He may be boldly going where other British actors have gone before by playing one of the summer's most anticipated villains, but Benedict Cumberbatch isn't going to make it a habit, as Shereen Low finds out.

 

He has worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names, so it comes as a surprise to hear that Benedict Cumberbatch still gets star-struck.

The latest incident came during a recent script reading session. "We had one scene around the table with Meryl Streep and I just couldn't act. I was in awe of her," he admits.

The Sherlock actor stars opposite the Oscar-winning actress in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the play August: Osage County, which is being produced by George Clooney.

"I'm only at the beginning of the fame game, so I still get star-struck all the time. Meryl is spellbinding to watch. She really is extraordinary," he enthuses.

It's a perfect demonstration of why Cumberbatch remains one of the UK's most loveable exports. He's open and frank, his twinkly blue eyes hinting at his wicked sense of humour.

Dressed immaculately in a pressed black suit and tie, we meet at London's City Hall. He's in the capital to film the next series of Sherlock and was on set until midnight, he admits.

When not playing the detective, the 36-year-old is also currently promoting his role as John Harrison, a villain in JJ Abrams' sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, which sees him joining the cast of the Starship Enterprise including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin.

Harrison, an intergalactic terrorist with unclear motives, is targeted by Captain James Kirk (Pine) and his team after a bombing at one of the Star Fleet offices in London.

Cumberbatch was chosen after director Abrams watched episodes of BBC series Sherlock, in which the actor plays a modern version of the famous detective.

He auditioned on his iPhone, filming a clip and sending it over. "It had taken a day to compress this little file so once that had been done, I sat back and waited," he says.

"Then I got a note back saying JJ's on holiday, which is fine because he has to have a rest sometime. I just didn't get the tape in before the Christmas holidays."

Once the film-maker replied, Cumberbatch admitted it took a while for the news to sink in.

"I got an email and I didn't pick up on the signals. The email said, 'Do you want to come and play?' and I thought, 'What - squash or tennis or some kind of racquet-based activity?' Then the penny slowly dropped," he recalls.

"It was the most thrilling news. I was a huge, huge fan of the first film. It's just such a rich experience to be in his and the storyteller's hands on a journey of high emotion, adventure, romance and comedy. I knew it would be a riot so I was well over the moon."

Cumberbatch has only compliments for Abrams, whom he describes as "ridiculously talented".

"He's fantastic. I love him to bits," he says, adding: "Anything he turns his hand to, he seems to conquer and master. And he's ridiculously charming and smart too."

Cumberbatch, whose career started on the stage, considers it an honour that he was picked to portray a baddie.

"I'm following in the hallowed footsteps of (Jeremy) Irons, (Alan) Rickman and Tom Hiddleston, my great friend in The Avengers. There are a few of us who have done it before, it stretches back as old as time," he says.

"I think it could have fallen into stereotype though. There's a grey area. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter but I think you can empathise with his cause, maybe not his means of going about getting his ends. He has a moral core - he just has a method, which is pretty brutal and abhorrent."

Fans shouldn't get their hopes up about him stepping into the baddie's shoes again though. "It's hugely flattering but you're not going to see me do a whole raft of villains after this," says the actor.

Throwing himself into the action is a far cry from the period parts Cumberbatch normally plays, and he relished every moment of it.

"I loved all that. The amount of live action this man JJ lets us do and wants us to do is part of the visual thrill.

"Which way to do my hair was the hardest thing really - straight or curly, or long with bangs, or a sort of ponytail, or maybe no hair," he quips.

For the physically demanding role, Cumberbatch had to go on a strict exercise routine and change his diet.

"That was the hardest thing in all honesty because it meant an awful lot of eating and a lot of working out in a very short space of time," he explains.

"But fortunately, I had a fantastic trainer in the shape of Mr (Patrick) P-Nut Munroe, who also trained Mr Tom Hardy. It was a lot of work and yet I really enjoyed it.

"I've never been asked to before, and it was integral to the character, who had to have a strong physical shape and presence and be able to move at the same time so I had to be able to stretch and fling my arms and legs about a bit."

Chicken became a staple of his new diet. "I didn't go the junk food way. For two weeks I was eating chicken, potatoes and broccoli. And protein shakes.

"There was one stage where I ate about 4,000 calories a day and it's horrible. Now I know how girls feel. Diets are horrible," he says.

It's more than 13 years since Cumberbatch first appeared on screens with a cameo in ITV drama Heartbeat, but it's only in the past four years that he's become a household name, with roles in BBC shows Sherlock and Parade's End, and films like Steven Spielberg's War Horse and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Adjusting to his fame has taken some time, and he insists he still doesn't understand why he's seen as a heart-throb.

"I'm still processing this strange misperception. I enjoy being considered handsome, even though I think it's hysterical. And I always try to avoid going on the internet," he says.

Still, his rising star status shows no signs of abating, with forthcoming roles in Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave, Peter Jackson's Hobbit sequel The Desolation Of Smaug, August: Osage County and The Fifth Estate, in which he plays WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"My 10-year-old self would have been pretty chuffed [at what I've achieved]. He wouldn't have quite believed it. And he still doesn't," he admits.


Extra time - who's who on the enterprise

:: Chris Pine (James T Kirk) - Cheeky rebel Kirk is stripped of his captaincy in the beginning of the second film, after defying protocol to do what he believes is right, and is plagued by doubts.

:: Zachary Quinto (Spock) - Half-Vulcan First Officer Spock has to balance his logical side with his emotions. "You get some real glimpses into Spock's psyche we haven't seen yet," says Quinto.

:: Zoe Saldana (Uhura) - Saldana gets to show her Klingon skills in the film. The actress says: "It was interesting to explore the pronunciations and what every word means."

:: Simon Pegg (Scotty) - The ship's Scottish engineer comes to blows with Kirk in the movie. "Scotty tests Kirk at the wrong time and suffers the result," Pegg teases.

 

:: Star Trek Into Darkness is released in cinemas on Thursday, May 9