An American Tale: Kurt Vonnegut, Benedict Cumberbatch – and Me
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Letters, laughs and brief encounters….
A SMALL field on the outskirts of a picturesque town on the Welsh border, provided the backdrop of a memorable weekend for the Collective as Benedict, and his friends, took to the stage for two Letters Live events.
Letters from the famous and infamous, as well as between a World War Two signalman and his love back home, were read out by Benedict and a host of well-known faces – Louise Brealey, James Rhodes, Rob Brydon, Chris Evans, Patrick Kennedy, Ian McEwan and Michael Morpurgo, to name just a few.
Fans of Benedict were not disappointed. Over the two days, he read 11 letters, six as signalman Chris Barker in the incredible Chris & Bessie series, one by Richard Avedon, one by Kurt Vonnegut, one by Iggy Pop, one by Ted Hughes and a heartbreaking series by Robert Scott, dying on his Antarctic expedition.
(Pictures by Rebecca Dobson)
He embodied the character and mood of each, putting on American accents, lurching his body around as Iggy, choking back a tear as Scott, as he asked his soon-to-be widow to try to convince their son there was a God.
Letters Live is a concept all of its own and, I cannot recommend it enough – the next event is at Festival No6 in Portmerion and I will be making the trip.
And as for Hay Festival – it is a wonderful celebration of the written word. Letters Live was just one of around 550 events over the course of the festival, events ranging from writing groups and radio broadcasts to full concerts by James Rhodes and Bill Bailey, and Q&As with the likes of Judi Dench. Benedict popped up at several events, and it was wonderful to see him enjoy himself as we all did.
My own personal experience of the weekend was enriched hugely by meeting so many people who I’ve met through twitter and Sherlock forums, it was great to make contact and have such fun with them. To top it off, I met James, as well as Louise very briefly – and the man himself. So, where to start? I am going to describe it in full, as I have no fan picture, no autograph or video. Writing it down is the only way I will manage to remember it in years to come!
I’ve been submitting reports on here since the site was born (thanks Gabi), and you’ll know I’m interested in Benedict the person, as much as I am interested in Benedict the actor. I like to hear of his interests, be it sporting, musical, or educational, and life experiences.
I’m also interested in drawing him. I take immense pleasure in spending hours focusing on his face (don’t we all!), in whatever character or form (seriously contemplating a Smaug in the near future).
So when me and my friend, Rebecca, got tickets to both the Letters Live events, I thought about the possibility of meeting him, what I’d say, what I’d do. I contemplated taking my art with me, and decided to. Just in case.
And thank God I did.
I had my small sketchbook with me, which contains two drawings, one of Benedict as James from Third Star, and one of Louise as Molly, as well as one work-in-progress I’m doing for someone on twitter (Chrissy, yay!) — I spent time on the train and in the queue working on it, as it seemed a nice way of killing time.
When the second Letters Live event finished we exited right from the Tata Tent and seemingly at the same time as the artists. I saw him but could not get close. I didn’t want to; it was a scrum and I could barely breathe. I got out onto the muddy area and tried to make my escape but came up against a wooden fence where, to my surprise I saw Louise. I showed her my picture of her and although she couldn’t sign she gave me a little hug, which was lovely.
By the time I got out it was chaos, with people trying to leave and get a glimpse of Benedict, and other people trying to get into other events. I was glad to get out of the throng and felt awful for him and Louise who must have been totally overwhelmed by it.
Four hours later then, when me, Rebecca and Chrissie were sitting around contemplating leaving and heading into Hay itself, Rebecca spotted him. He was walking through with Louise and James Byng (Cannongate publishing), with no entourage, no security and seemingly no-one approaching him. He crouched and waved at a little toddler running past (aww!) and we followed, at a distance. He and Louise and James went back down towards the artists’ entrance of the Tata Tent (which if you were there you’ll know is a long corridor). I just stood at the far end, sketchbook in hand, thinking “well that’s it, at least I saw him.”
And that’s when he started walking back, right at me. I was frozen to the spot, all kinds of thoughts going through my head. They were literally feet away from me when I caught the eye of James who smiled at me and I smiled back. I just thought, this is it, if I don’t ask now, I’ll never know. So I just blurted “Benedict, please would you look at my drawing”, and held it out.
He turned, saying “I’m sorry I can’t……wow.”
His face dropped, he looked right into my eyes with those icy blues, looked back at the book, looked again at me. “That’s fantastic, I’m so sorry I can’t stop.”
