A Quote by Benedict Cumberbatch

Being a posh actor in England you cannot escape the class-typing from whatever side you look at it. — © Benedict Cumberbatch
Being a posh actor in England you cannot escape the class-typing from whatever side you look at it.
When I first left drama school, I was too posh for the working-class parts and not posh enough for the upper-class roles. You know what England is like: the gradations of accent and how you're judged by them are still there. I discovered that to get a break you have to lie about where you're from.
I think one of the main differences between being an English actor and being an American actor is that we have things like the class system in England.I'm middle class. But I've got what some people might consider to be a working-class accent, so you've got those sorts of elements in this country to consider, which, in America, exist, but not necessarily in the same way.
I do want people to think of me as an actor, not just a posh actor who does posh parts.
Manchester City have been the best side in England over the course of the last decade. Coming here is a dream for me. This is a top side full of world-class players. Everywhere you look in this squad there are big names with international pedigree.
I think you can't be really posh and be an interesting actor. I'm a bit of a posh rough.
I mean, look at Adele. She sings and she's not posh, posh, posh. But she's absolutely amazing. She's smashing it. She's global. I just think why change yourself? I'm going to stay as me.
Working class people vote Tory because they think it makes them look a bit posh.
I worry I look posh and fat. I can't do anything about posh - I'm accentless - but I've spent 20 years battling my weight.
I think there's a tendency in England, when you look at the past, to either have upper middle class period drama with its own rules, or if you're going to look at working class people, you have to do that in a particular 'Isn't it a shame, aren't they oppressed' way, or it's treated comically.
I never know what defines you as being posh. I went to a posh school, definitely.
It is in the irony of things that the theatre should be the most dangerous place for the actor. But, then, after all, the world is the worst possible place, the most corrupting place, for the human soul. And just as there is no escape from the world, which follows us into the very heart of the desert, so the actor cannot escape the theatre. And the actor who is a dreamer need not. All of us can only strive to remain uncontaminated. In the world we must be unworldly, in the theatre the actor must be untheatrical.
So the first thing: become aware of death. Think about it, look at it, contemplate it. Do not be afraid, do not escape the fact. It is there and you cannot escape it! It has come into existence with you.
I never thought I'd be a senior player in a county side, let alone the England side. When you break into a county side, that is your aim, so it's an incredible feeling to have achieved that with England.
That's the way I like my posh people, up front. I like the fact that Jack Whitehall will talk about being posh, or David Mitchell.
When I started in the profession, there were very visible actors who were Scottish, Welsh, or regional. Lots of working-class-hero leading actors; it was not fashionable to sound posh. Now, I'm middle-aged; it's fashionable to sound posh if you are the generation behind me.
I got the O.B.E because I represent England outside of England more...but thinking of me as an actor, I haven't done all the classical theatre, all the great roles. Think of Helen Mirren and me. Helen, who I adore, is a friend - should be Dame. I am the rebel, the revolutionary on the side.
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