Benedict Cumberbatch: The Biography

I read this in one sitting during a weekend sojourn in the library with my friends. Honestly, this was pretty entertaining and engaging enough. I've enjoy watching Benedict Cumberbatch's work and only know a smattering of his history. This book provided a pretty good overview of his life thus far, and I suppose it is no coincidence that half the book is dedicated to his career after Sherlock.

Actually the most interesting thing I picked up from this book is an interesting divide/debate that I never knew existed in the UK: about how public school boys like Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Damian Lewis, etc. seem to have an easier time at hitting the big time in acting, and perhaps whether there is a divide between this seemingly elite circles and all the other struggling actors who may not have such a prestigious background. The book is not primarily concerned with this topic so it doesn't go too far into this except citing what Cumberbatch himself has said about it. He is himself actually from a relatively modest background, even if he did attend the prestigious Harrow School (though his parents apparently had to really scrape the barrel to fund that) and thereafter Manchester University. Though we don't actually get to know much more about the matter, it's just a little food for thought that stuck with me through the book.

The book also made me realise how Cumberbatch is friends with a lot of the other British actors whose works I've followed through the years - James McAvoy, Jonny Lee Miller, Matt Smith, and of course Martin Freeman. I now also have a few other shows from Cumberbatch to check out - Fortysomething also starring Hugh Laurie (of Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster, and House MD fame) and Anna Chancellor (Caroline Bingley from 1995's Pride and Prejudice), Parade's End sometimes touted as “the thinking man's Downton Abbey”, and of course the BBC radio sitcom Cabin Pressure.