For some of the most dynamic performances in modern times in the film industry, one has to look no further than English actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Popular for playing intellectually enigmatic and spirited characters in the industry, he is also known for his contributions to the MCU, which further established his reputation.
While he may be known to bring that raw intellectual and emotional flair to his films, he’s not particularly known to go crazy with his physical transformations. But this one time, for this one film, that star was asked to lose some weight for his role, and while he did so, the director of his film did not have a good experience convincing him.
Director Instantly Regretted Asking Benedict Cumberbatch To Lose Weight For The Courier
When it comes to his professional career, Benedict Cumberbatch has critical classic shows and blockbusters like Sherlock and Doctor Strange to boast of. Along with those iconic projects, the star is also known for making classic standalone films in the industry that are greatly revered by critics and audiences alike.
One of these films was The Courier, where we saw the rare physical transformation that the star went through for this role. While the impact of that transformation went a long way for the end product, the director regretted it as soon as he pitched the idea to the star.
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In the past, the director of the aforementioned film, Dominic Cooke talked about the film at length, where he outlined the incident where he asked his leading star to lose weight. He remembered reading the script and talking to The Imitation Game star about the details and what his vision was about the story.
The director also casually brought up the point that he would have to go through a drastic weight loss in the film. Instead of bringing up any points of his own, the star just sat there stone-faced at this information, which made Cooke instantly regret it. He said:
“When I read the script and I spoke to Benedict, I did think well I worked with Benedict several times before and it’s a shoe-in for this part, So I went up to see him and he liked the script and everything. I kind of dropped into the conversation, ‘What do you think about we stop shooting and you lose a lot of weight?’ There was literally no response, nothing. I was like well, that didn’t go very well.”
While he may have had nothing to say about it, the star dedicated himself to the role, going so far as to lose so much weight that it was borderline painful to watch.
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What Was The Courier About?
Originally named Ironbark, the film is based on real-life events pertaining to the conflict between the United States and The Soviet Union. This movie tells the tale of a British Businessman named Greville Wynne, who finds himself pulled into the world of covert operations in a joint mission of The CIA and MI6.
Wynne is to become the intermediary between the two intelligence agencies and Oleg Penkovsky, a secret operative of the Russian military intelligence. Together, they have to coordinate and pass off the information to the authorities to erase the threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis looming over the world.
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The Courier, streaming on Prime Video.
Source: Sundance (via CheatSheet)
