrsBatch brigade. I’ve never been in BC fandom but my guilty pleasure is fandom wank, and now JournalFen is dead Tumblr’s the best place for that. If you haven’t seen them, you should, it’s hilarious. Like dozens of posts a day, novel-length posts, ‘proving’ that his wife is a blackmailing prostitute who forced him to fake a marriage and go along with a faked pregnancy and that she somehow managed to get the entire UK press and the Church of England to go along with the hoax. And that they’re genuinely frightened she might kill him because they’ve Internet-diagnosed her as being a psychopath.
It’s not quite a fun as the stans who think Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart are secretly married and that she’s given birth to his child twice in the past two years and that they use secret underground tunnels to spent time together without the paps spotting them, but it’s pretty amusing. 1D is the least amusing because they just go straight to crush kill destroy mode anytime anyone suggests Louis and Harry aren’t tru wuv. Conspiracy theorists are more fun.
I have to admit I didn’t really know much about BC before this all began, and God knows there are a hell of a lot of fans who I’m sure know a lot more about his love life than I do. But to me they look like a perfectly normal, in-love couple, and while the baby was obviously an oopsie I doubt a pair of middle-aged Brits in the arts world would get married if they didn’t love each other, just because of an oopsie. I’m really not seeing all this “but they look so obviously miserable together” and “but everyone thinks it’s so strange and fake!” stuff. There are celebs who get loads of skepticism from the media and general public (Beyonce and her Oprah bump, Clooney and his marriage, everything TomKat) but with BC and his wife the only sketch comments come from the Tumblr crazies. The general public seem to find them just a bit boring.
IMO thinking it’s a shotgun marriage = normal fan. Thinking they faked the marriage and the pregnancy for PR and that they’ve never ever seen each others naughty bits. OR thinking that his wife is a psychopath who forced him to marry her through blackmail and abuse. = insane fan.
I don’t understand speshul’s comment. No one ever claimed they’d been dating for 17 years (obviously they can’t have done since he was living with Olivia for years) but only that they’d known each other for 17 years. They pretty obviously did know each other when they got engaged – they knew each other well enough for him to have got her pregnant! And there had been sightings and things of him with a mystery brunette and people who knew him or worked with him had made comments about him being in a relationship he was keeping secret. I didn’t start to follow him till last year but seems like most “evidence” points to them having dated for a year or so before they got engaged, and of course having been friends or casual acquaintances for 17 years. More than enough time to decide whether their relationship had a future. And hell, plenty of relationships that only went to the altar because of an oopsie end up lasting. David Tennant married his casual on-off girlfriend because she had an oopsie pregnancy and now she’s rumored to be pregnant with his third child.
The way I remember the evidence it indicated they had been casual acquaintances who likely lost touch then reconnected and had been dating for 3 to 4 months before the engagement based upon her relocation from NY and his public appearances with other women believed to be romantic partners. The dating for a year or so before engagement is revisionist history in my opinion.
Yeah–the point is, for the love of Pete, WHO CARES? I mean, I get that this is a celebrity gossip site with a bent toward the snarky, hence “celebitchy.” But Jesus, from where I’m standing, all I see is a really good actor whose work I enjoy a ton, who married and had a baby. Like that’s really it. It’s not remarkable and who effing cares how it happened? Do you enjoy his work? Do you enjoy watching him? Do you want more Sherlock? THEN GREAT. Let him do it, enjoy his work, don’t be gross.
You guys forget that these people are real human beings with real lives, and you don’t actually know them. I know it’s so easy to think about celebrities as these untouchable privileged folks and resent them, but please believe me, they are very real people, and they DO actually read this very blog–do you think they have a different internet from you? They don’t –and they can and do get hurt by the crap you guys say. This doesn’t just go out into a void. Actual people read this stuff and the actual people who are the targets of your vitriol read it more than you even know. So please, just be mindful and try to be kind. I know it seems like celebs are different, but really, I promise, they aren’t.
Well said Tippet!
A, nearly 40 year old, man got married to a 37 year old woman and they had a baby. That is it, no conspiracy just a regular marriage. The amount of rage, speculation and accusation is just really, really weird.
