Professional Success
Cumberbatch began his career with roles in classic plays and small television shows. In 2004, he portrayed a young Stephen Hawking coping with the early stages of motor neuron disease. Cumberbatch's performance earned him a BAFTA nomination. His first film was the 2006 college comedy Starter for 10. A year later, he appeared in the film Atonement and played opposite Tom Hardy in the TV movie Stuart: A Life Backwards.
In 2010, the BBC aired a modern adaptation of the story of Sherlock Holmes, which won widespread praise and granted stardom to Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock. Martin Freeman plays Holmes's sidekick, Dr. Watson.
In 2011, Cumberbatch seemed locked in a Hollywood trajectory with roles in the Cold War thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Steven Spielberg's World War I drama, War Horse. But he continued to appear on the London stage, this time in Danny Boyle's Frankenstein. The role required him to alternate playing Victor Frankenstein and playing his monster on opposite nights, and earned him an Olivier Award for Best Actor jointly with his co-star Jonny Lee Miller.
In the 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Cumberbatch provided the voice for the Necromancer, and the dragon, Smaug. He also played the villain in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel, Star Trek: Into the Darkness (2013). Cumberbatch's film career continued to thrive in 2013 with such films as Steve McQueen's true life drama 12 Years a Slave. He also stars in The Fifth Estate (2013), playing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
In 2014, Cumberbatch won his first Emmy after three nominations for his lead role in PBS' Sherlock, a modern take on the classic detective. The same year he starred in the WWII drama The Imitation Game as trailblazing mathematician Alan Turing. Cumberbatch has earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for the role.