As I wrote on Friday, Benedict Cumberbatch is the new face of the MG GTS, at least for the Asian markets. The commercial he filmed – in London – seems to only target the Asian markets for more compact SUVs. And as predicted, Benedict came to Shanghai ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards (which he’s hosting on the 15th) so that he could do a big event for MG on Saturday – I’m including some photos from the event in this post and you can go here to see more photos. Benedict also filmed a little announcement for his new position as brand ambassador for MG:
So I guess his endorsement and “brand ambassadorship” for Jaguar is officially at an end? I don’t know. I’ve been assuming this whole time that if a celebrity gets a big contract to advertise/ambassador-ize one car brand, they would obviously not be allowed to promote another brand. But maybe it’s different depending on which markets are being targeted. Like, I could see Benedict still having a Jaguar contract for North America and Europe, and then having an MG contract for Asia. Maybe? God knows.
Meanwhile, Marvel’s Kevin Feige sat down for a new interview with MTV and he dropped some new information about Doctor Strange (go here to see the video). Feige says Strange will begin filming in November this year, and it’s still due to come out in November 2016. Principle photography will take place in London, which happens a lot with Marvel films, but I bet that makes Benedict happy, that he’s not going to have to relocate for months on end to Vancouver or wherever. Feige says he’s “excited” about Cumberbatch in the Strange role. Josh Horowitz asks Feige point-blank if the Strange character is going to be British (meaning, will Bendy get to use his natural accent or will we have to hear something wonky) and Feige said: “It’s a good question, we have not discussed accent with him yet but he’s Benedict Cumberbatch so I think he can do anything we ask him to.” Feige also says that Loki will be “integral” to Thor: Ragnarok, so more Hiddles?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Is he a father yet?
Not yet. But anywhere between now and August.
That baby comes in August and it should arrive already teething – she looked 8 months easy in those Bora Bora paps.
Thanks guys! Exactly my point! Cue ‘Very Superstitious’ 😉
I’m still going for my glorious revolution, in which I line all brand ambassadors up against the wall and shoot them with my spud gun. So bye bye, Benny. I would say ‘meh’ but it’s too much effort and I’m too busy stockpiling potato pellets to bother.
MARK STRONG GOT AN OLIVIER. That’s not meh. No spud guns required.
Yeah!! Yippee, Mark. he has such a presence.
Spud guns ready!
So happy for Mark! That was a tremendous performance.
And bless Angela Lansbury. She got the best reception of the night.
I’m practising my spudshooting as we speak.
Gathering potatoes from family members in Idaho and Maine (potato growing states) to send to you
Excellent. I’ll have international pellets. That’ll larn ’em.
The Idaho ones are larger but the Maine ones are dense and hurt.
It’ll save me wasting my new seasons on a bouncer!
I’d be totally shot if I were an actor. I’d absolutely do this stuff in a heartbeat 🙂
Ha, says Sixer, taking aim.
An, I would, too. It doesn’t sound like it would be all that hard, either. *runs from Sixer*
Honking for Mark Strong. He needs a post.
And I need to see his play… June can’t come soon enough.
Thanks to Alaska’s 21 hours of daylight, my grandpa’s spuds were lethal size, in case you really want to take someone out.
In further Olivier nominee news, look what James McAvoy has done: http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/pressmedia/james-mcavoy-drama-scholarships. Benny. Tommy. I am LOOKING AT YOU.
Love, love, love James McAvoy. He’s a talented actor, and a very private person. Setting the example, which others wil hopefully follow. Well done!
Thanks for sharing, Sixer. This makes me smile.
I love him. This does all kinds of things to my lady boner for The Mac. Agree, Ben and Tom should absolutely put their money where their mouth is and help those who lacked all the advantages they had.
What a fabulous act of generosity. Bravo, James MacAvoy! Let’s make it a challenge grant. Eddie Redmayne, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hardy, where’s the money?
Love McAvoy! I saw him recently in The Ruling Class and he was mesmerizing. With him, you truly believe what you see is what you get!
agreed. and a *genuinely* private man too… can anyone else see anne marie duff posing for vogue and talking about her wedding mood boards? and SHES actually successful, talented and famous in her own right.
take note bendo.
They live not too far from me. Recently I saw her in Waitrose doing her shopping. And my friend frequently sees him in the local park with his son.
