When the star of Steven Moffat’s Sherlock appeared on Jonathan Ross’ new chat show on Saturday night, he was grilled about those Doctor Who rumours. This is what Benedict Cumberbatch had to say:
“To be completely honest the rumours started because David Tennant and I are friends, well Matt Smith and I are friends as well and he kept it very, very quiet. David said ‘Are you after my old job?’ and I said ‘No, I don’t think I am’, because it’s huge shoes to fill. Matt’s done such a phenomenally good job.”
Cumberbatch also cited the mountains of merchandise and the huge following as a deterrent:
“That’s why I think the Doctor Who job is so hard, you have to be on the flask, on the school lunchbox, you sometimes have to go on the school bus to do promotional tours and I like to keep my work on the set or at the theatre and then going home and trying to be myself.”
For the whole interview, watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrYvn9Lw7tY&feature=player_embedded