`It`s not like I`ve completely conquered everything`

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Cinéma
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‘It’s not like I’ve completely
conquered everything’
TALENT MULTIFACETTE. En peu de temps, Benedict Cumberbatch est devenu un acteur de renommée internationale. Qu’il
incarne une vision moderne de Sherlock Holmes dans une série britannique télévisée à succès, l’infâme Kahn dans le
dernier Star Trek, ou un rôle shakespearien sur les planches d’un théâtre, ce Britannique ne cesse de surprendre. Il incarne
le tout aussi surprenant Julian Assange dans Le Cinquième pouvoir, dans les salles le 4 décembre.
THE INDEPENDENT
‘It’s not like I’ve completely
conquered everything’
‘Il me reste encore beaucoup à
accomplir’
basement (en) sous-sol / canvas (en) toile / to
head to se rendre à / lecture cours (à l’université) / treasure trove trésor, mine / required
reading (scol/univ) ouvrage(s) au programme,
lecture(s) indispensable(s), exigée(s) / notably
en particulier / account récit, compte rendu / slavery esclavage.
2. slave esclave / to keep, kept, kept count faire
le compte, se souvenir du nombre exact / to
remind rappeler à / all-star au casting prestigieux, ne rassemblant que des vedettes / busy
chargé / all of them are coming home to roost
ici, ils arrivent tous en même temps.
3. to date à ce jour / restless agité, ici toujours
en activité / loud sonore, bruyant / bulb ampoule électrique / to blow, blew, blown exploser / to scribble griffonner, gribouiller /
BY JAMES MOTTRAM
hen I meet Cumberbatch, in a basement room of a Covent Garden hotel, he arrives with a canvas bag full
of books, like a student heading to lectures.
Inside was a treasure trove of required reading for his roles – notably an account of The
First World War, The Great War, there to inspire further thinking about Christopher Tietjens, in the BBC’s Ford Madox Ford adaptation Parade’s End. Also in the bag were
Cultivation and Culture and We Lived in a
Little Cabin in the Yard, two very different
books on slavery.
2. Both were preparation for playing a “very
paternal slave owner” in Steve McQueen’s 12
Years a Slave, one of four major movies Cumberbatch has on the way in the next three
months. Even he can’t keep count. He has to
be reminded that the second part of Peter
Jackson’s The Hobbit will be in cinemas in
December, 10 days before the arrival of the
all-star familial drama August: Osage County
with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. “I had
a really busy year last year, and the beginning of this year, and all of them are coming
home to roost in the same year, which is
quite extraordinary,” he says.
W
i
White T-shirt
Jonny Lee Miller, right, and Benedict
Cumberbatch in Frankenstein directed by
Danny Boyle in 2011.
(CATHERINE ASHMORE VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES)
22 • VOCABLE Du 28 novembre au 11 décembre 2013
3. Such is the variety of his work to date,
there’s something restless about his mind.
At one point, he stops to listen to an almost
inaudible noise in the room. “Is that getting
louder or is it just me? It’s a bulb that’s going to blow.” Then he sees me scribble a note.
i
i
As Julian Assange in The Fith Estate. (DREAMWORKS)
Peering towards my notebook, he asks “What
did you write down?” I have to confess that
I’ve managed the less-than-stellar description “white T-shirt” – to go with the baggy
shorts and flip-flops he’s currently sporting.
“White T-shirt! Oh, right! Is that the impression I’ve made so far? It’s like your readers are in the room with you.”
“How does he feel about
being lusted after?”
4. He is, of course, joking, but that’s not to
say he can’t be dismissive when he wants to
be. Take the sex-symbol status that’s grown
around him, with many entranced by his
high-cut cheekbones, brown curls and watchful blue eyes. This week a poll for the movie
magazine Empire voted him the World’s Sexiest Film Star, ahead of Ryan Gosling and
Bradley Cooper, a result he declared “hysterically funny” (“I’ve punched well above
my weight this year...”).
5. How does he feel about being lusted after? “Oh, read the press cuttings. Various responses to that one.” Look in those cuttings
and you can find what he thinks about his
female fanbase – the so-called Cumberbitches. “I was a little disturbed,” he said.
“I think they set feminism back a few years.”