They don’t seem the types to feature in Vogue, with or without mood boards 🙂
Hardy (? could be confusing him with someone else) and Cumberbatch (that 1 I know for sure) already support a charity each that funds drama school tuition.
Unsure about the rest.
Been watching Strong since Our Friends in the North and really thrilled about the Olivier yesterday!
He looks simultaneously 12 and 45 with that haircut. Which is… odd. Please bring back the curls, Bendy!
I was wondering what’s different about him. I was thinking weight loss, but you’re right, it’s the haircut. It makes him look like a kid. Weirdness galore.
He indeed looks simultaneously 12 and 45, but that kind of fits in with his perplexing personality, heh? But I personally am (probably irreversibly) entangled in those damn curls of his, so I want them back too. Curls, or I otherwise I’m not buying this car.
Working the car shows just like any struggling actor…
Who cares? Make money while the sun shines. A lot of actors endorse overseas.
I don’t care, for now, but I’m slightly worried that he ends up being like Bill Murray’s character from Lost in Translation. That melancholic man, shilling (and drinking) Japanese whisky, lost and lonely in his hotel room…
I think Jaguar and MG are both owned by the same parent company. So….brand rules may be bent a bit. I like is haircut.
Different parent but they have a partnership, so yeah, possible.
When he went to Japan, seemed very happy. Surprised and impressed at the warm welcome. Many smiles, merrily interview, looked youthful.
He in China looks very sad, older, talk in a subdued voice, no cheer.
He becomes a star in these 2 years, married and becomes father.
Why he looks unhappy?
No one knows. It’s a mystery that in 6 months he’s gotten everything he’s ever wanted – a wife, a child on the way, an Oscar nomination (among several others), a Marvel contract – and yet he looks like a deeply depressed man with his sunken eyes, weight loss and forced smiles.
It is truly odd. Maybe a case of beware what you are wishing for? Or perhaps something we do not know about. We need Sherlock. 🙂
Interesting. Not once, in all of his interviews, has he said he wanted a wife. Meet the mother of his children-yes. And he did fret that people thought he couldn’t hold down a relationship. I think home life has been pretty rocky with the shotgun and learning to live with someone new. I’d say that Ben (and Sophie) have had to put a lot of work in a very short time – especially when they weren’t terribly happy in the beginning.
To paraphrase Spock “Having a thing is not nearly so great as wanting a thing.” I also just think he didn’t want any of this right now and not with this woman.
MtnRunner pointed me to the Elle discussion here on CB, so I read a few of the comments about him and SH at the LFF written before the 5th November.
They way they behaved that night (we know now they were already expecting a baby then) is bizarre to say the least. Not the behaviour of a couple madly in love.
God only knows what really went on….
@hermi What Elle thread was that?
@mosby If you scroll down, you will see the link from mtnrunner.
I must point out that the Bendy Boston curse may have finally lifted or perhaps it loses his whammy when he is in Asia. The sun is shining, the weather promises to be warm, and it is Opening Day at Fenway. Although it could mean locusts are about to descend on us or something.
Go Sox! Are you going? Please eat Fenway frank and sing Sweet Caroline loud and proud for me please. *le sigh*
No, i was at work all day. Don’t have any games scheduled yet this year but I’m sure I’ll get some invitations.
Looks like it was a great day from the outdoor snaps I saw on FB. My friend had to show the little patch of snow left in her yard (about 2 ft in diameter) to confirm for us that it’s nearly gone.
We, on the other hand, are about to get our first foot of snow since probably Feb, so winter’s still hanging on a little longer here.
I’m just going to knock back another CometSophie and pretend the last 12 months didn’t happen.
He looks like a prom chaperone and I want to bang it. Over trimmed nerdy hair gets me every time.
*shakes fist at the otter Gods for pulling her back in*
Bang it don’t marry it is my advice to you young things out there . . .
I endorse this wholeheartedly. I did not know about the otter Gods. Are they like the Norse ones? 🙂
Go for it, no shame 🙂
As long as he’s not like beating someone, IDC what he does in his personal life.
Just don’t think about his PR shenanigans from the past year and bang away, if only for a night Taters. I lost any boner I had for him with the ridiculous Elle UK interview, so I won’t be shanking you for him.
