“卷福”：人见人爱的大众情人

“卷福”如今是红遍欧美的一线明星。他凭着超凡的演技、绅士般的风度、

淡定从容的气质及其所饰演的一系列剑走偏锋的角色赢得了观众的喜爱，同时让人们记住了他那十分拗口的名字——本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇。2013年可谓是“卷福”大红大紫的一年，他不仅参演了《霍比特人》《星际迷航：暗黑无界》等多部影片并赢得众多奖项，还登上了《时代周刊》的封面。与他所饰演过的任何角色都不同，现实中的“卷福”开朗热忱、率性可爱、待人真诚，又不失幽默，不愧是人见人爱的大众情人。

Benedict Cumberbatch sweeps1） into an empty hotel ballroom， cutting a natty figure2） in a black-and-white glen plaid jacket， checked shirt and striped canvas sneakers. “I see you have your festival bag，” he says confidingly， taking note of the crumpled Toronto International Film Festival tote3） at an interlocutors feet. Its a substitute for the one that broke at customs， overstuffed with a laptop and sundry4） travel necessities.

“Thats exactly what happens to me，” he offers enthusiastically. “Because Im packing all the time. Im always killing really perfectly good bits of luggage by shoving5） loads of stuff in them， and then the seams break， handles drop off， you know.”

A Cult Heart-throb

Sure， we know. But， let it be stipulated， no one can really know what its like to be Cumberbatch， who has had a year that has been， well， especially packed. The 37-year-old Brit， who has been a cult heart-throb among the PBS-BBC-plummy6）-literary-adaptation set， played the Necromancer7） in last years Hobbit： An Unexpected Journey. But he truly burst into mass popular consciousness this past summer， when he thoroughly dominated the role of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness. On Oct. 18， he will star as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate and has supporting roles in two high-profile films arriving soon： 12 Years a Slave， directed by Steve McQueen， and August： Osage County， adapted from Tracy Lettss Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

“A packed year， exactly，” Cumberbatch says with a reflective sigh. “Its been amazing. Its been amazing. But two years really， because Trek we filmed the beginning of last year， and before that—God， it winds back quite a ways. I mean， literally， just sort of the height of what I could ever imagine myself being asked to do as an actor has been going on pretty much now for about four or five years.”

Cumberbatch speaks at a breathless clip8）， his words spilling out in a joyous， oncoming rush that suggests he really is thrilled to be here， however tempting it would be to read his gee-whiz9） protestations as the practiced act of a canny ingenue10）. He is， quite simply—and this is for all those self-proclaimed Cumberbitches11） out there who have designated him an unlikely pin-up12） idol—just as chiseled13）， engaging， well-mannered and disarmingly modest as they imagine in their wintry， wind-tossed fantasies.

A Born Actor

He comes by it honestly. Cumberbatch is the son of two actors—Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham—who grew up in London and is as at home in the posh precincts14） of Burkes Peerage15） （an ancestor was a consul under Queen Victoria） as in the klieg-lighted16） world of Show People. （So how did Cumberbatch end up with his last name？ It was his fathers surname； Carlton a middle name turned stage name. So Benedict has simply reclaimed the family name.） But his career has followed contours that even his parents couldnt prepare him for. Hes done high-profile work in such highly regarded films as Atonement， Tinker， Tailor， Soldier， Spy and War Horse， as well as on television， in Hawking， Sherlock and Parades End. Hes a celebrated figure of the London stage： In 2010 he earned kudos17） for his performance in a revival of Terence Rattigans After the Dance， and the following year he won an Olivier Award18）， for his work in an experimental version of Frankenstein， adapted by Danny Boyle. It was After the Dance， he says， that marked the turning point when the phone started ringing. It hasnt stopped.

“I knew when I started out that I wanted something very different from what Mom and Dad had anyway， but I didnt know quite what—I didnt know how it would manifest—but even they look at it and go， ‘Whoa， ” Cumberbatch says. “Its beyond everyones sort of expectation. But also the workload and everything， its different to their game.”

Its enough to turn a boys head19）. But Cumberbatch， along with such contemporaries as Michael Fassbender20）， is forging the kind of career that actors covet these days， combining recurring roles in huge franchises21） like Star Trek and The Hobbit. His role model， he says， is James McAvoy22） （his one-time co-star in Starter for 10）， who along with Fassbender appears in the X-Men movies.

A Practiced Shape-shifter

“Quite interesting” is an understatement when it comes to Cumberbatchs work， which has found him slipping into23） personae and physical types with the ease of a practiced shape-shifter. Nowhere are his skills in finer form than The Fifth Estate， in which he seamlessly masters Assanges signature Australian accent， lisp24） and fey25）， look-at-me-dont-look-at-me demeanor （admittedly with the help of a blond wig）. Early in the process of making The Fifth Estate， Cumberbatch e-mailed Assange hoping that they could meet. He got no response until the day before shooting began， when Assange sent the actor an email begging him not to do the film.

“I was just doing the last fittings for the wig and makeup and stuff， and this very erudite， charming and lucid and intelligent e-mail [arrived]， imploring my better nature to step away from the project that he thought would be abhorrent and damaging to his cause，” Cumberbatch recalls. “It was a very powerful thing to suddenly land in your inbox.”

Cumberbatch wrote Assange back. “And my response was equally as considered and I hope as charming. I completely respected his point of view， but I really tried to illustrate for him two things： one is that this film is not a documentary； its not a piece of evidence admissible in a court of law， not a factual entity that shifts perceptions or point of view of being the truth； it is a truth.

