Benedict Cumberbatch reveals the heartbreaking effects being kidnapped still has on him
Benedict Cumberbatch has opened up about the long-lasting effects being kidnapped has had on him.
The London-born actor is known for his fantastic roles on our screens, playing Sherlock Holmes in the award-winning Sherlock TV series and Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, what you might not know is that the 48-year-old was once kidnapped and had his life put in danger.
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Speaking to Variety about his upcoming movie, The Thing With Feathers, Cumberbatch opened up about his past and how it has shaped his life since.
The Thing With Feathers is a dark drama about a father struggling with the loss of his wife, and having to take care of his family alone.
It describes a man in a crisis, which is similar to what Cumberbatch experienced when he was held up by a mob of men in South Africa in 2004.
In his late twenties at the time, he was shooting the BBC miniseries To The Ends of The Earth when he and a few friends went off on a diving trip.
They were abducted and robbed by six men after pulling over on the side of a road in Durban.
Cumberbatch explained how they were then forced into a car for hours until they were taken out, tied up and then sat on the ground, helpless and bound.
He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013: “It was cold, and it was dark. I felt rotten. We were wary because that’s a notoriously dangerous place to drive. Then, poof, the front-right tyre blows.
“So we got the spare, but that meant getting all of our luggage out. We were like sitting ducks, adverts for - not prosperity necessarily but materialism.”
On how the men approached them, Cumberbatch added: “They were like: ‘Look down! Look down! Put your hands on your heads! Look at the floor!’ And they started frisking us and said: ‘Where’s your money? Where’s your drugs?’ - we had smoked a bit of weed - ‘Where are your weapons?’ And at that point, this adrenaline of fight or flight just exploded in my body. I was like, ‘Oh f**k, we’re f****d!’
“I was scared, really scared. I said: ‘What are you going to do with us? Are you going to kill us?’ I was really worried that I was going to get raped or molested or just tortured or toyed with in some way, some act of control and savagery.”
However, thankfully, the men fled the scene after making the group sit on the ground with their hands tied.
Cumberbatch shared that the incident gave him a new outlook on life - one that is heartbreaking, yet beautiful.
He said: “It really, really enriches your values in life.
“It’s incredibly important.”
Cumberbatch told Variety: “It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily a good one.
“It made me impatient to live a life less ordinary, and I’m still dealing with that impatience.”
He admitted that he also became an adrenaline junkie because of it.
“The near-death stuff turbo-fueled all that,” Cumberbatch shared. “It made me go, ‘Oh, right, yeah, I could die at any moment.’ I was throwing myself out of planes, taking all sorts of risks. But apart from my parents, I didn’t have any real dependents at that point.
“Now that’s changed, and that sobers you. I’ve looked over the edge; it’s made me comfortable with what lies beneath it. And I’ve accepted that that’s the end of all our stories.”
Britt Jones