Finally! We’re FINALLY getting some interviews from the cast members of Avengers: Infinity War. I honestly thought that we’d have wall-to-wall magazine covers and big Q&As to cover at this point, but I guess not. We’re a little more than a week until the release, and it feels like Marvel is going to get away with just doing a series of premieres and “fan events” to promote it. I get that – the actors probably don’t want to shill that hard, and it’s such an epic ensemble, no one wants to come out as “the star” with a magazine cover. Anyway, Benedict Cumberbatch sat down for an interview conducted by a child, Sophia Grace Brownlee, who is the same Sophia Grace who became famous when she and her cousin danced to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.” She’s been featured on The Ellen Show soooo many times. Now she’s sort of grown up and she’s got her own little YouTube chat show. Here’s the interview:
How to deal with bullies: “As hard as it may seem, you have to meet it with love. You have to try and empathize with hate. Not hate yourself, but you have to understand why people often want to damage other people is because they’re damaged themselves. And if you could just turn that mirror around a little bit on them, then it might quell it slightly. The strongest advice is to not take it personally because it’s not really about you.”
Dating advice for boys: “Respect, just respect. Equality. The central tenants of feminism: a place at the table and equality. Include and don’t exclude and learn what you can.”
I watched most of the video and it wasn’t that bad. It could have been really awkward, let’s face it, to put the Alien Lizard King in the same room with a young girl. Like, it could have been bad. But mostly he just sounds like an awkward uncle trying to explain things to a young niece. As for his actual advice… I don’t know if his bullying advice will really resonate with the kids.
Meanwhile, Bendy had some shade for Martin Freeman. Freeman recently complained about Sherlock fans who turned the show into a “Sherlock and John are going to get together” conspiracy, and Freeman basically said that the fandom around Sherlock ruined the show. Benedict was asked about Martin’s complaint and he said “I think…it’s pretty weak to blame that on fans. You’re either along for the ride or not, and I think to be kowtowing would, in some cases, disappoint fans – so…I don’t think it can all rest on that.” Benedict was basically like “blame the writers, not the fans if you don’t like how a show is being handled.” Which is true – the Sherlock fandom did get legit crazy, but the showrunner (Steven Moffat) did too much fan-service in the last two seasons and it just got out of hand.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Bendy sure loves his empty platitudes.
LOL! Thank you for summing that up perfectly. I was like, eh, it’s a harmless but pointless comment.
No one hates Sherlock more than Martin Freeman.
I was also surprised at the late onslaught of press for Marvel, but with the absolute dumpster fire these people can be during press time I doing blame Marvel for pulling back a little.
I don’t think Cumby is attractive to younger girls, so I don’t think it would have been super awkward. I feel for him though, it’s quite hard to give out general advice to victims of bullying.
So when someone attempted to set me on fire, and I was jumped by a group of 3 much older boys, and that time I spent HOURS locked in my own locker (for which the teacher called me “an Idiot” in front of the whole class)….I should have just met it with love? I feared for my physical safety every single day for YEARS.
??? I am…speechless. That is just beyond…
@Sandy I am so sorry that happened to you-I literally feel nauseous thinking what that must have been like. And then to be called an idiot in front of the class?! This is what I’m saying – we can do better-there is absolutely no excuse for that, none. If that happened to one of my children, I would do all in my power to have some heads roll.
Obviously, I don’t know how old you are, but it’s interesting how the older generations regard this type of bullying-which, in your case was straight up physical assault and kidnapping/false imprisonment, with this nonchalant attitude like “kids will be kids”…. Um, NO! That is straight up sociopathic behavior which will, if allowed to continue, intensity. I am glad that you are okay now, but my heart hurts thinking of how terrified you must have been. (((hugs)))
No, Sandy, you should not have just met that with love. What Cuberbatch said was an ignorant statement made by someone who has never been through such horrors.
I’m so sorry that no one protected you. As someone who was also bullied by other students after school, and also bullied by my grade school teachers – one in particular who caused me to run crying out of the room, for which I spent a week in the guidance counselor’s office instead of class – I would have tried to protect you. I hope that you’re safe now.(BIG HUG)
There’s a spectrum from a nudge to get to you, through online trolling, on and offline badgering to plain physical abuse. And even though you can’t handle the latter with just ignoring it, it is very much true that it is not about the victim. There’s nothing wrong with them, the wrong doing and mental issues lie with the bully. So in all honesty the comment is spot on. He was speaking to a teenage girl, addressing the middle part of this spectrum. Not to a victim experiencing the extreme of it.
I’m not surprised by the lack of press. It minimizes the possibility of leaks and they are keeping a very tight lid on the movie. To the point where they had zero screenings happening before the LA premiere which is the first time anyone will see the movie.
Anyways this interview was cute because yea this is like an awkward dad explaining things to his kid who magically grew up in a minute.
Also agree to the Sherlock comment. The fans don’t write the show. They have fanfic for that. Blame the writers and don’t take on an iconic character if you aren’t prepared for the intense fan base.