“Secondly—well， actually， there are three points. Secondly， it is just a film. Its not going to be able to shift perception. Its a film of its own genre [thats] not going to be The Hobbit or Star Trek. Its not going to have a massively popular tidal-wave effect. I really want people to see it， but his fear of it being some mass propaganda tool thats going to damage him was really overstretching the point. And thirdly and most importantly， it was never going to be antithetical to his point of view or vilify26） him. No one was interested in portraying something that was going to tell the audience what to think.”

One result of the exchange was that Cumberbatch became something of Assanges advocate on the set， demanding that his point of view be aired when others had had their say. （The Fifth Estate is based on the accounts of two disaffected27） former Assange colleagues， Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Guardian investigative journalist David Leigh.） “It was great， because it was sort of like having Julian there，” says The Fifth Estate director Bill Condon. “This was a movie where there was more conversation about the context of scenes than almost any Ive done， which was really stimulating. Because it forced you to look for the 10th， 11th， 12th time at the validity of what you were dramatizing.”

Cumberbatch admits now that he was “really kind of winded” by Assanges last-minute plea. Condon recalls his frustration at not being able to stop the correspondence， which was clearly rattling28） his leading man. “I realized what an unfair position it put him in， in a way he didnt even understand. Can you imagine？ Its almost like being schizophrenic. Because youre walking around thinking like a person whos also saying， ‘Dont be me. Ive talked to him about it and he said， ‘I wanted to take that on because its part of understanding his predicament. I think hes right， but I still feel like I saw the torment that it put him through.”

Now， a few days after The Fifth Estate made its world premiere as the opening night film in Toronto， Cumberbatch shows no sign of torment. Far from it. One minute hes fondly recalling how he danced with Fassbender （a.k.a. “Fassy”） at the 12 Years a Slave party the night before； the next， hes sharing warm memories of living in Los Angeles while filming Star Trek， hanging with best friend Adam Ackland （grandson of actor Joss）， lifelong mate Tertius Bune and Starter for 10 and Trek co-star Alice Eve. Hell be flying back to London soon to begin rehearsals with Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game， about encryption specialist Alan Turing29）； hes also agreed to star in the action adventure The Lost City of Z， produced by his 12 Years producer Brad Pitt.

“I love it. Im really enjoying it，” he says of the red-carpet-lets-take-a-meeting-flavor-of-the-moment whirl. He loves L.A.； he loves Pitt and his production company， Plan B； he loves New York and wants to work there one day； and he really loves London， especially his neighborhood near Hampstead Heath. “I go running and swimming there； its fantastic，” he says， those words still coming in a bubbling rush. “Its a beautiful， neighborly part of the world as well—families， its quiet， especially during the night， its gorgeous. Its a really nice place to go home to.”

As for the foreseeable future， though， Cumberbatch is cheerfully resigned. “I dont know，” he says with a barely fatigued sigh. “Have suitcase will travel.” Bursting seams and all.

身着黑白色格伦花格呢夹克和格子衬衫，脚踩一双条纹帆布鞋，本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇昂首阔步地走进宾馆空荡荡的舞厅，显得整洁时髦。他注意到某人脚边放着一只弄皱了的多伦多国际电影节手提袋，便用信任的口吻对那人说：“我看到你的电影节手提袋了。”那是用来替换在海关坏掉的那只袋子的，里面塞满了杂七杂八的旅行必需品，还有一台笔记本电脑。

“其实我也遇到过这种情况，”他热情主动地说，“因为我总在不停地打点行李。再好、再完美的行李箱都能被我撑破，里面总是塞得满满当当的，结果不是缝合线绷了，就是把手掉了，你懂的。”

大众情人人人爱

我们当然懂啦。但有一点要讲明，没人能真正知道作为康伯巴奇的真实感受。在过去的一年里，他的日程一直被排得，呃，像行李箱一样满满当当。在美国公共广播公司和英国广播公司最棒的文学改编圈里，这位37岁（编注：英文原文发表于2013年10月）的英国人一直是人见人爱的大众情人，他在去年拍摄的《霍比特人：意外之旅》中扮演了死灵法师的角色。但在刚刚过去的这个夏天，他非常成功地扮演了《星际迷航：暗黑无界》中可汗的角色，真正闯入了大众的心中。今年10月18日，他将在《第五阶层》中饰演主角——维基解密的创始人朱利安·阿桑奇。此外，他还在两部备受瞩目、即将上映的影片中扮演了配角：由史蒂夫·麦克奎恩执导的《为奴十二年》以及改编自特雷西·莱茨荣获普利策奖的戏剧《八月：奥色治郡》。

“真是满满当当的一年啊！”康伯巴奇若有所思地叹了口气说，“不可思议，不可思议啊！不过其实应该是两年，因为《星际迷航》是我们在去年年初开拍的，而在那之前，天哪，这要倒回到很久以前了。我是说，毫不夸张地说，我所能够想象的自己作为一名演员能被要求达到的那种高度，迄今持续了差不多四五年的时间。”

康伯巴奇说起话来语速飞快，似乎都不用喘气，一串串单词欢快地喷涌而出，连绵不绝，这表明他此时此刻的确非常激动，虽然人们常忍不住将这种夸张的言辞解读为一个精明的初出茅庐者训练有素的行为。那些自封为“康伯碧池”的粉丝们把他定位为另类的海报偶像，对她们来说，他非常简单，就是那么棱角分明，那么潇洒迷人，那么文雅有礼，那么谦虚有度，足以让任何人放下戒心—— 一切都宛若她们那在寒冷冬日里随风飘摆的幻想。