Benedict Cumberbatch looks back on his most controversial role. Cumberbatch is a prolific actor who has starred in Academy-Award winning movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, popular BBC shows, and in prominent fantasy and science-fiction franchises. He is best known for playing Doctor Stephen Strange in numerous MCU movies, ranging from Doctor Strange to Avengers: Infinity War, along with playing the iconic Sherlock Holmes in the BBC’s Sherlock series that aired from 2010-2017.
When it comes to Benedict Cumberbatch’s best movies, he starred in the award-winning The Imitation Game, The Power of the Dog, and 1917. In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, he provided a motion capture and voice performance for the fearsome dragon Smaug and for the villainous Sauron. Cumberbatch also made his mark on the Star Trek franchise by playing Khan in 2013’s Star Trek: Into Darkness. As accomplished as Cumberbatch is, not all of his projects or roles have been well-received, though.
Benedict Cumberbatch Had A Controversial Role In Zoolander 2
He Has Spoken About It Before
Cumberbatch addresses his controversial role in Zoolander 2. The Ben Stiller-directed movie features Cumberbatch in the role of a non-binary fashion model named All. Having Cumberbatch play a non-binary character was not well-received. He has since spoken about the controversy and that he regrets portraying the character. The scene was intended to show characters being out of touch with modern times, but this was overshadowed by having Cumberbatch play a non-binary individual.
Zoolander 2 was critically panned and has a 22% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
While speaking with Variety, Cumberbatch discusses how it is difficult to talk about Zoolander 2 and his problematic role in the sequel. Part of this difficulty comes from the fact that he was thrilled to be working with Stiller and the creative team behind the iconic first Zoolander movie that was released in 2001. Cumberbatch emphasizes that he will not play another character like this again, as he understands why it was upsetting to many audiences. Check out his comments below:
I’ve had to apologize for that quite a lot, so it’s a difficult one to talk about. I love that group of people, and it was a chance to be part of something that, the first time around, was iconic, and I was a huge fan of, but it got complicated. It got misunderstood, and I upset people and I respect that, so I probably wouldn’t do that again now.
Zoolander 2 Made A Mistake That Must Be Avoided
Non-binary characters should only be played by non-binary actors. Ironically, in a scene meant to expose how out of touch certain characters are, the movie itself ended up being out of touch by casting Cumberbatch to play All. Fortunately, there are plenty of movies with non-binary characters that provide authentic representation. Benedict Cumberbatch learned from his mistake, and hopefully the rest of the entertainment industry will continue to learn and improve how queer representation is handled in movies, television shows, and in other art forms.
Source: Variety
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15 years after Derek Zoolander and Hansel McDonald became allies to take down Mugatu, the pair of fashion models are back. This time, Derek and Hansel discover a sinister conspiracy after traveling to Rome to rejoin the modeling world. Despite Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson returning for the sequel, Zoolander 2 was largely panned upon release in 2016.
