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Benedict Cumberbatch Reveals How Eric's Role 'Fills Him With Fear' Ahead of Release
The 47-year-old actor’s character in the Netflix miniseries, Eric, takes him away from the archetype of Cumberbatch’s heroic depictions, the likes of Dr. Strange and Sherlock.
Benedict Cumberbatch is ready to roll the dice with his forthcoming Netflix thriller Eric. But the actor is not sure how the audience might take his new dynamic. The six-part psychological series set to premiere this week, follows a puppeteer Vincent played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who loses his son while on his way to school.
Engulfed by guilt, Vincent finds himself in a train wreck of a situation. Vincent’s resolve? To bring his son’s imagined monster puppet Eric to life and to TV screens around the nation to find his kid. A new leaf in the Oscar-nominated actor’s stellar pool of projects, yet Cumberbatch is wary of the odds.
Benedict Cumberbatch takes the risk
The 47-year-old actor’s character in the Netflix miniseries, Eric, takes him away from the archetype of Cumberbatch’s heroic depictions, the likes of Dr. Strange, Sherlock, and The Power of the Dog. Here, the British star is allowed to break and live in the gray area. He echoes the sentiment in a BBC interview saying, “I don't want to play people who get the green thumbs up or red thumbs down.”
But then his history as an A-lister actor, on-screen and on stage, instills the fear of failure. "But also, it still fills me with fear. I don't know how people are going to respond to it. It's nice to roll the dice on something new,” the Sherlock star told RadioTimes.com on Tuesday, May 28.
Regardless, Cumberbatch expressed the thrill, joy, and excitement the show and Eric, the blue monster puppet brought in. While the titular character was voiced by the actor, Olly Taylor embodied the role. He lauded Olly for giving Eric so much life and character and marked it as a “beautiful” experience.
Cumberbatch takes on as Vincent, a puppeteer, and co-creator of the children’s TV show, Good Day Sunshine, in the thriller series. He is also a father to a nine-year-old son, Edgar played by Ivan Morris Howe, who goes missing in Manhattan. The show is set in the 1980s, against the grim backdrop of the AIDS epidemic. He seeks solace in his son’s made-up monster that lives under his bed, Eric, and is struck with the belief that if he brings Eric to life then Edgar will return.
Benedict Cumberbatch on dressing up as the blue monster Eric
Amongst other things, the Marvel star noted that donning the 44 lbs/20 kg suit shall remain a marked moment from the show. Simultaneously, Cumberbatch was also humbled by the challenges that the role brought. "It was one of the most ludicrous things I've ever done - and I've done a few. It was fun though - and painfully funny,” the actor told BBC News. A scene required the actor to run down the streets of NYC donning the suit which left him in admiration of the suit-bearer, Olly Taylor’s finesse.
The Netflix show is written by Emmy-winning playwright and screenwriter, Abi Morgan. Her previous works are 2011’s The Iron Lady, BBC’s The Split, 2007’s Brick Lane, and 2011’s Shame among others. Lucy Forbes is directing.
Cast members include Cumberbatch, Howe, Gaby Hoffmann, Dan Fogler, McKinley Belcher III, and others.
Eric will be available to stream on Netflix starting Thursday, 30 May.
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