Benedict Cumberbatch

Double Oscar nominated, BAFTA and Olivier Award-winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch CBE (BA Drama 1999) is like any other Manchester graduate. Talk to him about his university days and the conversation quickly turns to music, culture, the nightlife, and those first nights in Owens Park Tower.

After words of encouragement from family friend and fellow Sherlock and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy actor, Toby Jones (BA Drama 1989), it was Manchester’s culture that drew London-born Benedict up north in 1997.

“The thing that swung it was the city – the vibrancy of it, the student-led ingenuity, nightlife, creativity and variety,” he says. “And it had an edge to it, which I liked.”

It didn’t take long for the drama student and aspiring actor to become fully immersed in the Manchester way of life.

“It was just fantastic. That first summer when Labour got in, to Manchester United winning the treble – it was impossible not to be lifted on the tidal energy of that. It was amazing.

“And I love the Mancunian sense of humour, even if it’s directed at students,” he laughs, reflecting on how he became an easy target with his “pathetic folder of scribbled drama notes, half-eaten baguette and Magic Bus pass.”

Even that he loved, because it was real. “Manchester is a civic town, it’s unapologetic. And when you scratch the surface, there’s a whole lot of generous love there as well.”

The thing that swung it was the city – the vibrancy of it, the student-led ingenuity, nightlife, creativity and variety. And it had an edge to it, which I liked.

The sounds of the city

Not one to shy away from a party, Benedict spent his first year in Owens Park Tower, embracing student life.

“Every floor had different levels of wonderful chaos, and I made some very fun, fair-weather friends,” he remembers.

The parties weren’t the only attraction – the city’s music scene was booming in the late nineties. Already a “huge Madchester fan” with bands like The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and The Charlatans in his discography, Benedict began to explore and immerse himself in new genres.

“I had a very good time going to psychedelic trance nights like Havok. A lot of techno music was consumed. I also went to Sankeys Soap, more for drum’n’bass than house. I wasn’t massively into house,” he laughs. “I got cold wearing a Ben Sherman shirt and I didn’t like having tight trousers on.”

Live music was a big part of his Manchester experience too. “I remember seeing Björk, and the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty tour at the arena. I saw Doves, and those old boys Ed (Simons) and Tom (Rowlands, both BA History 1992) – The Chemical Brothers – at Manchester Academy. I came out with a near-bleeding eardrum after that one!

“It was just wonderful.”

When it came to his own artistic discipline, homemade productions allowed him to explore and hone his acting craft during his time at the University.

"We did so, so much. And we were good at making do – using meeting rooms and the Burlington Rooms. We did a production of Amadeus there – I played Antonio Salieri. We also did Epsom Downs in some sort of church.

"I just veered around. Everything from Ricky Roma (Glengarry Glen Ross), to Krapp in Krapp’s Last Tape and George Tesman in Hedda Gabler.”

He became part of a talented, collaborative and creative group of people by whom he was constantly surprised, challenged and often drawn into a group rendition of David Bowie’s hits on karaoke.

"We were young, we were pushing the boundaries, we were trying to do it all and get good grades.

"It was a really, really good year to be a part of, and a really, really, really good three years.”

My time at the University taught me a lot. It humbled me, it humoured me, it nourished me – and it will always have a place in my heart.

Nurturing a natural talent

Benedict comes from a family of acting prestige, with his parents Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both enjoying illustrious careers while their son was growing up. He always wanted to follow in their footsteps and credits them with giving him the confidence and security to achieve his ambitions.

"I felt very confident,” he says. "Not that I was going to be successful, but that I was going to enjoy doing whatever it was I was going to do."

University was always on the cards however – "I made a promise to my parents to keep being curious and to have higher education in my lived experience before venturing out and having a career."

His choice of course would open his mind to the world of drama in all its mediums, its history, place in politics, society and geography. He reflects on how his Drama course wasn’t just about performance, and one of the early modules even focused on the need for penal reform, and crime and punishment versus restorative justice or rehabilitation.

"I had a social conscience, a very active one, from before and during my time at Manchester, about what the impact of drama and storytelling can be. I did theatre in prisons and probation centres, which was extraordinary," he says.