I haven’t read that interview, Guess I better stay away, as I have tickets for Hamlet. 3 tickets. 🙁
hermi! you didn’t hear about how he/Sherlock would rock your world with his violin fingers? Read and mock like we did…
http://www.celebitchy.com/395135/benedict_cumberbatch_knows_what_sherlock_would_be_like_in_bed_its_magical/
Quoting Moffat (at last year’s London Apple Q&A): Oh Benedict, pull yourself together!
That Elle interview was the final straw for me too. My brain immediately went from “meh, he’s ok and I like him in Sherlock” straight to “ick”. Whatever vague attraction I may have had for him disappeared faster than I could say, “did he really just say that?”
@Hermi, I am so hoping he does well with both Hamlet and RIII. Good performances in those roles may just get him back in my good graces. But so help me, if he screws up Richard he’s dead to me forever.
Speaking of Brits and Oliviers… I’m loving Wolf Hall. Rylance is a babe. He’s my new crush. The Fug girls amusing recap of the series. They shouted out for any historical corrections in case anyone wants to set them straight.
Watch Intimacy, if you want to see him in the buff. Just saying. 🙂
It’s on my list, hermi!
OMG I’m loving Wolf Hall too! I haven’t read the books but I’m going on vacation in a couple weeks so I might pick them up to read on the beach. And yes Rylance is strangely attractive in it so Intimacy is going in my Netflix queue. 😉
It’s a difficult, but fantastic film. And the soundtrack is gorgeous. Check out The Tindersticks “A night in”!
Meh, and if I bother to stop to think about it, reeks too much of “Here Comes Cumerbatch Chasing Big Celebrity Picking Up Another Paycheck To Support My Expanding Household And The Wife’s Need For A Higher Profile . . .”
I don’t know how pretentious and arse-like this guy can get. But there is something about him that keeps a soft spot for him in my heart. I wish he would gain some weight back. Just hope he’s happy and gets more shots at Oscar worthy roles.
I agree with Oh Vey no matter what he does I have have a soft spot too.
Ha ha! Standing on a table in an already existing dress and use words from an already existing mood board. How original!
I saw. I laughed. It matches the IoW dress.
This dress mystery just adds to the WTFery of this whole stunt. If the dress that was in Vogue is not what she actually wore, then what was the point of her being in Vogue? What kind of dirt does she have on Anna Wintour?
It was a shilling for Valentino. The description of the dress is similar to what was said about that Spring/Summer 2014 dress collection (inspired by opera and unicorns). If it were an already made dress with just new embellishments, then it makes sense that it would just take 3 months.
The description for the original dress is the same as her supposed inspiration? Hmmm. Btw, there’s an interesting comment I saw in dlisted a while ago about the article. Not saying it’s true but:
“Hamish threw a little shade around, maybe in retaliation for Anna assigning him to write about yet another nobody famous for getting knocked up by one of Anna’s pets. Ham’s been writing for US Vogue for a minute, he knows how the piece makes Sophie sound to an American audience.”
What happened to Claire’s original post you were replying to, Felice?
What are y’all talking about? I’m lost.
Apparently there are pictures from a Valentino runway show with a dress very similar to Sophie Hunter’s “custom” wedding dress.
Thanks.
And said dress looks more similar to the one she wore on the paps pictures from the wedding than the one she posed in Vogue with.
Being objective, it’s hard to say that for certain since the pap picture doesn’t really show much. Looking through her veil, I do think it looks like she has a higher tulle collar in the pap picture than on the Valentino runway dress but the sleeves also look much more sheer on her wedding day than in the Vogue article dress. So I’m on the fence. No matter what, I think it’s fairly safe to conclude from this that the Vogue article was total fluff.
Well it’s not like Valentino designers are going to drop every idea they ever had and create a completely unique look for the unknown wife of a B list actor. They adapted their 2015 runway looks according to her wishes and made her a wedding dress. That’s how it always is.
It’s the exact same dress from Valentino Spring 2014, but in a different color and with a high neck and the patterned lace on the sleeves. But there’s nothing wrong that. The curious thing is that the article makes it sound like they used her mood board’s William Morris designs (and there is in fact one of pomegranates and vines), looked at different types of lace and such for a custom dress when in fact they just altered a dress from valentino’s wedding line for the year before. Why not just say that? Even if it was rushed for the wedding, couldn’t they have dressed it up as “Sophie was so in love with a Valentino design from last year that she decided to have it redone to fit the mood of her wedding”. It’s not the end of the world, but I agree–the article was definitely fluff.
