Benedict Cumberbatch recently reflected on a harrowing experience from over 20 years ago that profoundly impacted his life. The 48-year-old actor was in his 20s while filming the 2004 BBC miniseries To the Ends of the Earth in South Africa.
During a break from filming, he and some friends set out on a drive, but the trip took a terrifying turn when their car got a flat tire. While stranded by the roadside, they were confronted by six armed men, robbed, and abducted.
The group was driven around for hours before being ordered to sit execution-style. Miraculously, the assailants fled, leaving them unharmed physically, though the event left a deep mark on Cumberbatch.
In an interview with Variety, the actor described how the ordeal altered his outlook on life. “It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily in a positive way,” he shared. The incident fueled a desire to live an extraordinary life and turned him into an “adrenaline junkie.”
To cope, he gravitated toward skydiving and extreme sports, embracing the rush that came with these activities. “The near-death experience turbocharged that feeling—it reminded me how fleeting life is,” he admitted.
At the time, Cumberbatch didn’t have significant responsibilities beyond his parents. However, becoming a father has shifted his perspective. Now a father of three—Christopher, 9, Hal, 7, and Finn, 6—with his wife Sophie Hunter, whom he married in 2015, he says fatherhood has tempered his thrill-seeking tendencies. “Having kids changes you; it makes you far more conscious of time and its value,” he noted.
Reflecting on life and mortality, he added, “I’ve come to terms with the inevitability of life’s end. It’s a part of all our stories.” Being a family man, he shared, has brought him a newfound sense of grounding and clarity.
