Benedict Cumberbatch has played some truly memorable roles in his illustrious film and television career but little do fans know that the Doctor Strange actor's own life can definitely be turned into a film itself. Most of you are probably not aware of it but Cumberbatch was once abducted along with some of his co-stars while filming the BBC miniseries To The Ends of the Earth in South Africa and the entire ordeal was quite jarring, to say the least.
Cumberbatch has rarely spoken about the surreal experience which made some people think that the story was just fabricated. Now, the star of Spider-Man: No Way Home is opening up about the kidnapping, 16 years after it transpired. Appearing on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Cumberbatch recalled the horrific abduction that almost cost him his life.
He shared: "We stopped and out of the bush, these guys came and threw us back into the car, drove off the road, and plundered the car…There were intimations of a gun but I didn’t turn around to see it because at the time I was out of the car. I was then put in the boot of the car and at one point my shoelaces were bound to my wrists…They eventually left us alone once we gave them cards and money. But because of needing to take the card to a bank machine, it lasted for two and a half hours."
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Thankfully, Cumberbatch and his fellow actors were physically unharmed following the kidnapping but the mental and emotional trauma must have been severe. It's also astonishing how the actor was able to turn the horrifying experience into a positive, saying that surviving the kidnapping made him realize that he should be living "a life less than ordinary."
Benedict Cumberbatch is also set to reprise his role as the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is currently scheduled for release on May 6, 2022.
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