Interview with the Fanpire Series 2: Sherlock and the United States of America

Welcome to our series 2 interviews with your favorite social media websites, where we at According to Benedict, try to get the inside scoop, tips, and other general inquires. This week’s subjects are the showrunners of the US Sherlockians page. Shannon and Rachel sit down and tell us exactly what it’s like to be a Sherlock fan on the far, far end of the pond and how they are one of the very few United States pages out there.

Name: Shannon B.
Age: 19
Country : United States

Founder of the US Sherlockians

Name: Rachel C.
Age: 15
Country : United States

Co-founder of the US Sherlockians

Twitter : @US_Sherlockians
Facebook : US Sherlockians
Tumblr : Sherlockiansusa

About Benedict

What acting role convinced you that Benedict Cumberbatch was best?

Shannon : Sherlock convinced me that Benedict Cumberbatch was the best. I had never heard of him before I watched Sherlock and I found myself so impressed with his acting that I had to watch some of his other work.

Rachel : A few years back, I took part in a CSI-style class in school. The course ended with a conference with a few state police where we received a crash course in real life crime & the jobs relating to it. To keep the story short, after they taught us about the application of CSI in their lives, they showed us a theatrical application of CSI via the BBC’s Sherlock. An episode into Sherlock, I was hooked. I was infatuated with a certain actor’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and I eventually found out his name; Benedict Cumberbatch.

What’s your favorite Benedict role?

Shannon : Parade’s End Christopher Tietjens

Rachel : This is going to sound oh so cliche but my favorite role of Ben’s is Sherlock.

What’s your least favorite Benedict role?

Shannon : Julian Assange

Rachel : My least favorite Benedict role, that’s a tough one… If I had to pick my least favorite role of Ben’s, it would have to be James from Third Star. So, James is my least favorite simply because it’s heartbreakingly sad.

Pick your favorite Benedict quote

Shannon and Rachel : “Live a life less ordinary.”

About the fandom

Can you describe what you do?

Shannon : My job is to kind of run out Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr pages.My goal was to bring all Sherlockians in the United States together on one page so that maybe those who live close to each other will form good friendships with each other and hold meetups in their respective areas.

Rachel : Shannon and I co-own US Sherlockians which is a twitter/tumblr group devoted to Sherlockians in the United States. Basically, I help with the graphics/technical aspects of USS along with finding information about all things Sherlock Holmes.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do what you do?

Shannon : Some advice I would give to someone who wanted to do the same thing we do is to just do it. It’s not about the number of followers you have it’s about the passion you have for something and your devotion to it. Rach and I love Sherlock and we also both love film so we tweet about it. We have put our opinions out for the public to read and we are just really happy to have people follow along.

Rachel : Wow, that sounds so formal! I don’t really see this as a job, it’s just something I do for fun. If you really want to do what I do, my advice is to go for it. Originally, I wasn’t part of US Sherlockians, it was only Shannon. One day I tweeted expressing how I would love to run a Sherlock account and that’s how I was recruited. If you want a successful account, speak up and remain dedicated to your cause.

Why did you choose to write/express in yourselves in the Benedict Cumberbatch fandom?

Shannon : I’m not sure why I chose to write about Benedict Cumberbatch. There is something about him that just draws you in. He is so unique and talented that we had to write about him. Of course there have been other actors before him but Ben is different from most celebrities. He is changing the face of Hollywood one film at a time. He has gotten me interested in news and history again. His influence is vast and that is why we choose to write about him and Sherlock.

Rachel : I chose to express myself in the Benedict Cumberbatch fandom simply because I found him really unique. Ben is so different from every other actor I’ve admired… He just has a really genuine quality about him, it’s refreshing.

Why should people add you on social media? What makes you so special?

Shannon : What makes us special? We are the only page that brings together all of America in the Sherlock fandom. There are other groups in specific cities that hold meetups for anyone in their area but we have brought together folks from several states and some foreigners as well. We hope to maybe get involved in events later on in our existence but for now we just have an online presence.

Are there misconceptions that people have about this fandom, or yourself?

Shannon : The common misconception is that we just watch films and Sherlock because Benedict Cumberbatch is in them. I think most fans watch because of the talented writing and the job well done by the rest of the cast and crew as well. We love Benedict Cumberbatch but he is not the only reason why Sherlock is a success.

Rachel : There are definitely misconceptions about the Sherlock and Benedict fandoms… For starters, we’re not all psychopaths, we’re sociopaths! Hahaha I’m just messing with you but seriously, everyone in this fandom is really sweet and we’re all passionate about Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his friends. People seem to think that we are all obsessed with Benedict Cumberbatch, but that’s not true… This fandom has love for all of the show’s actors and writers; our love is spread out and equally shared.

Are there underrepresented groups in this fandom?

Shannon : There are underrepresented groups in this fandom. I think that any fans who don’t live in the United Kingdom are underrepresented. Every Sherlock event is held in London or somewhere that is nowhere near where any Americans live. Whenever there is a Sherlock event the event held in America it is in New York or LA which is kind of far away from the vast majority of Americans. I feel even worse about Australia, China, South America and the rest of Europe who don’t get any events at all.

How do you find the time to interact with fans? or create content or be active on social media?

Shannon : The only reason I have time to interact with our fans is because I carry my phone around with me everywhere I go. I do so many other things that I am too busy to sit at a computer. For example, I am answering these questions at work right now. That’s also why I brought Rachel into the mix. She does a good job of interacting with our followers and she is really great with graphics.

Rachel : Running an active social media account is a full time job. Originally, I jumped aboard US Sherlockians to help Shannon juggle the account and her personal life. Having two people running the account is really nice because it allows you to break the work load into two. If I’m not busy, I’m tweeting on the account or searching for any Sherlock related news. Sometimes when Shan and I are especially busy, we’ll text each other little tasks to complete.

Anything to say to your followers/fans?

Shannon : To our followers and fans I would live to say that we love you guys. It’s fun chatting with all of you on twitter and I hope that Rach and I will both be able to meet you at the Sherlocked event later on this year…if we ever find out when it is.

Written by Destiny on 5 July 2014. No comments »
Category: Education, Quotes, Various
Tags: Benedict Cumberbatch, CumberRepresentatives, Interviews

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