Benedict Cumberbatch
Acting · Production
Born July 19, 1976, Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born July 19, 1976) is an English actor. Known for his roles on the screen and stage, he has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Television Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award. Cumberbatch won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Frankenstein and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Sherlock. His performances in the dramas The Imitation Game (2014) and The Power of the Dog (2021) earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award, all for Best Actor in a Leading Role. For playing the title role in five-part drama miniseries Patrick Melrose, he won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2014 Time magazine included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2015 he was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to the performing arts and to charity. A graduate of the Victoria University of Manchester, Cumberbatch continued his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, obtaining a Master of Arts in Classical Acting. He first performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in Shakespearean productions and made his West End debut in Richard Eyre's revival of Hedda Gabler in 2005. Since then, he has starred in the Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Frankenstein (2011). In 2015, he played the title role in Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Cumberbatch's television work includes his performance as Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004. He gained worldwide recognition for his performance as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock from 2010 to 2017. He has also headlined Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012), The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016), Patrick Melrose (2018), and Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019). In films, Cumberbatch has starred in Amazing Grace (2006) as William Pitt the Younger, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) as Khan, 12 Years a Slave (2013) as William Prince Ford, The Fifth Estate (2013) as Julian Assange, and The Imitation Game (2014) as Alan Turing. He also acted in the historical dramas The Current War (2017), 1917 (2019) and The Courier (2020), and received critical acclaim for his performance in Jane Campion's Western drama The Power of the Dog (2021). From 2012 to 2014, through voice and motion capture, he played the characters of Smaug and Sauron in The Hobbit film series. Cumberbatch portrays Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, beginning with Doctor Strange (2016), and also voiced the character in the animated series What If...? (2021).
Filmography
- 2027Wife & Dog
- 2025The Phoenician Scheme — Uncle Nubar
- 2025The Roses — Theo Rose, Executive Producer
- 2025The Thing with Feathers — Dad
- Eric — Vincent, Executive Producer
- 2024The Book of Clarence — Benjamin
- 2024The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More — Henry Sugar / Max Engelman / Harry (archive footage)
- 2024We Live in Time — Executive Producer
- 2023Arctic: Our Frozen Planet — Narrator
- 2023Mog's Christmas — Mr. Thomas (voice)
- 2023Poison — Harry Pope
- 2023The End We Start From — AB, Executive Producer
- 2023The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — Henry Sugar / Make-Up Artist
- 2022Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — Doctor Stephen Strange
- 2022Minions & More Volume 1 — The Grinch (voice)
- 2022Reframing the West: Behind the Scenes of Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog
- 2022The Tiger Who Came to Tea — Daddy (voice)
- 2021Letters Live from the Archive: Freemasons’ Hall
- Marvel Studios Legends — Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2021Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ Day Special — Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (voice) (archive footage)
- 2021Spider-Man: No Way Home — Doctor Strange
- 2021The Electrical Life of Louis Wain — Louis Wain, Executive Producer
- 2021The Mauritanian — Lt. Stuart Couch, Producer
- 2021The Power of the Dog — Phil Burbank
- What If...? — Doctor Strange (voice), Doctor Strange / Strange Supreme (voice), Doctor Strange / Strange-Supreme (voice), Strange Supreme / Demon Strange (voice)
- 2020The Courier — Greville Wynne, Executive Producer
- 20191917 — Colonel MacKenzie
- 2019Avengers: Endgame — Doctor Strange
- 2019Between Two Ferns: The Movie — Benedict Cumberbatch
- 2019Brexit: The Uncivil War — Dominic Cummings
- 2019Cindy-Lou's Yule Log — The Grinch
- Good Omens — Satan (voice)
- 2019The Dog Days of Winter — The Grinch (voice)
- 2018Avengers: Infinity War — Doctor Strange
- 2018Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle — Shere Khan (voice)
- Patrick Melrose — Patrick Melrose, Executive Producer
- 2018The Child in Time — Stephen Lewis, Executive Producer
- 2018The Current War — Thomas Edison
- 2018The Grinch — The Grinch (voice)
- 2017Thor: Ragnarok — Doctor Strange
- 2017Walk with Me — Narrator (voice)
- 2016Doctor Strange — Dr. Stephen Strange
- 2016Naples '44 — Norman Lewis (voice)
- 2016Sherlock: The Abominable Bride — Sherlock Holmes
- 2016Zoolander 2 — All
- 2015Black Mass — Billy Bulger
- 2015National Theatre Live: Hamlet — Hamlet
