Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch recalls being abducted and held captive in South Africa

Benedict Cumberbatch

Hollywood actor Benedict Cumberbatch, most popularly known for his roles in 'Doctor Strange' and 'Sherlock', recently recalled a harrowing experience he endured 20 years ago. The incident happened when he was in South Africa 20 years ago.

Benedict Cumberbatch on getting abducted in South Africa

The actor was talking to Variety ahead of the premiere of his film 'The Thing With Feathers' at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The 48-year-old actor revealed that he was once abducted and held for hours in South Africa. It was the year 2004 and he was shooting for the BBC mini series 'To the Ends of the Earth' in 2004.

During his time in the country, Cumberbatch along with his friends went on a diving excursion with some friends. On their way back home, their tire blew out. When they pulled over to the side of the road, they were robbed and abducted by six men. The actor and the others were forced into the car and driven around for hours. Eventually, the thieves let them out, tied them up and made them sit execution-style. Then the men fled. The experience changed Cumberbatch in fundamental ways.

Reflecting on the incident, the actor said, "It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily a good one. It made me impatient to live a life less ordinary, and I'm still dealing with that impatience." 

The harrowing experience also turned him into an adrenaline junkie - someone who once went skydiving and engaged in extreme sports as a way to unwind. 

"The near-death stuff turbo-fueled all that," Cumberbatch says. "It made me go, ‘Oh, right, yeah, I could die at any moment.' I was throwing myself out of planes, taking all sorts of risks. But apart from my parents, I didn't have any real dependents at that point. Now that's changed, and that sobers you. I've looked over the edge; it's made me comfortable with what lies beneath it. And I've accepted that that's the end of all our stories."

Cumberbatch on fatherhood

Benedict Cumberbatch has three sons- Kit, 9, Hal, 7, Finn, 6 whom he shares with his wife of ten years, Sophie Hunter. Talking about fatherhood in the same interview, the actor said, "The minute you have kids this sense of time sinks in far more profoundly."

"My youngest is turning 6 tomorrow, and I'm like, ‘I will be in my 60s when he's 21,' you know? It's crazy. It's gone so fast. So there's a huge shift in priorities, and it makes you value what you do with your life in a very different way."

"It does weigh on me," Cumberbatch added of time passing. "When you become a parent, your thoughts turn more towards mortality."