Hmm…..
SH may be a severe mendaciousness woman.
Hot. Even without the curls. I still love this bloody fool.
I just watched TIG over weekend, and I have to say I am still under the spell. Not a bad word to say about BC, he is a great actor. You just need to watch any of his work to remember why people admire him and forget all the petty sniping.
I want more movies with Ben, period. And if he makes 50 car commercials in between to finance his life, I don’t care. More movies, please.
If after seeing TIG you still feel like this, kudos to you. I was so disappointed by this film, I’d have wanted my money back. Luckily I didn’t have to pay, as it was streamed free on LFF gala night. But I agree with you, more films. Possibly better ones.
I was disappointed as well. The script, the direction and Ben’s overacting. Not worthy of any awards it was up for.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thought he was hammy as hell.
I think he put too much effort in getting the walk, the posture and the speech right. In the end, he was not inhabiting the character (as Redmayne did with Hawking), but mimicking him. It didn’t help that both script and direction were so bland, stripped of any originality. I still don’t understand how that script won an Oscar. And I understand even less how BC is convinced it is a great script, I know he has to say it, but he seems to really believe it.
Ben was hammy but it’s not too bad in TIG. It was hilarious over the top in Star Trek though.
The film was ok. I didn’t think it was bad. But, I didn’t think it deserved all the attention it got either. It’s so…middle of the road biopic. The childhood scenes and the decrypting scenes feel like two separate movies. I find the childhood scenes really good and wanted to see more of that. I…almost wanted to see the whole film explore just his homosexuality, which felt like an after thought in a movie about war. I thought the writing was poor and was surprised the film got an Oscar for writing (of all things). It felt short of plucking my heartstrings, which The Theory of Everything did for me. That movie also was kind of meh. I was expecting it to explore his career as a scientist, but instead you get a love story and his crippling disease, which is fine, but for some reason I expected different. At least it picked a narrative and stuck with it unlike TIG. It’s funny because I was more curious about Turing’s personal life and more about Hawking’s professional life.
It makes perfect sense, because we know little both of Turing’s personal life and of how Hawking’s mind works. Turing’s sexuality is what caused the tragedy of his death, while Hawking’s genius is what sparked the flame that kept him alive.
I agree with all that you said. Also, the boy who played young Turing wiped the floor with BC.
Plenty of people felt that way, EN, even people not under any spells. Some didn’t.
But that’s the great thing about opinions, we’ve all got ’em and it’s all good. 😀
Anyone watching Poldark? Everyone has gone crazy for Aidan Turner.
I loved his Rossetti in Desperate romantics. He’s great looking and a good actor, but I’m not too sure about Poldark. Everything is happening too quickly: woman (Verity) meets man at a ball, talks to him for 2 seconds and is already desperately in love. He’s the man of my life, she cries. And wants to marry him after 5 minutes. So unreal. Would never happen in real life. Oh wait…. 🙂
@Pushkar:
Thanks for answering my question about Tom.
I have not seen Poldark but was crazy about AT before. Watch Being Human. Amazing show. He’s sexy. They had the greatest guest stars.
Didn’t mind TIG, quite fancied the character, is that wrong? At least it brought more awareness to Alan Turing.
You evidently have a thing for aspergic, gay men, I totally get that. 🙂
well if Jaguar won’t give him face time MG will
Have you read what he said about his fatherhood? Like he’s waiting to meet his child, it (parenting) will be the most (sic) important part of his life and that he knows people (like Martin) who can combine their career with parenthood, and he’ll try it too…
No mention of the mother of the child, nothing. Totally sounded as if he is adopting and is going to be a single parent…
“No mention of the mother of the child, nothing.”
Par for the course. She’s clearly means nothing to him, his behavior toward her all these months makes that obvious.
“Totally sounded as if he is adopting and is going to be a single parent…”
I hope that’s exactly what he’s doing. And considering that in the context of that weird statement, “Something big is happening in 2014, but I won’t say, it’s private”, it would make sense.
But again…WHY IS HE SO MISERABLE??
Looks like dorkybatch.