Benedict Cumberbatch: I love getting to straddle the polarities of our culture
The actor spoke on the red carpet at the LA premiere of his Doctor Strange sequel.
Benedict Cumberbatch said he loves being able to “straddle the polarities of our culture” by starring in both “populus” and “artisan” films.
The British actor, 45, is promoting his Marvel Studios superhero movie, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, after earning a best actor nomination at the Oscars for his turn as a conflicted rancher in the psychological drama The Power of the Dog.
While at the Los Angeles premiere of the Doctor Strange sequel, the 28th flick set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he addressed moving between different styles of filmmaking.
Cumberbatch told the PA news agency: “They are just so different. They are impossible to compare and I think that they ask of you very different things.
“I love the fact that I get to straddle the polarities of our culture and play in populous fare like this as well as something more artisan, I suppose, in terms of Power of The Dog.
“People say, ‘Green screen, what does it feel like? Is it very odd? Is it frustrating?’ It’s not. It’s great. You are like a kid and you have to create everything yourself.
“It is like an amazing canvas of imagination. You have a lot of help. You have some hints.
“But I am going to sit in that audience tonight and watch stuff that I couldn’t possibly imagine that is just going to make me feel like I am in a movie I didn’t even know I was in. So I am very excited for that feeling.”
The film sees Cumberbatch’s superhero wizard struggling to deal with the fallout from a spell he cast which opened up the world to the multiverse.
The former Sherlock star appears alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong and Rachel McAdams in the forthcoming film.
The 43-year-old, who stars as emergency surgeon and love interest Dr Christine Palmer, praised Cumberbatch for his American accent.
She told PA: “The first time, I feel like he stayed in the American accent the whole time and, this time, he switched in and out of British and American like (clicks fingers).
“Now I am not American, I am Canadian, so I am not a good source for that but I think that he did it well.”
On returning to her character, McAdams added: “It is always nice to be invited back. It was really nice.
“And to be reunited with Benedict and then to also get to work with amazing other people like Lizzie and Xochitl (Gomez) and Benedict Wong and people I hadn’t worked with in the first one, and then to get to do a little bit more action in this one outside the emergency room, kind of spread my wings a bit, was nice.”
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is released in UK cinemas on May 5.
