Benedict Cumberbatch On the Value of MARVEL and Why He Prefers When Fans Ask About His Smaller Films

Not to rank fan encounters, but do those fan encounters mean just a little bit more to you when they want to talk about movies like this? Yeah, because the conversation immediately goes deeper. Mr. Cumberbatch, an honor to see you again, sir. Yeah, I'm all right. How are you, Jake? I'm doing well, man. I got so many questions for you. You know, I really think, as crazy as it might sound, one of the most relatable aspects of this film is Crow, because I feel like, as an audience, we watch this movie and we can think of moments in our lives when maybe we wish he had actually showed up for us. And obviously, I don't want to get too personal, but I'd love to ask, is there maybe a moment on one of your sets during one of your performances where you most could have used Crow behind you talking to you? I mean, I think we have a little bit of Crow in all of us. He is a manifestation of something internal for both the dad in this and also the two boys. I think the worst internal critic as well as the best, because he can be anything from Tyler Durden to Mary Poppins. He can be a menuetist or best friend. He can be, you know, an agitator or a comfort blanket. And I think we all have that power within us. We can undo ourselves. We can bring ourselves back. We can hold the line, keep the boundary, keep things solid, but also just be exposed to the wildness of this very imaginative and idiosyncratic reimagining of everything we can bring. And I'm thrilled that you say that, because this is a very iterative story. And while Max has metaphorically originally wrote the book and came up with this idea, it's very iterative. Loads of people have taken this story and adapted it in different ways for a start. But even the book itself has these blank pages or lines that are blank for, as Max puts it, for the reader to connect with or in their experience. So yeah, Crow is very, very, very relatable. And anyone who's been through Grief, and I do ask people who come up to me and say, thank you for the experience of watching this film, what I've been through. I've had the most amazing conversations with people on the most rewarding outcomes of this film. But one of the things I ask is, and Crow, how does that work? And they went, it works, because Grief is unruly, violent, comforting. It's all of those things that he is. That perfectly leads into my next question, because you and I have had a lot of conversations over the years. I feel like I cheated you on the first one, because I didn't really say specifically. All the time on set is my answer as well. I have little voices, and I have to just sometimes lean into them, but often just displace them or expose them and share them. I'm picturing you turning around to Crow and going, just shut the **** up for a second. We all have that. You and I have spoken a lot over the years, and we've talked about very big films, but I really love talking to you about films like this. I would love to know, I know that there are projects in your life that people are going to talk about to you forever, fan interactions where they want to talk about Marvel or Sherlock or Lord of the Rings or what have you. But when a fan stops you and they want to talk about a project that maybe isn't known as well, a smaller film, maybe one of your more quiet films, a year from now when someone stops you and talks to you about this film, not to rank fan encounters, but do those fan encounters mean just a little bit more to you when they want to talk about movies like this? Yeah, because the conversation immediately goes deeper. It just does. These are more challenging. They're closer to our everyday reality. I don't know, I had an actor come up to me last night, a brilliant actor whose name escapes me at the moment. He's the lead bad guy in the series Black Rabbit on Netflix. Really, really talented dude. And he said, this is the kind of stuff that I want to be doing. And it's the same with me. The fair that really inspired me as an actor, brilliant though, the entertainment and the tentacle magicry of the larger fairies, it wasn't that that made me want to be an actor. It was the stuff where the human condition was really under the lens and there was a commitment in performance to bring authenticity to a moment that just flabbergasted me. It's always about that for me. It's always about connecting. Again, not that I don't love talking to you about the big stuff, but the conversations we have on these, this is why I love this job. But I'm so grateful to the big stuff, not only because I think you can be nuanced in the big stuff, and you can also bring big stuff to the nuanced film. And this wouldn't exist in many ways unless a Marvel actor had decided to take a pay cut, obviously, and support it with his production company and bring it to life as an actor as well. So I'm hugely grateful for the other canvases that the bigger ones give me the opportunity to create. And I'm grateful as well. I'm going to cut you loose on this because I was thinking about some of the incredible directors you've worked with over your career. You look at Wes Anderson and Jane Campion and Sam Mendes and Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg. The list is pretty unreal. And this is a big question. Do you have a favorite piece of direction you've been given over your career? In all honesty, I'd have to get back to you on that. It's a brilliant question. And they're so, they're so unique, all the people you just mentioned, you know, JJ Abrams as well. And all the theatre directors I've worked with. I can't. It's very, very hard. Very, very hard. I think one thing that Jane gave me, which was a real Keys to the Kingdom moment, she said, you don't have to be yourself in this at all. I'm giving you full permission to be this character. I will explain that so that your ego, your sense of self isn't awkwardly interacting with the idea of being that person with the day to day people who are going to make this work, your crew or cast members. So I said, well, that's the only way it can work for me. If you just explain that they'll meet me on wrap or the weekend or, you know, on the day I just have to be this guy who's so far away from my lived experience. And the sense of freedom that gave me, it was still very intimidating to sort of walk on set and kind of own Phil Burbank, as it should be, as a very intimidating character to try and step into. But it was, it was a phenomenal vote for confidence and allowing me to just live it a little bit longer to reach people. And she got rid of my sense of apologetic shame and embarrassment Sorry, I just stepped on my foot. I'm so sorry. You know, that kind of thing, you know, sometimes people generalize about it and it was very free. So yeah, that was more, that was less advice. That was more augmenting for a kind of experience, a creative experience. No, that was a beautiful answer. And I appreciate you telling me that story. Dude, I love our conversations. And I always call them conversations because they don't feel like press junket. And I just want to say, I appreciate you, man. Always. You're so welcome. I love it too. So thank you. Bring on the next. Good to see you, buddy.