‘Sherlock’ season 4: Why Benedict Cumberbatch stepped in to begin with

It is of course terribly sad that we have to wait so long between seasons of “Sherlock.” However, if there is some sort of a silver lining here, we would say that it primarily is the fact that the actors continue to talk about it throughout the hiatus. While Benedict Cumberbatch was in “The Hobbit” and is going to be appearing in the upcoming “Doctor Strange” movie for Marvel, we imagine to many he’ll always be Sherlock Holmes all over the world.

The funny thing here is that it was at one point not even a lock that he was going to be the character. It took him realizing who was involved in the series (think along the lines of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss) before deciding that it would be a good fit for him. Speaking to CNN’s Talk Asia recently (further proof of his international popularity), Benedict had the following to say:

“I was very wary having done roles which were challenging and terrific and, you know, kept a good career going … I was very wary about stepping into the limelight and the populist role like Sherlock Holmes, but the minute I saw who was involved and read the script and the quality of it I thought, ‘I’ve got to do this’.”

It is probably the talent of these two, plus the members of the cast, that keeps Cumberbatch still invested in the series so many years later. He certainly doesn’t need the show anymore to boost his profile, but it is a nice little home-base for him to revisit every couple of years. It’s like a family reunion, and it fills up his schedule alongside some other projects.

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