He carried on walking. All I could blab was: “thank you that’s OK, that’s OK.”
He turned again. “You’re very talented. I’ve got to go I’m so sorry.” He waved.
I died.
Apparently, after I turned and started shaking like a leaf (I’m shaking as I type this now, just the memory makes it happen!), he looked back again at me, then to Chrissie, giving a thumbs up.
To me, the ultimate seal of approval.
I am still dreaming of things I’d say to him, in a parallel universe where I’m confident, assured and calm, and he’ll waffle back long answers about acting and living life to the full.
But “wow” will do. It really will do.
ETA: Just to show you all (Gabi said I should!) here is the drawing I showed Benedict.
Taken from the film Third Star
Benedict Cumberbatch & The Adventure of the Winner’s Circle
For the second time in the 2014 Formula One racing season, Benedict Cumberbatch conducted the post-race podium interviews with the Top 3 finishers, this time at the the conclusion of the Monaco Grand Prix. Tension between the top 2, Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, had been discussed by those in the media already, which meant that F1 fans were well aware of it. So, if it’s your job to interview these drivers moments after a controversial race, how do you prepare? What do you ask?
If you’re Cumberbatch, you do this:
http://youtu.be/sa-Ln5uBYOQ
Men at war played by Benedict Cumberbatch
(Please beware “The Yellow Birds: A Novel” spoilers!)
“Afghanistan or Iraq?” One could say SHERLOCK actor Benedict Cumberbatch is experienced in life threatening situations. However he is only familiar with the commonly known “bravery of a soldier” on screen. In the past decade Benedict has played men at wartime: Lt Jimmy Langley (“Dunkirk” 2004), Major Jamie Steward (“War Horse” 2011), Christopher Tietjens (“Parade’s End” 2012) and most recently the PTSD sufferer Wallace (“Little Favour” 2013). Each of whom were unlike any other underneath their uniforms, very different individuals living at different times. What they had in common though was their survival, pride and bravery in combat.
“The Yellow Birds” written by Kevin Powers tells the fictional but based on real life events story of U.S. Privates John Bartle and Daniel Murphy at war in Iraq 2004. Powers’ focus is on their friendship by jumping back and forth in the narrative. Cumberbatch’s character, Sergeant Sterling, completes the trio and has a significant influence on Bartle. Unluckily this powerful and well written novel is none of survival. It is Powers’ aim to answer the reader’s question what it is like over there. “God, that fucking question” says Sterling.
“He looked a lot like Sterling in some ways, the blond hair and blue eyes. But it was as if Murph was the ordinary version. Where Sterling was tall and trimly muscled, Murph was not. He wasn’t fat, it was just that he seemed almost incorrectly short and squat by comparison. Whereas Sterling’s jawline could have been transferred directly from a geometry textbook, Murph’s features were nearly imperceptibly askew. Whereas Murph’s mouth feel comfortably into a smile, Sterling’s did not.” (Bartle, page 35)
During my own reading of the book I had great difficulties to sympathy, to understand Sterling’s behaviour. Maybe it truly only is due to the circumstances at war. Earlier this year Cumberbatch stated at OZ Comic Con his favourite of negative emotions to explore within a character is power. Powers’ Sergeant definitely lives up to his powerful position, both verbally and physically. Personally I tried my best to find something likeable but Sterling simply isn’t meant to be likeable. As long as he’s in charge and leading the battle, everything is OK. He enjoys being on top of his game showing off his dominance, self-sacrifice, rage, focus and bravery. Toward the end of the novel I felt Bartle owns not few but various characteristics of the Sergeant as the two boys decide what should happen to the brutally murdered Murphy. Both men at war decided to live with a lie of war for the rest of their lives.
This should be enough to go on with if you haven’t read the book yet.
If you’re interested, buy your own copy for £12.50 here.
There is a, mind if I say, major spoiler in the upcoming paragraph!
I suppose there are many interpretations to why Sterling gives up on his responsibilities and commits suicide, the only decision he ever made only for himself. Private Bartle has to take the responsibility of a broken promise and its aftermaths on his own. “We only pay attention to the rare things, and death was not rare” tells the 21-year-old in the beginning and by the end Cumberbatch’s Sterling will be just a number and a name on a box with a flag on it.