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As the title character in the television series "Sherlock." (BBC/HARTSWOOD FILMS FOR MASTERPIECE)
He seems rather ill at ease with his own
looks. “I think I’ve got a long face,” he says.
“I look a bit weird.”
Assange
6. This is true of his next, and arguably
most intriguing big-screen outing – playing
the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Bill
Condon’s The Fifth Estate. “I’m thrilled with
it,” he admits, quite unreservedly. “I’d seen
it in the States and I was terrified. I cannot
watch myself for the first time, especially
playing someone who is so removed from me
– because of everything, the appearance, the
accent. Everything about him is different.”
7. Crowned with white hair and giving a decent rendition of Assange’s soft Australian
drawl, the 37-year-old Cumberbatch is certainly far removed from his comfort zone
(Variety praised him for capturing “Assange’s
slightly otherworldly air as well as numerous creepier qualities”). And while he nails
the messiah complex of a man who begins
to believe his own press, Cumberbatch is
swift to point out the film is not a character
assassination of Assange.
Other works
8. “I think Bill has made a beautiful film;
it’s incredibly balanced. It’s entertaining as
well as intriguing. And what it should do is
ignite a debate – that’s exactly what should
happen. And hopefully it will do that.” Indeed, whatever the flaws of the film, it’s h
to peer jeter un coup d’oeil / to manage réussir
à (produire) / less-than-stellar loin d’être éblouissant / baggy très ample, très large / flip-flops
tongs / currently en ce moment / to sport arborer, porter / so far jusqu’à présent.
4. dismissive dédaigneux / entranced enchanté, fasciné / high-cut cheekbones pommettes
saillantes / curl boucle / watchful vigilant, attentif, observateur / poll sondage / ahead of devant
/ to punch above one’s weight boxer dans une
catégorie supérieure (weight poids), ici jouer
dans la cour des grands.
5. to lust after convoiter / cuttings coupures
(de journaux), articles / so-called dénommé,
baptisé / ill at ease mal à l’aise / weird bizarre,
étrange.
6. arguably peut-être / big-screen sur grand
écran, cinématographique / outing sortie, ici
film / thrilled ravi, enchanté, excité / unreservedly sans réserve / removed éloigné.
7. to crown couronner, ici crowned with portant, affublé de / decent convenable, ici (assez)
bon / rendition interprétation / drawl accent
traînant / comfort zone zone de bien-être, de
confort, ici terrain de prédilection, rôles habituels / to praise faire l’éloge de / slightly légèrement / otherworldly d’un autre monde,
d’extraterrestre, étrange / creepy effrayant / to
nail ici mettre dans le mille, rendre parfaitement / messiah complex complexe messianique (de qn qui se prend pour le Messie),
mégalomanie / who begins... press qui commence à croire tout ce qu’on dit de lui dans la
presse / swift prompt / to point out souligner,
faire remarquer (que).
8. balanced équilibré, objectif / to ignite enflammer, ici déclencher, provoquer / hopefully avec
un peu de chance / flaw défaut, faille /
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Born to play
certainly timely, given the recent 35-year
prison sentence handed out to Bradley Manning, the US soldier who mailed 250,000
diplomatic US cables to WikiLeaks (an act that
drives the second half of The Fifth Estate).
“I’m very conscious of what
is wasteful.”
9. While The Fifth Estate drew mixed responses at its premiere at the Toronto Film
Festival, there was more love for his other
two films there. August: Osage County is an
adaptation of Tracy Letts’s Broadway hit
about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family. As
part of the sprawling Weston clan with Sam
Shepard, Streep and Roberts, Cumberbatch
makes an impression as the clumsy, unemployed “Little” Charles.
10. It was his third film premiere at Toronto,
12 Years a Slave, that really generated rave
reviews. Directed by Steve McQueen, and costarring Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt,
Cumberbatch calls it an “extraordinary”
story. “It’s all based on the truth of this guy
called Solomon Northup, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. It’s his film, and there’s several
of us principals supporting him through this
terrible journey he goes on, living as a free
man, being drugged and waking up in
bondage and being taken down to the plantations in Virginia,” he explains.
