While literally dozens of actors have played the role of Sherlock Holmes it is now hard to imagine anyone but Benedict Cumberbatch portraying the super sleuth in Sherlock, the subject of this week’s Entertainment Weekly cover story. But Cumberbatch thought twice when Sherlock cocreators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss originally offered him the part which, over the past few years, has propelled him from relatively unknown character actor to global star.
已经有很多演员演绎过夏洛克·福尔摩斯这个角色了,可是现在一说这个角色很多人第一个想起来的就是Benedict Cumberbatch在《神探夏洛克》中扮演的那个侦探。《神探夏洛克》也登上了本周《娱乐周刊》的封面故事。可是其实Cumberbatch曾经2次拒绝该剧制片人Steven Morffat和Mark Gatiss对于这个角色的邀请,凭借这个角色Cumberbatch从一个默默无闻的演员一跃成为现在全球知名的影星。

“My reservation was ‘Well, this is a very iconic character, there will be a lot of attention on it,’” says Cumberbatch. “This was before I had had any significant success [but] I knew there would still be a lot of focus on it. And while I had done work, it wasn’t stepping into the populist limelight like playing a character like Holmes. So I did have a pause for thought.”
“我当时收到的邀请是‘有一个经典角色,会受到很大关注,’”Cumberbatch说。“这是在我获得任何有大影响的成功演出之前,但是我知道这个角色一定会吸引很大的关注。然后我做了很多功课,我要做的是扮演一个和大众想象的福尔摩斯不一样的福尔摩斯。所以我需要停下来思考一下。

According to Cumberbatch, it was the passion and commitment of the behind-the-scenes Sherlock team which ultimately convinced him to sign on for the role. “I thought, If I’m going to do this, if I’m going to step into the limelight with a large leading role of iconic status, then I might as well do it these people,” he recalls. “They know what they’re doing and I completely trust them. I felt like I was being asked to join the family and have some fun.”
Cumberbatch坦言,是幕后剧组的热情和肯定让他最后确定自己真的要演绎这个角色。“我当时想的是,如果我出演这个角色,如果我去演这个颇有知名度的主角角色,那我也适合这个团队一起,”他回忆说。“他们知道自己要做什么,我完全相信他们。我觉得我收到的是一个加入一个家庭的邀请。”