Music According to Benedict – “Skeleton Boy” by Friendly Fires
Before Benedict gave us his bit of “legal dancing,” his love of music had already been shared with interviewers – and taken to heart and head by his fans. It may have not been a Top Tunes list, but music is acknowledged to be one of Benedict’s many passions, and his appreciation for Friendly Fires,* the English indie band from St. Alban’s, is longstanding. (*You can click on the link to the artist’s website to learn about their most recent projects.)
In a profile of the actor entitled, “The Fabulous Baker Street Boy” (because who doesn’t love a Sherlock tie-in?), reporter Lesley White wrote:
“After the show (Terence Rattigan’s “After the Dance”) the actor had showered, danced around to “Skeleton Boy” by Friendly Fires to “shake off” the interwar years, and dived into the National’s Green Room to have a drink with his friends, but then escaped to the fresh air of a balcony, alone. “I just felt, ‘This is too much.’ I was hot. So I walked away from everyone.” – The Sunday Times – Aug. 12, 2010
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| Nancy Carroll & Benedict Cumberbatch / Credit:Geraint Lewis |
We’ll get to the song in a moment, but there was something I wanted to find out first:
What can Benedict teach us?
ONE of the things – if I was ever given the chance to ask – I’d love to know more about with Benedict, was his time teaching Tibetan monks during his gap year.
By all accounts he worked for a perfumer to raise the funds for his trip to Darjeeling, where he worked at a Nepali home to teach English to the monks.
In an online interview, he said: “They were amazingly warm, intelligent, humorous people. Hard to teach English to. I built a blackboard, which no other previous teachers seem to have done. With 12 monks in a room with an age-range of about 8 to 40, that’s quite important – and the reward-punishment thing of sweets or no sweets, or game or no game, worked quite well. But they taught me a lot more than I could possibly ever teach them.
“They taught me about the simplicity of human nature, but also the humanity of it, and the ridiculous sense of humour you need to live a full spiritual life.”
I wish I had known that such a rich and rewarding experience was out there to be grasped when I had my gap year.
It must have been relatively unusual for Benedict, say 20 years ago, to do such a thing. Nowadays with the world getting smaller, what opportunities are out there now?
I’d like to think they are not exclusive to gap year students looking for an adventure before the start of “real life” and, on looking around, it’s not.
Through Hands For Help Nepal (www.handsforhelpnepal.org) you can teach at any age, for one to five weeks. Through their scheme, the reward for teaching is learning the monks’ way of life. You teach for two to four days a week, and live in the monastery with them.
A similar experience, and more more akin to Benedict’s, is being run through Global Crossroad (www.globalcrossroad.com) where they aim to help the 150,000 Tibetans who live in exile in India, Nepal and Bhutan. You don’t need to have a qualification to teach, just a strong will and sense of discipline.
But of course programmes like these are not exclusive to Tibetan monks, there are schemes around the world where you can enrich the lives of others, and your own life, through education and culture.
Visit www.globalteer.org if you’re in the UK to see a whole list of opportunities to help those in need abroad, from community and children’s projects in Cambodia, to animal sanctuaries in Peru and Thailand.
Alternatively, www.workingabroad.com has a large range of projects, from humanitarian to environmental and teaching.
But if the idea of going to far-flung shores is not appealing, volunteering locally can be equally rewarding. You could walk dogs at the local animal shelter, provide company for elderly people who are perhaps isolated, or work with charities to support your local homeless population.
With Benedict’s birthday now less than two months away, the Cumbercollective is busy fundraising once again to show their love and support for him. Maybe, if you are unable to give money, you could give time? I’m sure Benedict would wholeheartedly approve!
Third Star Musings
Source: The Guardian
Having arrived at Cumberfandom about 4 years late, I have only just now seen Third Star. The film affected me deeply and I agreed to write this piece as a sort of therapy exercise. I admit at the outset that I have no grand conclusions to draw, only appreciate the opportunity to describe what I saw and open a discussion with other followers.
