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| Benedict Cumberbatch: the next great British export? | Benedict Cumberbatch: the next great British export? |
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| Is Benedict Cumberbatch a charming and handsome megastar-to-be? Or a pretentious and overbearing snot? Pardon the sharp contrast, but these are essentially the only categories we Americans have when welcoming new actors from across the pond. | Is Benedict Cumberbatch a charming and handsome megastar-to-be? Or a pretentious and overbearing snot? Pardon the sharp contrast, but these are essentially the only categories we Americans have when welcoming new actors from across the pond. |
| The talented Cumberbatch made his US splash as the fearsome bad guy in Star Trek Into Darkness. He's garnering Oscar buzz for his upcoming portrayal of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate, and if you're more of a fanboy geek, you've already watched the new Hobbit trailer 700 times to hear Cumberbatch's voice as the dragon, Smaug. And did I mention that his TV series Sherlock is available on Netflix? Wanting for interesting roles, he is not. | The talented Cumberbatch made his US splash as the fearsome bad guy in Star Trek Into Darkness. He's garnering Oscar buzz for his upcoming portrayal of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate, and if you're more of a fanboy geek, you've already watched the new Hobbit trailer 700 times to hear Cumberbatch's voice as the dragon, Smaug. And did I mention that his TV series Sherlock is available on Netflix? Wanting for interesting roles, he is not. |
| But does all this translate to bonafide stardom in the states? I wouldn't be so sure. Americans like British men in certain leading roles: namely James Bond and wizards. Pierce Brosnan was beloved as 007, but not much else. The Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings films have earned Orlando Bloom some nice paychecks, but you don't see him on the big screen without a pirate ship or elf ears. Colin Firth won an Oscar for his role in The King's Speech, and then predictably evaporated from the collective consciousness of America. | But does all this translate to bonafide stardom in the states? I wouldn't be so sure. Americans like British men in certain leading roles: namely James Bond and wizards. Pierce Brosnan was beloved as 007, but not much else. The Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings films have earned Orlando Bloom some nice paychecks, but you don't see him on the big screen without a pirate ship or elf ears. Colin Firth won an Oscar for his role in The King's Speech, and then predictably evaporated from the collective consciousness of America. |
| Here's the problem, Britain: these men all possess debonair charm, refined good looks, and the ability to deliver intelligent, nuanced performances. This is a laundry list of the very things Americans find insufferable. We're a simple, insecure populace. We don't like people who are better than us. We like hunky morons like Mark Wahlberg. The closest thing to a hunky moron Britain's ever sent us is Robert Pattinson, and I'm pretty sure he's faking it. | Here's the problem, Britain: these men all possess debonair charm, refined good looks, and the ability to deliver intelligent, nuanced performances. This is a laundry list of the very things Americans find insufferable. We're a simple, insecure populace. We don't like people who are better than us. We like hunky morons like Mark Wahlberg. The closest thing to a hunky moron Britain's ever sent us is Robert Pattinson, and I'm pretty sure he's faking it. |
| And while it's been over 200 years since we lived under colonial rule, there's something about that quintessential English affect that we still find abrasively superior. Even amongst our own. Observe the widespread animosity towards actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Hathaway. Talented and beautiful, sure, but also perceived as uptight, erudite, perhaps even royal in their dispositions. They just seem British, right down to their names. That doesn't bode well for Mr Cumberbatch, presumably named after a Hogwarts math teacher. | And while it's been over 200 years since we lived under colonial rule, there's something about that quintessential English affect that we still find abrasively superior. Even amongst our own. Observe the widespread animosity towards actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Hathaway. Talented and beautiful, sure, but also perceived as uptight, erudite, perhaps even royal in their dispositions. They just seem British, right down to their names. That doesn't bode well for Mr Cumberbatch, presumably named after a Hogwarts math teacher. |
| Now the Australians? We've been making megastars out of them for years. Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, the Hemsworth brothers ... they're everything Americans idealize about manhood. Rugged, short-tempered frontiersman, ready to conquer the plains with a John Wayne-esque machismo. And – take note, Cumberbatch – not too proud to completely sterilize their native accents. | Now the Australians? We've been making megastars out of them for years. Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, the Hemsworth brothers ... they're everything Americans idealize about manhood. Rugged, short-tempered frontiersman, ready to conquer the plains with a John Wayne-esque machismo. And – take note, Cumberbatch – not too proud to completely sterilize their native accents. |
