Concealed in a behind-the-scenes featurette on the recently-released Star Trek Into Darkness DVD, the prank sees Cumberbatch and co-stars Karl Urban and John Cho advised that they must wear protective clothing – including dots of cream on their face – while filming in a high-tech laboratory.
The Sherlock actor even reads a signed contract to camera about the safety measures, which he soon realises is an announcement that they are a hoax – to laughter from the Star Trek crew.
Director Abrams and lead actor Chris Prine were in on the prank, with Cumberbatch previously explaining during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show: ‘We were in a really futuristic laboratory with lasers that were trying to split a target smaller than a human hair to create a continual form of energy.’
‘And I was like “wow, this is the real deal – what can’t we touch? What’s safe?”.
‘I got on set and was told I needed to wear “neutron cream” to protect me. I was gullible and did what I was told, it’s America and there is a lot of health and safety.’
Pine added: ‘We told him he had to apply the cream in dots all over his face and there he was doing this really intense scene with sunscreen spots all over him.’
Cumberbatch took the joke in good humour, saying: ‘I should have known. They had me, completely had me. It was really very funny.’
Original article Metro
