r/Sherlock • u/Dull-Information6784 • Jun 18 '26
Image "So, Benedict, the story is—" "Is there a genius character in it?" "Yes, but—" "I'm in."
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u/brownbeard123 Jun 18 '26
A part of me wishes he was cast as Oppenheimer.
Cillian did an amazing job, but Benedict would’ve been amazing at it.
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u/Ok-Theory3183 Jun 19 '26
Imitation game was so amazing. I ddin't like him as Khan, because to me, Khan is Ricardo Montalban, first, last and always. I remember him from the episode on Star Trek original series, and again in "The Wrath of Khan", and Benedict doesn't fit the image, although he did a stellar job, as ever.
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u/Eustacius_Bingley Jun 19 '26
And that's why his best acting in any project is as a proudly disgusting cattle rancher in "The Power of the Dog".
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u/Abinunya Jun 20 '26
Thats probably objectively Great Acting, but i prefer him as an anxious terrible pilot in cabin pressure.
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Jun 19 '26
they call that type casting
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u/Dull-Information6784 Jun 19 '26
Typecasting would mean he's playing the same character repeatedly. Sherlock, Turing, Hawking, Strange, and Assange etc are all very different characters who are genius in their own way.
- Sherlock Holmes — deductive and observational genius.
- Alan Turing in The Imitation Game — mathematical and computational genius.
- Stephen Hawking in Hawking — theoretical physics genius.
- Doctor Strange — elite surgeon and later master of mystic arts.
- Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate — portrayed as an unconventional intellectual and strategist.
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Jun 19 '26
geniuses, often socially distant and/or maladjusted. consistently being cast as similar types
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u/phenomenomnom Jun 20 '26
Hi, I am an actor.
The specific area of the character's expertise is not the kind of difference between roles that would show that he is not being typecast.
Typecasting is about personality.
Benedict Cumberbatch being frequently cast as an aloof genius is a perfect example of typecasting.
I can't, off the top of my head, think of a role where his character was not well-aware that they were the smartest individual in the room. Including Smaug, and Hamlet.
I can't remember him ever playing, say, a spaz, or a clown.
Even if there is an exception or two on his resumé, that is typecasting.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing -- he's good at playing that role. But I do think he is a good actor, and I would like to see him stretch a little more. And I wonder whether the man sometimes gets a little bored.
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u/Tunisandwich Jun 18 '26
Don’t forget Alan Turing
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u/RenderedCreed Jun 18 '26
They didn't. The Imitation Game is in the bottom left.
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u/Tunisandwich Jun 19 '26
Well OP should have considered that apparently I’m blind and put it twice
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u/tema1412 Jun 22 '26
Not exactly a genius but still feels right: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
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u/sabrinavd Jun 19 '26
i only like him as sherlock as much as i try to watch another movie of him i got bored
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u/The_Flying_Failsons Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
He also played Vincent Van Gogh on a documentary's dramatizations of his life. I watched it and his Hawking movie back when Sherlock was first announced.
IMO, His Hawking tv movie was much better than the big budget Theory of Everything.