Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Starstruck Meeting Radiohead Backstage
The Sherlock star reveals how his first encounter with his musical heroes turned into an awkward exchange of mutual admiration, with everyone staring at their shoes.
Meeting your heroes can go sideways fast. Even A-list celebrities get tongue-tied around their idols, and Benedict Cumberbatch learned this firsthand when he met Radiohead backstage after a Shakespeare performance.
The Marvel actor, known for playing Dr. Strange and Sherlock Holmes, recently starred in "The Thing with Feathers," a heavy drama about a widowed father haunted by grief in the form of a crow. But his real obsession lies with the Oxford band that many consider this generation's Beatles.
Shakespeare Brings Unlikely Worlds Together
The meeting happened through an unexpected chain of events. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and director Edgar Wright attended Cumberbatch's performance in Hamlet. During their backstage chat, the actor seized his chance.
"I'm a massive Radiohead fan, I don't suppose any of the boys would want to come and see some Shakespeare?" Cumberbatch asked Godrich, according to his interview with NME.
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood took him up on the offer. What followed was comedy gold.
When Fame Meets Fame
You'd think two parties at the top of their fields would handle introductions smoothly. Radiohead had been playing to massive crowds for decades. Cumberbatch had just scored an Oscar nomination for "The Imitation Game." These weren't exactly shy beginners.
"I was really nervous because it hadn't been a great performance, so I was looking at the ground all embarrassed. But so were they – and Thom was muttering: 'Yeah, we're really big Sherlock fans...' There was all this shifting around, all looking at our shoelaces. It was so weird!" Cumberbatch recalled.
The mutual admiration society turned into a mutual awkwardness society. Sometimes success doesn't cure stage fright.
Future Projects Look Brighter
Cumberbatch has several upcoming films that sound considerably more upbeat than watching a grieving widower for two hours. Guy Ritchie's "Wife and Dog" pairs him with Rosamund Pike and Anthony Hopkins in a true story about exposing corporate pesticide dangers.
"Blood on Snow," directed by Oscar winner Cary Joji Fukunaga, casts him as a hitman who falls for his target. Then there's "Morning," a sci-fi concept about a society where pills eliminate sleep and artificial suns create permanent daylight. Laura Dern co-stars in that one.
The relationship with Radiohead improved after that initial shoe-gazing session. Cumberbatch interviewed Yorke in 2017, discussing "The Current War" and the band's music. Sometimes the best friendships start with the most awkward beginnings.