Benedict Cumberbatch admitted he was brought to tears on the red carpet at the London premiere of “Star Trek Into Darkness,” last week.
The British actor, who joined the “Star Trek” world for its newest installment (playing mysterious bad guy John), revealed that overhearing his co-stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto sing his praises on the press line moved him deeply.
“When I heard them saying nice things on the red carpet… that was the thing that really struck [me] to my core, and it got to a point — it was like a tipping point, I’d say, where I was signing something [and] I heard Zachary saying something very complimentary about me and I started to cry,” Benedict revealed to Access Hollywood’s Scott Mantz at the film’s junket over the weekend in London. “I was looking down and signing and this fan said, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s really windy out here, my eyes are stinging.’”
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Benedict, the star of PBS Masterpiece series “Sherlock,” said joining the “Star Trek” world (he called it the “Trekkieverse”) has been more rewarding than he could have imagined.
“The thing that really moved me, actually, was the new family that I have in this franchise, who I’m surrounded with. You really are only as good as the people you work with and I couldn’t have wished for a more welcoming and talented bunch of people,” Benedict said. “I was awestruck when I first met them. … [Chris and Zachary] filled those incredibly huge, iconic shoes, so superlatively in [the first film]. I really am in awe — and they’re contemporaries.”
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As Benedict’s profile continues to grow thanks to “Sherlock,” “Star Trek” and other projects (including voicing Smaug in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”), he’s found himself with new “Cumberbitches,” the nickname for his group of devoted fans.
“Bless ‘em, they were very young when they did it,” Benedict said of the fans choosing their nickname. “They’re older now and they probably know better. … I’m very flattered by the sort of levels of adoration and loyalty that they show, but they could’ve have come up with a better collective name – like, Cumber-people is a bit bland, maybe Cumber-folk?”
“Cumberbuddies?” Scott asked.
“Cumberbuddies is nice,” Benedict said. “It’s still setting feminism back a bit, but even Cumber-babes would have been softer on the ears.”
“Star Trek Into Darkness” opens on May 17.
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