“Eric” by Benedict Cumberbatch required a lot of preparation. In addition to building a psychologically credible character of a distraught father with addictions, the British actor had to, among other things, practice a New York accent, learn how to use puppets straight from “The Muppets” and practice voices for three different characters – Vincent, the titular Eric and Bug. He told me what it was like working on the set in a short interview, which you can watch in full below:
We asked Benedict Cumberbatch for one thing. He did it with a smile
is one of the most successful, recognizable and versatile British actors of his generation. He has been successfully pursuing a career on both sides of the ocean for years. He won the hearts of television viewers, among others, playing the famous Sherlock Holmes in the famous BBC series from 2010, and now he is also known for popular Marvel entertainment films, where he plays Doctor Strange. He doesn’t have to appear on screen in person to make an impression – in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” he lent his voice to two characters: Smaug the dragon and Sauron himself. Interestingly, he was the first British actor to play Stephen Hawking in the television drama “Hawking” from 2004 – this role is considered a breakthrough for his career.
Back in 2011, Cumberbatch starred in two nominated films, “Wartime” and “Spy.” Only in 2013, he impressed with the role of Khan in the production of “Into Darkness: Star Trek”, and also starred in the Academy Award-winning “Captive”, “The Fifth Estate” and “August: Osage County”. A year later, he played Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game”, which earned him his first Oscar nomination and many other awards. He proved that he is good at playing historical figures by playing, among others, in Vincent Van Gogh, King Richard III, the artist Louis Wain, famous for his drawings of big-eyed, humanized kittens (that’s why in the interview I ask him about working with cats), and Dominic Cummings, advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Cumberbatch has won an Emmy, 11 other awards and 52 different nominations over the course of his successful 20-year professional career. Specifically, he has, among others, two nominations each for Oscars (for “Dog’s Claws” and the already mentioned “The Imitation Game”) and BAFTA awards, as well as four for the Golden Globes. It is worth mentioning that he won the prestigious Emmy statuette for playing Sherlock Holmes, and the title role in the miniseries “Patrick Melrose” earned him a television BAFTA for best actor. After watching all the episodes of the production, I confidently conclude that he should also receive an avalanche of nominations for his role in the latest Netflix series entitled “Eric.”
“Eric.” What is the new Netflix series starring Benedict Cumberbatch about?
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vincent Anderson in “Eric”. He is one of New York’s best puppeteers and the creator of the extremely popular children’s television program “Good Day Sunshine”. He is extremely intelligent and charismatic, but also narcissistic, which makes him unpredictable at work. He has had addiction problems for years and a difficult relationship with his wealthy but emotionally unavailable parents. Unfortunately, after starting a family, he does not avoid mistakes – he neglects his wife Cassie and nine-year-old son Edgar. The main plot of the series, the script for which was created by the Emmy Award-winning British screenwriter Abi Morgan, known for such projects as “Time of Truth”, “Shame” and “The Iron Lady”, focuses on the disappearance of the boy.
This time, the action in New York in the 1980s and on the basis of a family drama was built on a thorough, suspenseful and multi-level thriller. First of all, Vincent, who is sinking into despair and delusions, becomes fixated on Edgar’s drawings, who created a large blue monster on them – his name is Eric and he is the personification of all the fears, mistakes and dilemmas of the main character. Vincent sees it and talks to it, and comes to the conclusion that if he builds it for real and shows it on his show, Edgar will come home.
Secondly, the boy is simultaneously searched for by his distraught mother Cassie Anderson (Gaby Hoffmann) and the tenacious detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III), who uses his 20 years of experience in the narcotics department in the missing persons unit. Thirdly, he discovers connections between the disappearance of another boy and a scandal reaching high levels in the city authorities. Both issues are additionally connected with the growing crisis in New York: the city is drowning in garbage that is not collected on time, and the city hall has no ideas on how to help the increasing number of people facing the homelessness crisis – and this is a very important topic here. There is really a lot more going on in the series, and each episode impresses not only with the acting and script, but also with, among others, level of reproduction of the realities of the era – to find the most credible locations, the crew had to shoot even in Hungary, because New York has changed a lot over the last 40 years. All episodes of the series available on the website from 9 a.m. on May 30.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
