1. He can’t say penguins
Watch if you want to laugh until tears appear.
2. He has a deleted shower scene from Star Trek: Into Darkness
We’re all for naked Benedict, but this is so weird.
3. He is a registered wedding officiator
Want to be married by Benedict? He was legally ordained so he could marry his friends last year. Cute.
4. He was abducted in South Africa
When filming for miniseries To The End of the Earth, Benedict and a couple of his friends were abducted at gunpoint. He said: “They were like: ‘Look down! Look down! Put your hands on your head! Look at the floor! Where's your money? Where's your drugs?" recounted Cumberbatch. "And at that point, this adrenaline of fight or flight just exploded in my body. I was like, 'Oh f--k, we're f--ked."
5. He taught all about counting on Sesame Street
6. He has heterochromia
A mutation which explains why his eyes are the dreaming combination of blue, green and gold.
7. He really doesn’t like Downton Abbey
He called it “f***ing atrocious.” Boy’s probably got a point. #WhoStoleLordGranthamsShirt
8. During his gap year he taught English in a Tibetan monastery
“I could actually stay with monks in their home and watch them at work and at prayer, and get the chance to teach them and interact with them.”
Wow. We knew he was posh but, wow.
9. Apparently drunk Sherlock and drunk Benedict are one of the same
10. He considered becoming a lawyer
His parents didn’t want him to become an actor, and Benedict had originally planned to become a lawyer (before ignoring their wishes, obviously!)
11. He was once stalked by a fan who tweeted out everything he was doing
“I had someone live-tweeting my movements while I was in my own house. It was such a strange and a direct thing to see these tweets saying what I was doing as I was doing them…the sad thing is I don’t really have anonymity any more in the UK.”
12. He can actually play the violin
He had a week to learn for Sherlock, with his teacher Eos Chater saying: “Benedict had a week and made a surprising good sound. I have no doubt he would be a good violinist if he had the inclination.”
13. He was pranked brilliantly by Simon Pegg on the set of Star Trek
Neuron cream. Really? Ah, Benny.
14. His most embarrassing moment happened at a Greek market
“I got stung by a wasp…a widow pulled down my pants, held me upside down and rubbed an onion on my bum.”
15. He and Tom Hardy are old buds
16. His ancestors owned slaves during the slave trade
Abraham Cumberbatch is the great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of Benedict. He was also the owner of a sugar cane farm called Cleland Plantation which was known to work slaves to death.
17. He hates his ‘Sherlock hair’
The black curls aren’t Benedict’s favourite. He said: “I can’t think of a wittier or even accurate comparison, but I just think it makes me look a bit like…a woman.”
18. He appeared in Heartbeat. Twice.
Look at him he's such a teeny tiny baby!
19. He's a self-proclaimed feminist
From Planet BABE. (Sorry).
20. His parents are both actors and play his mum and dad in Sherlock
Apparently he almost cried when he watched it for the rest time. Naw!
21. He does a great Alan Rickman impression
*Cough* Snape in the eventual reboot? *Cough*
22. And Chewbacca. Amazing.
23. He's a natural redhead
Come on and go back to your ginger roots Benedict! It will be SUCH an achievement for gingers everywhere!
24. He dated Olivia Poulet for 12 years
She even appeared in an episode of Sherlock.
25. He once played Titania in A Midsummer Nights Dream
He was thirteen at the time.
26. He once pushed Mary off the stage whilst playing Joseph in a Nativity Play
He said: "[My first role was] as a very bossy Joseph in the Nativity play at primary school. Apparently I pushed Mary offstage because she was taking too long. Actresses eh!"
27. He can SING
Apparently he would love to play Elvis in a movie. Please, Hollywood overlords, make it happen.
28. He has a collection of stuffed owls
According to the biography Being Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict has a collection of stuffed owls in his room, probably as his mum has a bit of an obsession with them as well.
29. He has four godchildren
Sadly, you are not one of them. Neither are we. Sad face.
30. He nearly died when his sister left him outside in the snow as a baby
Not cool Tracey. Not cool.
Did we miss any? Tweet us @sofeminineUK!
This was written by Emmy Griffiths. Follow her @emmyfg!
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