11. With a third season of Sherlock due at
Christmas, he will also be seen in The Hob24 • VOCABLE Du 28 novembre au 11 décembre 2013
12. Raised in Chelsea, his parents were
both actors with long careers in film and television. His father is Timothy Carlton and
his mother Wanda Ventham (they appeared
together in the 1973 BBC series, The Lotus
Eaters). His family wasn’t “particularly moneyed” and Cumberbatch believes that has
rubbed off.
13. “I don’t live beyond my means. I enjoy
luxury and I enjoy the privilege of it, when
I can afford it, and I’m in the situation where
it’s been given to me, but I’m very conscious
of what is wasteful.”
14. While he did attend Harrow, it was via
an arts scholarship. There he began reading
plays and acting on stage. At the time, his parents wanted him to be a barrister, something
safe and “grown-up”, but relented when they
realised how much potential he had.
15. They weren’t wrong, with Cumberbatch
swiftly graduating from television bit-parts
(Silent Witness, Nathan Barley) to film. He
made an impression as the University Challenge team leader in Starter For 10, and small
roles in Joe Wright’s Atonement and the
Charles Darwin tale Creation followed. But
it wasn’t until 2011 that he really exploded.
“I had a perfect storm in that year,” he says,
as the first season of Sherlock and the
Frankenstein production combined with noticeable parts in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse
and the celebrated adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
16. He has just signed to play 1920s Amazon
explorer Percy Fawcett – a role once mooted
for Brad Pitt. There’s chatter too that he’ll reunite with Star Trek director JJ Abrams, for the
new Star Wars movie. Is he worried this hot
streak might fizzle? He says not. “I’ve always
had an eye on longevity; I’ve got loads more
goals to achieve. It’s not like I’ve completely
conquered the whole thing. That’s a lifetime’s
objective, not an overnight thing.” ●
i
bit – hopefully in full this time, after we
glimpsed just his digitally enhanced eye at
the end of the first instalment of Jackson’s
three-part Tolkien adaptation. “You’ll get the
rest of me in the second [part],” he smiles.
For the uninitiated, he plays Smaug, the fearsome dragon that Bilbo Baggins (played by
Cumberbatch’s Sherlock co-star, Martin Freeman) is journeying to confront.
Benedict Cumberbatch in Venice, Calif.,
in 2012. (ROBERT YAGER/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
it’s timely il arrive au bon moment, il tombe à
pic / sentence condamnation, peine / to hand
out to délivrer à, ici prononcer contre.
9. mixed partagé, plus ou moins positif / response réaction / dysfunctional à problèmes /
sprawling tentaculaire / clumsy gauche, maladroit / unemployed au chômage.
10. rave reviews éloges enthousiastes, critiques
dithyrambiques / truth vérité, ici histoire vraie /
guy jeune homme / principal acteur principal /
to support ici accompagner / journey voyage,
périple / bondage esclavage.
11. due dont la sortie est prévue / in full en
entier / to glimpse entrevoir, apercevoir / to
enhance rehausser, mettre en valeur, retoucher
/ instalment (US)=installment (GB) épisode,
volet / fearsome terrifiant, redoutable / to journey voyager.
12. to raise élever / moneyed aisé, riche / to
rub off (on) déteindre (sur), se transmettre (à).
13. to live beyond one’s means vivre au-dessus
de ses moyens / luxury luxe / to afford se permettre, avoir les moyens / wasteful vain, inutile,
superflu.
14. to attend fréquenter / Harrow prestigieuse
école privée réservée aux garçons (au nordouest de Londres) / scholarship bourse (d’études) / stage scène, théâtre / barrister avocat /
grown-up adulte, responsable / to relent se
laisser fléchir, céder.
15. swiftly rapidement / to graduate obtenir
son diplôme, ici passer (de... à) / bit-part second
rôle / storm tempête, tourbillon, ici I had a perfect storm in that year cette année-là a été
extrêmement riche (en événements) / noticeable remarquable.
16. to moot suggérer, évoquer / chatter bavardage, ici rumeurs / worried inquiet / hot streak
bonne passe, période faste (streak filon, veine)
/ to fizzle fuser (pétard mouillé), ici tourner
court, s’arrêter / loads more bien plus de / goal
objectif / to achieve parvenir (à), atteindre /
lifetime de toute une vie / overnight du jour
au lendemain, ici (qch) qui se fait en 24 heures.