Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Benedict Cumberbatch confirms he has no plans to quit Sherlock

The lead actor will stick with the role as long as his character is 'developing'

Jess Denham
Thursday 06 February 2014 09:24 EST
Comments
Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch is going nowhere, he says, so long as he is 'challenged' in the role
Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch is going nowhere, he says, so long as he is 'challenged' in the role (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Fans of BBC drama Sherlock can breathe a sigh of relief – yes, we might not be seeing any new episodes until 2016, but lead star Benedict Cumberbatch has no intention of quitting.

The actor says he will continue in the titular role until his character begins to stagnate. “I’ll keep doing it as long as [Sherlock] grows, as long as I feel he’s developing and there’s stuff we’re all being challenged by and that it’s being loyal to the original stories as well,” he told USA Today.

“I won’t say it’s changed my life because I had a huge break at the same time as this role first came to fruition,” the 37-year-old continued. “It was sort of a perfect storm of all mediums coming together at the same time – television, film and theatre, even some radio.”

Earlier this week, a Meet the Filmmakers event in London saw Cumberbatch and John Watson actor Martin Freeman reveal that the Sherlock creators had cut a ‘ gay club scene’ from the third series.

Hype has built-up around the detective duo’s supposed ‘bromance’ since the first episode aired in 2010, but when Watson’s stag party was filmed in “The Sign of Three”, fans missed out on some drunken footage.

“Doing the drunk stuff was lovely but I regret there was one bit of that drunk stuff that was missing,” Freeman said. “There was the gay club scene. Why didn’t that get in? We got mullered in a gay club and all these topless guys were going by.”

Co-creator and writer Steven Moffat teased a possible “four or five year” wait until the next series, with Cumberbatch joking that he could answer “Errrr, errrr, errr” for at least two years when asked about what might happened next.

Cumberbatch has recently been cast in Sergei Bodrov’s crime thriller Blood Mountain and is believed to be in talks to play the lead in a West End production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Read more:

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in