Benedict Cumberbatch has become a worldwide phenomenon, with his remarkable role as Dr. Strange in Marvel movies. His last out as the character was in the 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was a massive commercial success. The actor rose to fame with his wide variety of roles in Sherlock, War Horse, Hawking, Avengers, Atonement, and others. The star is popular for bringing life to his characters, however, there was one role for which he had to face massive backlash and negativity.
Spider-Man: No Way Home actor once played the role of a non-binary character in Zoolander 2, for which he received heavy backlash. It also threatened the reputation that he had built over the years.
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Benedict Cumberbatch opens up playing a trans character in Zoolander 2
Benedict Cumberbatch shared in an interview about one role that has haunted him for many years. In Zoolander 2, the actor played a non-binary fashion model All.
The film was released in 2016, and it was a box office failure. It received poor ratings from critics and audiences. Even before the movie was released, Cumberbatch’s character became a topic of ridicule. Talking about the backlash at the time, he stated in conversation with co-star Penelope Cruz in the show Variety’s Actors on Actors.
“There was a lot of contention around [his role as a nonbinary fashion model named All], understandably now. And I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor. But I remember at the time not thinking of it necessarily in that regard, and it being more about two dinosaurs, two heteronormative clichés not understanding this new diverse world. But it backfired a little bit. But it was lovely to meet you in that brief moment and to work with Ben [Stiller] and Owen [Wilson].”
The Sherlock star shared that he later understood the reason for the backlash against his role. He shared the character was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. The actor felt that the role should have been played by some prominent trans actor to do justice to his character.
Zoolander 2 writer Justin Theroux tried to justify Benedict Cumberbatch’s character
Justin Theroux, the co-writer of the movie, tried to clear his stance after the backlash on the trailer of the time. He told The Wrap,
“I don’t even know what to make of it, because it hurts my feelings in a way. I take great care in the jokes I write, and the umbrage being taken is out of the context of the scene. I wish people would see the movie first. Satire is a thing that points out the idiots, and we went through it on Tropic Thunder with the ‘R’ word.”
“The goal was not to mock or be cruel to the mentally challenged, but exalt in the stupidity of people who use that word. I’m all for letting words be ugly when the target is correct.”
Theroux also referred to his 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.
“With social media and all the rest of it, people’s issues need to be heard … at the end of the day, people are looking for bandwidth. People are looking for places to inject their voices. But our target is not, and never was, to disenfranchise anyone.”
Zoolander 2 was an action-comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. It was written by John Hamburg, Justin Theroux, Stiller, and Nicholas Stoller. It was released in February 2023 and earned $56.7 million against a $50–55 million budget.
Source- Cinema Blend