Becoming a great storyteller

Storytelling plays a key part in Benedict’s own tale, first as a young talent ready to make his mark, and now as one of the UK’s most successful acting exports.

And it all started here in Manchester. At the beginning of every project, he learnt to ask himself, “Who’s receiving this story? What’s its potential impact?” and “What’s the cultural need for this?” The answers would form the foundations for some of his most career-defining roles, including the legendary reimagining of troubled genius Sherlock Holmes, and Phil Burbank in The Power of the Dog.

“Storytelling is important. Stories traverse all of our cultures – it’s every belief system, social structures, politics. There are stories in every aspect of our lives.”

Making his breakthrough

Inspired by his degree, Benedict left Manchester determined to be part of ‘worthwhile’ work on stage. He went on to earn his master’s degree in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before becoming a professional actor with the New Shakespeare Company.

In the early noughties he became a regular in London theatres and received his first Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Hedda Gabler in 2005. His television work also went from strength to strength, and his major breakthrough came in 2010, with the lead role in the BBC’s Sherlock. He quickly became a household name in the UK and the US, and won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2014.

Benedict Cumberbatch plaque on Bicentenary Way

The Turing effect

In the same year, Benedict received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of one of the University’s most famous names – mathematician, computer scientist and codebreaker, Alan Turing.

Turing came to Manchester after his time at Bletchley Park decrypting German intelligence messages for the British government during World War II.

Honouring Turing’s significant impact, in spite of insurmountable challenges, was one of the main reasons Benedict took on the role in The Imitation Game.

“The draw to the story was just the unbelievable human nature of this man who was at the forefront of understanding with the Turing Test: what makes machine and humans different?

“It was a page-turning thriller about these extraordinary minds, but ordinary people, who were fighting this silent war to save millions of lives. It was a remarkable feat.”

It really moved me. It was just a very immediate connection to his story that got me in. That man who brought us so much liberation from oppression suffered at the very hands that he’d freed. It’s unbearably tragic.

Living as a gay man during a time when homosexuality was illegal in the UK, Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency in 1952. Two years later, he died from cyanide poisoning – an inquest concluded his death to be suicide.

“It really moved me. It was just a very immediate connection to his story that got me in,” Benedict says.

“That man who brought us so much liberation from oppression suffered at the very hands that he’d freed. It’s unbearably tragic.

“He’s become an icon for good reason, but he was one of hundreds of thousands of men punished for their sexuality in that era.

“It’s a character study of a man wronged. And to try and honour the man in that way was a huge motivation to work hard and do a good job. It was very important for me to try and do him justice, and his story justice.”

During the production of the film in 2013, Turing was posthumously pardoned by Her Majesty the Queen and in 2017, thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences were also pardoned under what became known as Turing’s Law.

Being your authentic self

Whether he’s reminiscing on a memorable (or hazy) night at Havok or reflecting on a career playing some of history’s most iconic characters, it’s easy to forget that you’re talking to one of the most renowned actors of his generation.

Here, he’s just being himself.

And being yourself is a message he wants to share with today’s students.

“I wish I could tell my younger self to not be so afraid of being who you are. And not to worry about what other people think about you so much.

“It’s a natural preoccupation when you’re young. But it can become difficult when you’re looking for external validation when internally you aren’t fully formed.

“And that can arrest your development as your authentic self. Especially if, like me, you choose a career stretching beyond your lived experience to tell stories that you need to inhabit the many different experiences of your characters.

“Basically, just don’t worry too much! It will all be as it’s meant to be. You will find your place.

“But, as T.S. Eliot wrote: ‘We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time’.”

A place in history

Just as bringing a University hero to the big screen in The Imitation Game gave Benedict a full-circle moment, his name will be laid alongside Alan Turing’s on Bicentenary Way – a special installation in Brunswick Park to celebrate our 200th anniversary, and the people connected to the University who have made an inspirational contribution to the world.

2024 also gives Benedict another reason to return to Manchester; his old accommodation, Owens Park Tower, is set to be demolished to make way for newer, more modern facilities.

“Can I press the button?” he asks with a smile.