In an interview with SFX Magazine, Benedict Cumberbatch discussed his approach to playing “John Harrison” in Star Trek Into Darkness. Cumberbatch admitted that JJ Abrams’s blockbuster sequel was the first time he’d “intensely shape-shifted” for a film role.
“To go up from a 38 chest to a 42,” he shares, “eating 4,000 calories a day and training two hours a day, as well as the stunt rehearsals and fight choreography, was the most physical demand that’s ever been made of me for the screen.”
Cumberbatch said that his character was also a “psychological terrorist”
“He’s someone who can plant an idea that’s as vicious as a bomb and explode loyalties and expose relationships and try and turn people against one another to do his bidding,” he explained.
Cumberbatch said that he doesn’t posses a “geek gene”, but was impressed by Abrams’s 2009 retooling of the Star Trek film franchise.
“I would say I’m more modern rustic than gadget-oriented,” he said. “I obviously have a latent fan fixation with Star Trek because of how thrilled I was when everyone got together in the first reboot.”
“I never was obsessive about anything I watched as a kid, expect maybe The A-Team and Airwolf… and I loved Knight Rider and then later Baywatch. But I was never obsessed.”
Source SFX