| Americans don't have passports, we don't meet many foreigners, and we think proper English diction is an indicator of condescension or homosexuality. Sadly, you can see it in our politics as well: we just tend to trust cowboys more than intellectuals. Hell, we gave Paul Hogan his own Crocodile Dundee trilogy. For the past two decades, Aussie actors have ruled our megaplexes and made billions of dollars by embodying the classical attributes of American masculinity. | Americans don't have passports, we don't meet many foreigners, and we think proper English diction is an indicator of condescension or homosexuality. Sadly, you can see it in our politics as well: we just tend to trust cowboys more than intellectuals. Hell, we gave Paul Hogan his own Crocodile Dundee trilogy. For the past two decades, Aussie actors have ruled our megaplexes and made billions of dollars by embodying the classical attributes of American masculinity. |
| When Brits have succeeded here in the states, it's when they have done the same. Batman star Christian Bale exemplifies the guy who we'll trust in a dramatic role because we also know he can beat our brains in ... without being a snob about it. Sean Connery may have been a cultured spy in the Bond films, but he also could slum it as a lunchpail tough guy in films like The Untouchables. Fellow Scotsman Daniel Craig, the most blue-collar of all the Bonds, seems to be on the same track. Even the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis needed bare-knuckle roles in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood before Americans would ever have accepted him as Lincoln. | When Brits have succeeded here in the states, it's when they have done the same. Batman star Christian Bale exemplifies the guy who we'll trust in a dramatic role because we also know he can beat our brains in ... without being a snob about it. Sean Connery may have been a cultured spy in the Bond films, but he also could slum it as a lunchpail tough guy in films like The Untouchables. Fellow Scotsman Daniel Craig, the most blue-collar of all the Bonds, seems to be on the same track. Even the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis needed bare-knuckle roles in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood before Americans would ever have accepted him as Lincoln. |
| If you want success beyond the stereotypical British roles, you must have the charisma to kick ass without the martini drinking pretense or Oscar Wilde snark. The only other route to British success at the American box office is with humor, a la Hugh Grant or Russell Brand, and even in these cases, success was short lived. Again, it's because we don't relate to these guys. We're laughing at them, not with them. That Adam Sandler has dominated the American comedy market for 20 years tells you all you need to know about our appreciation for nuanced performance versus brute stupidity. | If you want success beyond the stereotypical British roles, you must have the charisma to kick ass without the martini drinking pretense or Oscar Wilde snark. The only other route to British success at the American box office is with humor, a la Hugh Grant or Russell Brand, and even in these cases, success was short lived. Again, it's because we don't relate to these guys. We're laughing at them, not with them. That Adam Sandler has dominated the American comedy market for 20 years tells you all you need to know about our appreciation for nuanced performance versus brute stupidity. |
| Does Benedict Cumberbatch have what it takes to become a megastar in the US? Well, he's smart, attractive, and incredibly talented, so history says no. Just ask Jude Law. Then again, as I look around and see a generation of waifish, anti-meathead hipsters slowly taking over the cultural landscape, with their curly mustaches and effeminate skinny jeans, I can't help but wonder if perhaps America is ready to ditch the macho stereotypes and create a true British megastar for the modern era. Sadly, portraying Julian Assange, whom America's media has vilified as no less than a foreign terrorist, may not be a step in the right direction. | Does Benedict Cumberbatch have what it takes to become a megastar in the US? Well, he's smart, attractive, and incredibly talented, so history says no. Just ask Jude Law. Then again, as I look around and see a generation of waifish, anti-meathead hipsters slowly taking over the cultural landscape, with their curly mustaches and effeminate skinny jeans, I can't help but wonder if perhaps America is ready to ditch the macho stereotypes and create a true British megastar for the modern era. Sadly, portraying Julian Assange, whom America's media has vilified as no less than a foreign terrorist, may not be a step in the right direction. |
| On the other hand, Assange is Australian. So maybe there's a chance. | On the other hand, Assange is Australian. So maybe there's a chance. |
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