The first part of the film, directed by Hattie Dalton, is surprisingly lighthearted as we follow the journey of four youngish friends: James (Benedict Cumberbatch), a somewhat arrogant but unsuccessful writer who is dying from rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and nasty cancer of the connective tissues; Miles (JJ Feild, looking like a cross between Tom Hiddleston and Jude Law), an accomplished writer whose father, a well-known author, recently died from cancer; Davy (Tom Burke), who is unemployed but takes care of others; and Bill (Adam Robertson), who is running away from his job and girlfriend. The four set out on a camping trip to James’ favorite place, a remote beach in South Wales, in order to celebrate his 29th birthday and plant a tree in his honor. The four engage in reckless antics along the way, often at the behest of the morphine-addled James, as if competing for a Darwin Award. In one particularly hilarious scene, James joins a public brawl, batting people from a cart rigged and wheeled by his friends. Although comic errors ensue, the initial stages of the journey celebrate delightfully the YOLO creed and bonds of friendship. The relationships become strained, however, by revelations that Bill has gotten his girlfriend pregnant but does not wish to have a family with her, and that Miles has completed a novel (a goal James failed to accomplish) and plans to marry James’ recently divorced sister. James accuses Bill and Davy of taking their lives for granted and is furious with Miles, admitting to jealousy of his literary accomplishment. It is unclear to me exactly why he is angry about Miles’ relationship with his sister, but I suspect it has to do with James’ impression that Miles is appropriating his life, hilighted by Miles’ admission that he had planned to tell James about neither the relationship nor the book.
As the four reach their destination, the earlier mishaps evolve to threaten the quest when James’ cart and morphine are lost. The scene in which James howls in agony and is comforted by Davy while the others search frantically in the dark is particularly poignant. Soon afterward we learn, in a final twist, that James’ intent has been to end his life by drowning. Horrified at first, his friends agree to assist him. Ultimately, however, only Miles manages to follow through, holding James by his shirt underwater in an unspoken apology. The film ends with Miles pulling James back to shore, leaving the three remaining friends – along with the viewers – utterly devastated by the sight of James’ limp body on the beach.
Source: Pinterest (otherwise unknown)
While all of the actors give great performances, Cumberbatch stands out with his brilliant physicality, which he also displays in his portrayal of Stephen Hawking as his motor neuron disease progresses. James’ illness affects his ability to walk, and possibly urinate, requiring his friends to assist him often. Cumberbatch manages beautifully to maintain an equilibrium between James’ arrogance and vulnerability throughout the film.
Source: mug7.com
Another character I want to mention, the beachcomber (Hugh Bonneville), is a man who appears somewhat unstable as he ambles along the beach searching for shipwrecked, brown-colored Darth Vader statuettes he believes to be valuable and hopes to sell. He also talks matter-of-factly about a friend he lost to cancer. The beachcomber seems at once comic relief, cautionary tale of Quixotic delusion and pure example of following one’s passion, themes that pervade the entire story. The beachcomber is one of three characters our heroes meet along the way – much as Dorothy does on her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz – who, in the words of screenwriter Vaughan Sivell, “make you feel that … the boys … have left their real lives behind, suspended in a strange in-between state that James’ imminent death has taken them to. That border country between this life and the next that our heroes agree to escort their friend through creates a really magical atmosphere for a film that is at its heart, just a story about four lads camping in Wales.”
Source: bbc.co.uk
Benedict Cumberbatch Coming to “Black Mass”
In what seems a repeat of a work ethic that brought him worldwide attention, commercial success and critical acclaim, Benedict Cumberbatch’s name was added to another movie project scheduled for 2015 release, hot on the heels of the “The Yellow Birds” cast announcement.
Sensational Benedict in Hawking (Slight spoiler alert)
During my recent mission to acquaint myself with Benedict Cumberbatch’s impressive back catalogue of works, there have been two that have caused me a little anxiety, requiring a period of mental preparation before I could watch what I knew would be breath-taking performances about difficult subject matter.
Third Star tells the heart-breaking story of James, a young man ravaged by cancer who makes a mature decision about his future, displaying both bravery and vulnerability while fighting with his responsibilities as a son, a brother and a friend. Sadly, this struck a chord with me, as I’m sure it did with many others. Indeed, figuring out how you will cope when an uncontrollable, incurable disease is ready to throw everything it has at you is something we all hope we never have to do.
Hawking, made for TV in 2004, tells the story of Stephen Hawking’s postgraduate entry into Cambridge University and his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease at the age of 21.
Benedict said in a BBC interview (here) at the time: “This was a very rich and fascinating period because of the three strands of his life which are coming together, and those are the things which are interesting to play: this incredible brain finding a subject and having a moment of great realisation and inspiration; finding love and the most extraordinary relationship with the woman he would spend 25 years of his life with; and coming to terms with an illness which, at the time of diagnosis, would basically restrict his life to being of two years’ duration.”