- 20149 Kisses — Man at Costume Party
- 2014Cristiano Ronaldo: World at His Feet — Narrator
- 2014Penguins of Madagascar — Classified (voice)
- 2014The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies — Smaug / Sauron (voice)
- 2014The Imitation Game — Alan Turing
- 2014The Penguins of Madagascar - Operation: Penguin Takeover — Agent Classified (voice)
- 2014Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D — Narrator (Voice)
- 201312 Years a Slave — William Ford
- 2013August: Osage County — Little Charles Aiken
- 2013Jerusalem — Narrator (voice)
- 2013Little Favour — Wallace, Producer
- 2013National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage — Rosencrantz
- 2013Sherlock: Many Happy Returns — Sherlock Holmes
- 2013Star Trek Into Darkness — John Harrison / Khan
- 2013The Fifth Estate — Julian Assange
- 2013The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — Smaug / Sauron
- 2012Girlfriend in a Coma — Dante (voice)
- Parade's End — Christopher Tietjens
- 2012Sherlock: Uncovered — Sherlock, Self
- Stephen Hawking's Grand Design — Narrator (voice)
- 2012The Dreams of William Golding — Reader
- 2012The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Necromancer
- The Hollow Crown — Richard, Richard III
- WWI's Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig — Narrator (Voice)
- 2011National Theatre Live: Frankenstein — The Creature / Victor Frankenstein
- 2011The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch
- 2011Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy — Peter Guillam
- 2011War Horse — Maj. Jamie Stewart
- 2011Wreckers — David
- 2010Burlesque Fairytales — Henry Clark
- 2010Four Lions — Negotiator
- Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking — Stephen Hawking
- Sherlock — Sherlock Holmes
- 2010The Whistleblower — Nick Kaufman
- 2010Third Star — James
- 2010Van Gogh: Painted with Words — Vincent Van Gogh
- 2009Creation — Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Small Island — Bernard
- 2009The Turning Point — Guy Burgess
- The Last Enemy — Stephen Ezard
- 2008The Other Boleyn Girl — William Carey
- 2007Amazing Grace — William Pitt
- 2007Atonement — Paul Marshall
- 2007Inseparable — Joe / Charlie
- 2007Stuart: A Life Backwards — Alexander Masters
- 2006Starter for 10 — Patrick Watts
- Broken News — Will Parker
- Nathan Barley — Robin
- The Colbert Report — Smaug (voice)
- 2005The Man Who Predicted 9/11 — Narrator (voice)
- To the Ends of the Earth — Edmund Talbot
- Agatha Christie's Marple — Luke Fitzwilliam
- Dunkirk — Lt Jimmy Langley
- 2004Hawking — Stephen Hawking
- Cambridge Spies — Edward Hand
- Fortysomething — Rory Slippery
- 2003To Kill a King — Royalist
- 2002Fields of Gold — Jeremy
- 2002Hills Like White Elephants — The Man
- Spooks — Jim North
- Tipping the Velvet — Freddy
- Silent Witness — Warren Reid
- Heartbeat — Toby Fisher, Charles
- The Simpsons — Severus Snape / Prime Minister (voice), Quilloughby (voice)
- The South Bank Show
- Blood on Snow — The Fisherman
- Last Flight — Kirk Wallace Johnson, Executive Producer
- Migrations — Producer
- Morning — Frank, Executive Producer
- Rogue Male — Producer
- Untitled Doctor Strange Movie — Doctor Stephen Strange
Appearances as themselves (46)
- 2026Confessions II – The Film — Self
- 2026David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth — Self
- 2026How to Live on Earth — Self
- Good Hang with Amy Poehler — Self - Guest
- 2025Tilda Swinton: The Wildcards — Self
- 2025Together for Palestine — Self
- 2024Placebo: This Search for Meaning — Self
- 2023James Blunt: One Brit Wonder — Self (archive footage)
- 2022Behind the Scenes with Jane Campion — Self (archive footage)
- 2022Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — Self - Doctor Stephen Strange
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge — Self
- 2022Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home — Self (archive footage)
- Super/Natural — Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2021Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel — Self
- 2020Antarctica — Self - Narrator
- 2020Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King — Self
- The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
- 2016Mark Gatiss: A Study in Sherlock — Himself
- 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSC — Self - Performer
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
- 2014How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective — Self
- Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
- 2014Unlocking Sherlock — Himself / Sherlock Holmes
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
- 2012Frankenstein: A Modern Myth — Self / Frankenstein / The Monster
- Why did you come to Japan? — Self
- The Jonathan Ross Show — Self
- Conan — Self - Guest
- 2010Unlocking Sherlock — Himself
- South Pacific — Self - Narrator (voice)
- The Graham Norton Show — Self, Self - Guest
- The One Show — Self - Guest
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest
- Timeshift — self
- Top Gear — Self
- Glastonbury — Self
- Leute heute — Self
- The View — Self - Guest
- The Daily Show — Self - Guest
- GMTV — Self
- Have I Got News for You — Self - Host
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self
- Saturday Night Live — Self - Host, Self - Cameo (uncredited)
- The Oscars — Self
- Have I Got a Bit More News for You — Self - Presenter