And Marvel really doesn’t need much press to sell this beast. The first go-around, they did heavy press because they were pushing this concept and didn’t know if it would soar or crash and burn. Now, they know they have a major phenomenon. Prime times on opening weekend are already sold out in many cities. They are promoting it but it’s a joint effort with these fan events, now working their way through Asia, and no focus on just one actor to prevent leaks. Even the actors haven’t seen the film yet and nobody named Chris or Tom (that’s 5 right there) saw a full script and they’re trying to confiscate Ruffalo’s phone. I am enjoying Renner’s teasing on Twitter and the relationship between the Toms. Tom Holland seemed overwhelmed initially and LEGS seems to be really protective of him in guiding him through it.
Freeman can eat shit, he’s an awful little man, I don’t think he’s got anything nice to say about anything, and he’s sexist trash.
That said, yeah. Love won’t placate a bully. Ever. It just makes them smell blood even more.
Did I miss something? Where are you guys getting this information about the actors hating Sherlock?
Freeman was cute in Whiskey Tango Foxtprt.
Where’s him being sexist?
He said some really offensive things about Lucy Liu’s appearance when asked about the show Elementary. Perhaps he thought he was joking. But if your joke of choice involves tearing into a woman’s appearance and call her a dog, then that is sexist.
@Jillian – Freeman did an interview where he said a lot of bad things about Sherlock and the fans.
I see Freeman as a grumpy old uncle who is always complaining about something around the Thanksgiving table. He seems a bit jealous of Cumberbatch’s success and continues to rag on the show that made him a star. Yeah, that last season of Sherlock was hideous, but I blame that on Moffett, not the fans.
It’s more weird entitlement with Freeman. He complained to an interviewer once right after the Office that he felt he should be a bigger star at that point (seriously, not jokingly). But he doesn’t want to put in all the side work involved with branding yourself to get there and looks down on actors who do while complaining about what goes along with success.
Needless to say, Cumberbatch is correct. Blaming fans for anything having to do with the show at all is ridiculous.
I think the kind of bullying he’s referring to is that pointless, faceless, vitriol reserved for celebrities on social media (which is unacceptable, no doubt). But as for an actual child (or young adult) getting bullied at school on the bus (or wherever) that’s a different experience all together. Face to face bullying is far more personal in nature, and bc it’s happening IRL, you can’t avoid it by merely staying off the internet. And while I agree wholeheartedly about prioritizing empathy, his advice about making an effort to lovingly consider your abuser and their perspective is off. If someone is being subjected to cruelty, day in and day out, and feels helpless to stop it, having more empathy is not the answer.
Two boys on the bus tormented me for my entire 7th grade year (they were in 8th)- daily telling me how utterly discusting I was, the ugliest, fattest excuse for a human possible (and so forth and so on). It was a sport for them – trying to destroy me with words was their entertainment. My self concept took such a hit from having to endure that kind of hatred all year- I don’t think I ever fully recovered. I still have nightmares where I am shopping and they are behind me laughing about my huge, nasty, deformed body, etc.
When I told my parents what was going on, they said “They’re just jealous-ignore them and they’ll stop”. Yea, not so much. I guess my point is, being the bigger, more enlightened person isn’t going to protect you from harm. I think schools and parents need to have practical, accessible protocols in place to prevent any person from being subjected to abject cruelty-esp of the ongoing variety.
We need to make clear to our children that it’s totally unacceptable to endure abuse of all kinds, and make sure they know exactly what to do should someone start hurting them.
Some people are just cruel. Physical assault is taken seriously, but emotional abuse can be just as dangerous and leave scars all the same. We certainly don’t want to send the message that the solution to being mistreated is just to “love the assailant harder”. Talk about setting someone up for a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships! Gah!
I get what he meant, and he’s not wrong: if you can realize it’s not happening because you’re a ‘bad’ person but because the bully is a mess, it’s easier to deal with insofar as impact on your own self-worth. He also says that’s really tough to do (it’s left off the People blurb). She’s also a 14-year-old YT star so I think she was asking about web bullying. I don’t think it’s a bad answer for what is a tough subject. Most schools lack the staff to enforce protocols when they do have them, so unfortunately most people, kids included, know that’s not a real solution.
I think people who have not themselves been bullied do not really understand what it is.
That’s the exact opposite of what you do when bullied! No! You stand up for yourself and you do it immediately. A bully tends to see the world in black and white, kindness is misinterpreted as weakness and weakness is to be attacked. You never ever want to appear weak.
To anyone who is suffering please read Gordon Neufeld’s research. There has been a steep rise in antisocial personality disorder and narcissism rates for numerous reasons. Learning to deal with these people has become a necessary life skill for all of us.
Bullies understand one language and it is not the language of love.
Yup, they tend to just grow up to become adult bullies who never get the help they need. It is also not the victim’s responsibility to ensure he/she is not bullied. Fight back, self-defense is not a crime.