Motor Neurone Disease (or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a fairly rare neurodegenerative disease. The upper and lower motor neurons, which control voluntary movement of muscles, weaken and degenerate, eventually ceasing to function completely. Muscle spasticity and problems with speaking and swallowing are usually the most prominent symptoms.
Basically, the body stops working. But what makes it such a monumentally cruel disease, as if the above doesn’t sound bad enough, is that cognitive function is usually left intact, along with sensory nerves and the nervous system. A positive? Well, not if you long for the taste of something as simple as a Weetabix, but you are unable not only to chew, but to swallow anything (this includes liquids, as the chances of choking are high). Not if your alert, lucid brain is ticking over 24 hours a day but you are unable to hold a pen to do a crossword puzzle.
Living with MND is a balance between acknowledging that most sufferers do not experience much day to day pain, but must live with a future holding in its grasp a seemingly random length of time before their body gives up completely because the muscles that control voluntary breathing don’t work anymore. Some sufferers live for a few years after diagnosis, others deteriorate rapidly because the disease attacks vital functions.
Benedict’s performance in Hawking was skilled in that it subtly portrayed the early effects of the disease, without allowing it to become gimmicky or over the top. It would have been easy to focus on the shocking physical aspects, since we all know and recognise Stephen Hawking to this day because of his wheelchair and his voice synthesiser. Instead, the film chose to show – simultaneously – the progression of the disease over a couple of years, alongside the awakening of the brilliant mind that has come to be recognised as one of the most important of our time. Benedict himself said in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper (here) that it was “important not to let the symptoms swamp the character.”
The BBC interview continues:
During the moving and inspirational film, Hawking’s physical abilities – his walk, speech and manual dexterity – become painfully restricted and Benedict pays tribute to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, which introduced him to two people who had MND at very different stages, and who allowed Benedict to film them.
He continues: “They were remarkably brave in their frankness and honesty about how it started and what they’d felt emotionally and physically.”
Benedict also worked with a movement instructor from LAMDA, where he had trained for a year after studying drama at the University of Manchester.
Benedict adds: “Probably one of the hardest bits was concentrating on a man with a disability finding it increasingly difficult, over a long period of work, to physically put chalk on a blackboard.”
Stephen Hawking is undeniably a great man, but the real beauty here was the powerful way Benedict (and the rest of the cast) and the film’s writers and makers saw past the sensational, or of falling into the ‘brainy man overcomes debilitating disease’ trap to deliver a nuanced, mature, vulnerable snapshot in his life. No big dramatic breakdowns (although there’s a cracking scene of academic inspiration), just a young man coming to terms with a future more uncertain than others his own age. Benedict communicated an understanding that although he went on to become an awe-inspiring academic leader in mathematics and science, Hawking has a wicked sense of humour, is romantic in that awkward, geeky way we love, and has some of the foibles and insecurities we all have.
More from the BBC interview:
“This isn’t someone who’s lost in his own self-pity and depression about something which is extraordinarily catastrophic in a young man’s life,” he declares.
“At the same time, he turns that situation around and, in a way, partly uses it as a motivational springboard into his work and his life with Jane.
“Time, which he’s studying, suddenly becomes essentially finite to himself, and yet he’s looking at infinite periods of time. It’s a perverse irony.
“But it’s a story of hope, without a doubt, and a story of grace under pressure, how to conquer adversity and how a situation like that can be used for the positive.
“He’s a small person with an incredible brain in a very fragile body, thinking incredibly huge thoughts.”
Watching Hawking, I was in fact able to see past the disease and instead of sobbing into my cup of tea, I felt a sense of positive calm as he stumbled and shook among the leafy Cambridge trees before the end credits.
But none of this is new to you because you know this, you’ve seen it (if not, why not?! It’s OK, honestly) and you’ve read the reviews, which state far more eloquently than I can, how good the film is (and Benedict was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor for his performance). There’s nothing to be scared of.
Oh, and I have finally watched Third Star as well. Amazing performances and a lovely film. But you knew that too, didn’t you?
Benedict is a patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the (only) UK charity for campaigning, researching and caring for people with MND. June is also MND Awareness month in the UK.
Go take a look at their work here
Benedict Cumberbatch and Wanda Ventham reminisce, talk flowers, plants and trees at the BBC Chelsea Flower Show 2014
For those that missed the BBC Chelsea Flower Show 2014 segement containing Benedict Cumberbatch and his mother Wanda Ventham–never fear– According to Benedict website is here.
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