I read this today and it reminded me of some of the really “out there” accusations that have been made about Benedict and Sophie. Perhaps some posters on tumblr and twitter should think about what they say. It doesn’t always fly under the radar.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/james-woods-sues-twitter-troll-10-million-cocaine/story?id=32794411
It’s creepy that you know so much about their exact movements. If he keep his relationship secret, which he appears to have done, then they could have been dating for a lot longer than anyone knew. It’s so weird how stans act like if they don’t see something, it doesn’t exist. And the sheer fury that he keeps part of his life a secret from them, his most devoted friends. It’s like they think he’s a little toy who exists for their own amusement, and when they’re not playing with him he just goes into a box somewhere.
Of course they could have been dating longer, but there is no evidence to suggest that. The logical conclusion is the one with the most evidence. There is no evidence to suggest they were dating for a year other than that it sounds better to you and is within the realm of possibility. If it’s no big deal then don’t pull this revisionist history to fit a prettier narrative. Its my opinion that the revision is what most people have a problem with.
Don’t be silly, of course they dated longer than they were publicly dating. And actually the evidence does all point to them having been a couple a lot longer. There’s zero evidence the first time they made a public appearance together was their first date and it’s pretty ludicrous to assume so. I doubt Ben would make a public appearance with someone unless they’d been dating long enough to make such a big decision (decision to take the relationship public).
It just goes back to stans refusing to believe Ben has a life outside of what they see.
Please indicate which evidence this is. What you listed are assumptions not evidence. Maybe I got my timeline mixed up. As I recall, and I don’t remember exactly so I may be wrong, but she was living in NYC and had only recently returned to living in London. So it seems at most they were dating up to half a year before and not any longer than that.
I agree with Lol, their first public appearance at tennis was a way for them to go public with a relationship not a first date. Some posters were recently saying that this is what Hiddleston should’ve done instead of a restaurant where they got mobbed by paps.
Perhaps, but stating they were dating over a year is still conjecture and guessing and In my opinion revisionist history. At most it was half a year anything else without evidence is just baseless. You don’t just double the time people have been together based on your own assumptions regardless of whether it really matters or not. It looks silly and like it does in fact matter a great deal. For example Oh it’s their 10th anniversary did I say 10? Oh is it 5? What’s the difference?”
Totally disagree. Tom Hiddleston may be getting side eye now, but that will fade soon. If he announces an engagement in 6 months it’ll be significantly less shocking.
I find it silly that people should still argue over this, when her brother said quite clearly they had become serious over the summer, late summer to be precise. That should be the end of it, because if he said it to the press it means he knew it for sure or he would have said nothing or been vague.
Regardless of this, now they are married with a kid, so arguments are irrelevant.
Whether they are happy or not, only they know it. Time will tell; it always does.
In the article, I love how the Barbican people admitted that most of the Hamlet viewership will be made of lusty fans who don’t give a damn about Shakespeare, but tried to spin it as a good thing!
This is going to bankroll the Barbican for the next 5 years. It’s normally so highbrow it’s firmly up its own backside. It’s got one of the biggest theatres in London and it’s allergic to anything popular. I’m sure its finances have never been so healthy.
Hmm. I go to the Barbican all the time and I really wouldn’t describe it that way. Though some of the stuff they stage is highbrow, not all is.
Did you see the 1960s-set sex farce involving a hooker dressing up as a nun that was on at the Barbican main theatre earlier this year? That was super lowbrow. David Tennant’s Richard II was more or less identical to Hamlet in terms of marketing and merchandise. Richard II had a popup shop in the Barbican, the same as Hamlet. And was designed to appeal to fans, same as Hamlet. I’d say they played up the celeb element more with RII. They set up a specific area outside the theatre each night for fans to gather and meet DT and get his autograph and take a photo with him, which BC won’t be doing. Or compare the artwork that’s on all the posters and merchandise – BC’s picture isn’t even on it. What do you think sells better to fans, a mug with David Tennant’s face on it, or a mug with some random kids on it?
