Alas, poor Benedict!
The British actor who is starring in “Hamlet” in London has pleaded with fans not to film him on stage after what he described as “a hell of a week.”
Cumberbatch, 39, was captured in an amateur video speaking to people gathered at the stage door of the Barbican Theatre after the show on Saturday.
“I can see cameras. I can see red lights in the auditorium, and it may not be any of you here that did that but it’s blindingly obvious like that one there, that little red light, it’s very very obvious.
“I could see a red light in about the third row on the right, it’s mortifying, and there’s nothing less supportive or enjoyable as an actor (than) being on stage experiencing that,” he said in the video.
The show has reportedly been marred by technical difficulties and on Saturday was stopped twice, according to Reuters, forcing Cumberbatch to redo his opening lines.
“It’s not the easiest place to begin a play full stop, but for the second time even harder,” the actor said.
He politely asked fans to get the message out on social media, adding that the theater was implementing devices that will have anyone filming the show “detected and evicted.”
Cumberbatch debuted the title role of Hamlet on August 5.
The show is one of the hot-ticket events of the year in London and tickets are now trading for up to $2,300 (£1,500) on online ticket marketplace Viagogo.
But Cumberbatch fans may still have an opportunity to see the show: The Barbican Theatre has held back 30 tickets each day, which it is selling for $15 (£10) causing some fans to queue through the night in the hope of securing one.
Sexiest man alive?
Cumberbatch has a devoted following of female fans — known as, among other things, “Cumberbabes” — who are mesmerized by the actor’s sex appeal in roles like Sherlock Holmes.
“By and large (the Cumberbabes) are very intelligent, and engaging and supportive bunch of people, so it’s been fun to go on the road with them,” Cumberbatch said in a recent interview with CNN’s Talk Asia.
Of his character Sherlock Holmes’ appeal, he said: “He’s a master at pretty much everything he attempts, if it’s being the foremost consulting detective in the world or the attendant skills, whether it’s fighting, running, just the mind games he’s able to play, the control, the discipline he has over himself as well as other people that’s appealing.
“But … there’s an awful lot about him that’s very dangerous, very distant and again … everyone wants to sort of put an arm around him but you wouldn’t get that near in reality. So, it always puzzles me slightly.”
On the whole, Cumberbatch is an uneasy sex symbol, saying he finds his status “truly, truly strange,” although, he acknowledges that stardom is a good thing.
“You start off desperately looking for any kind of work and just knocking on doors trying to get noticed … so, you know, it’s great when you get to the stage where you can start to control (it) a bit more.”