Benedict Cumberbatch reflects on awkwardness around sex symbol status: ‘I’m not Brad or Leo’
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‘I worry about myself in the mirror as I age,’ the actor said. Benedict Cumberbatch has reflected on the intense reaction to his physical appearance when he first rose to fame. The actor, 48, was catapulted into the public eye after being cast as detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC’s 2010 Sherlock series, with fans quickly lusting after the actor.
![[Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Sherlock’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/02/07/newFile-2.jpg)
Cumberbatch, who was dubbed the “thinking woman’s crumpet” by tabloids at the time, admitted he feels uneasy about his unlikely status as a sex symbol. “I’m not Brad, I’m not Leonardo, I’m not a typical movie star,” The Power of the Dog star actor told Variety.
“People were scrambling for ‘Why is he at all attractive to us?’ But for me to guess and try to understand that is so f***ing weirdly navel-gazing,” he added. “I’m not sitting around thinking, ‘Why am I sexy?’ I worry about myself in the mirror as I age, like every other f***** does.”.
Cumberbatch also took umbrage with “celebrity” as a term. “It’s so derogatory, and just lumps anyone famous together,” he said. “Am I a ‘celebrated’ person? Well, for what? For selling cheese? For being on a reality show? For doing something outrageous? For being an actor?”.
Sherlock drew to a close with a divisive fourth series in 2017 – but it seems there has always been hope it would return as producer Sue Vertue has previously revealed the set is “still in storage somewhere”. “I’ve still got the set in storage somewhere, which is probably rotten, to be honest with you. It’s just getting everybody aligned – it’s getting the actors to want to do it.”.
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