While opinions vary on the amount that Star Trek Into Darkness borrows / homages / cherry-picks from its iconic history, most critics agree that Benedict Cumberbatch brings a gravitas to the much-discussed role of the man known as 'John Harrison'. But how did the actor, who has risen to fame through acclaimed roles in the likes of Hawking and Sherlock, take on the mantle of a character that could be considered a pathological nemesis or a pragmatic warrior?
"I could have fallen into a stereotype," the actor admits, with the skyline of London behind him - thankfully the current era apparently survives his Trek machinations. "There is a grey area. There is a lot of motivation and reasoning behind what he does. He has a moral core. He just has a method, which is pretty brutal and abhorrent in our democratic world. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter and I think there’s an ability to sympathise and empathise with his cause [though] maybe not his means of going about getting his ends. I think it was there in the script, though, and it was a beautiful thing to be asked to play this sliding scale of someone who could be trustworthy and understandable and also somebody who could be out-and-out on a mission of revenge and trying to bring about what he sees as justice and a change in the order of authority. That was one of the brilliant balances that was achieved in the script – that you oscillate. Because you’re going with Kirk’s journey you should be able to move between abhorring him and feeling something for him. Harrison’s sense of honour to his own. The idea of what family is and the importance of being protective of your tribe..."
Director J J Abrams admits that it was Benedict's role as sthe iconic Baker St. detective that convinced him that they'd found their 'John Harrison'...
"Not only am I grateful to the writers for a script that celebrates ambiguity and allows the bad guy to live in a place that is compelling and not entirely clear and certainly not one-note...I’m also grateful to the writers – notably Damon (Lindelof)– who said, 'You should check out Sherlock' which I had not done when we were casting this part. It was the perfect medicine for what we were suffering from... which was not really being able to figure out who was the someone who inspired us in the way that we needed. When I saw Sherlock I was, of course, blown away. I called Benedict and we spoke. Benedict famously auditioned on an iPhone and when we watched that video it was obviously clear that we had found our man. Working with Benedict frankly exceeded all our expectations. I think everyone felt on the set [that] there was a kind of… they stood a little bit taller when he was around. It was more of a way to take advantage of what the story was because this was a very intimidating figure..."
Cumberbatch is much in demand, but after recording that audition piece through an iPhone, he didn't hear anything for a while and presumed they may have gone in another direction. He admits that when he WAS formally offered the role he wasn't entirely sure he'd got it until Abrams spelled it out for him.
"I got an email and I didn’t pick up on the signals. The email said 'Do you wanna come and play?' and I thought 'Play what? Squash or tennis or some kind of racquet-based activity?' Then the penny slowly dropped and then I fell asleep. It was about two in the morning or something. It had been so frenzied over Christmas getting myself on tape. I’d done it and it had taken a day to compress this little file. Once that had all been done I sort of breathlessly sat back and went 'And…?”' I got a note back saying 'JJ’s on holiday”. It’s fine – he has to have a rest sometime – but I just didn’t get the tape in in time before the holidays. So I waited the tried to forget about it. It was the most thrilling news. I was just over the moon. I was a huge, huge fan of the first film, of what the strengths of it were and what the strengths of this one are. It’s just such a rich experience to be in his hands and a storyteller’s hands where you’re taken on a journey of high emotion, comedy, adventure, romance and comedy and back through all that again. I knew it would be a riot so I was well over the moon..."
The actor admits that while he could have done a lot of research of the Trek universe in preparation for the role of 'Harrison', he actively avoided going on the internet to explore and assess the reaction to the casting. Like his other memorable roles, he simply likes to start from scratch and develop the character within the production itself.
"I always try to avoid going on the Internet. I think it’s best to try and start with a blank canvas. If you know you’re in the expert hands that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with - and be employed by - a lot of trust goes to those people. So whether it’s this or Mark (Gatiss) and Stephen (Moffat) rebooting Sherlock and giving a modern-day twist to a much-loved Victorian hero… it sounds like a cheesy spin-off idea and yet in those fanboys’ hands it’s done with such authenticity and respect for the canon in the same way that Star Trek has been done. That takes a lot of the heavy lifting for you," he notes. "Beyond that, rather like when you’re auditioning, I try to imagine I’m the only person they’re seeing that day because it can be overwhelming in the same sense that it can be overwhelming if you try to fulfil anyone’s expectations rather than the people nearest to you in the creative process. . I try to trick myself into believing that no-one has ever gone there before..."
What does he think his ten-year-old self would make of the iconic career he's had to date? Cumberbatch hesitates and considers the question.
" I don’t know. I genuinely don’t know. That’s a great question that would take too long to think about to come up with a good answer. Pretty chuffed, I think. What was happening when I was ten? I was probably playing Anne in Half a Sixpence at school at that time..." he laughs. "...so the idea of being in a Star Trek film was very far from 'Anne'’s mind. I think he would have been really, really surprised and wouldn’t have quite believed it. He still doesn’t..."
Star Trek is released by Paramount Pictures and is now showing across the UK and US.