Hamlet will take more, because the ticket prices are higher (due to being a commercial production rather than publicly-funded) and because its run is longer. Richard II had a 4-month run but split between the two theatres. But being commercial vs public, the finances and contracts will be different. And SFP has a rep for being fierce business-wise. So the Barbican might not make a huge amount more than normal off the merchandise and increased ticket prices.
I do too – the problem is that when plays are lowbrow they are not marketed as such, and those are few and far between. And when it has stars they are often in plays that are beyond dull. Juliette Binoche in Antigone (and I usually like Greek tragedy, Oresteia at the Almeida was amazing), Cate Blanchett in Gross und Klein, it’s all extremely arty and tedious. (Fiona Shaw’s latest being a welcome exception). Richard II was not brought to the Barbican independently, it was part of the RSC’s usual annual time there. More often, it’s Russian versions of Shakespeare done with puppets.
You may be right about the finances, I have no idea of the internal workings. But the Barbican is affiliated with the Corporation of London, you’d think that they’d be able to hire a lawyer who could take advantage of the fact that the Barbican has one of the biggest theatres in London and IMO it’s underused.
That’s not entirely correct. Richard II was the first time the RSC had been at the Barbican in years (due to the previous relationship before Greg became AD collapsing so acrimoniously). Greg (who is actually my boss) was able to renegotiate a long-term deal with the Barbican in part due to the strength of the Tennant Richard II as their opening show. If that production had done poorly, other RSC productions would not have followed suit in transferring.
The Barbican main theatre is lovely but it’s just too big and too far away from the West End to be hugely desirable to theatre companies.
I find the Barbican theatre horribly gloomy. I was hoping Hamlet was going to be elsewhere to be honest. And the way the Barbican handled this was nothing short of distasteful (reselling tickets at double the original price, no discounts for members, etc).
I bet majority of BC’s fans never even read Hamlet or Shakespeare. They mostly read their own stupid Johnlock fanfics.
Isn’t Hamlet a required reading at school?
Judging by those fans they skipped their school or didn’t bother to read any serious stuff while being there. Their top level is trying to find proof to their loony theories that their ship is an endgame and John/Sherlock will happen.
Pfft. I think your grossly underestimating his fandom. I have a Phd. in Eng. Lit and Im a fan. Lots of my other well read friends are fans of his too. His fans all aren’t screaming teen age girls. Don’t be so dismissive.
You know what’s embarrassing? Your articles. And your idea that you’re above fans when you yourself lust over him. Pathetic clickbait, get off your high horse.
I know, right. How can anyone lust over BC?! He is scary looking snobbish dude.
Thank you for this. Her post was really obnoxious and unnecessarily rude.
Who cares about if the accents are perfect that movie looked interesting so I’d definitely see it!
This looks like Johnny’s movie, all the way. He has never played a great gangster/criminal – the bank robber one (Public Enemy) was not good and the drug dealer one (forget what it was called!) a bit weak too. He looks like he’s sunk his teeth in here, I’m interested. I haven’t said that in I don’t know how long about one of his movies.
The fascination with Benedict’s fans is stupid. They’re no different than any other slightly rabid/passionate fans (in no way a slam, I’ve been there myself, not with the Magnificent Otter mind you!), it’s just the media being obtuse because he’s not a traditional leading man looks wise.
His fans do have some special features which make them stand out and put attention on them from the press.
Like what?
I really don’t care about most celebrities/actors etc but only have ONE thing to say…..as a classically trained actress I can’t tell you, if you ARENT a fan of Benedict, if you can’t tell WHY he’s THE most exciting actor of our times then Im not going to waste my breath on you. Once you watch him and you “get” why he’s so exciting…if its lost on you, then I don’t know what to tell you. Your loss entirely. Watching him as an actor, for me, is one of the great pleasures in life and so re-assuring that there is actual REAL charisma and REAL true talent out there. His acting is to acting what Robin Williams was to improve. A beautiful thing to behold!
Or at least he was. To me, he’s been steadily declining ever since he’s become super famous.
Fame does that to actors, reduces them to a sum of their well known stock gestures and expressions. Look at Al Pacino, he was great until he knew he was great.
I fear the same has happened to BC.
hamlet is a jolt in the arm i bet