Benedict Cumberbatch shares how a near-death experience changed his life

Benedict Cumberbatch 48 played a superhero involved in precarious situations, but, in real life, the actor also went through a experience that put his life at risk .

In an interview with Variety published this week, the “Doctor Strange” star revealed that, in 2004, while he was with friends in South Africa for the recording of the TV miniseries BBC “To the Ends of the Earth,” they were robbed and kidnapped by six men after a car tire burst in the middle of a road.

Eventually, Cumberbatch and his friends were tied up and made to sit execution style before the men finally fled.

“It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily in a good way “, said Cumberbatch about the experience. “It made me impatient to live a less ordinary life, and I still deal with that impatience.”

He also explained how the traumatic encounter motivated him to seek extreme activities to feel the adrenaline.

“This near-death story turbocharged all of this,” he said. “It made me think, ‘Oh, right, I could die at any moment.’ So I started jumping out of planes and taking all kinds of risks .”

“But other than my parents, I had no real dependents at that point. Now that has changed and that makes you reflect”, he added, referring to the wife and three children . “I have looked into the abyss; it made me comfortable with what’s beneath it. And I accepted that this is the end of all our stories.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Cumberbatch reflected on his acting skills and responded to fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe member Tom Holland, who credited him with learning how to cry on command, indirectly referencing some of his past traumatic experiences.

“There is this method, but it is a mistake to think that you can force it. It’s a dead end,” he said of the technique mentioned by Holland, which involves breathing from the diaphragm while manipulating the muscles used for laughing . “You really have to put your mind somewhere else to react to the moment. And that might mean drawing on your own life story or just your imagination.”

“It’s harder when you’re very young. I’m 48, so I’ve lived a little bit of life,” Cumberbatch added. “I’ve experienced loss, I’ve felt pain, I’ve been through some of the worst things as well as the best.”

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This content was originally published in Benedict Cumberbatch tells how a near-death experience changed his life on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil

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