Benedict Cumberbatch on being kidnapped in SA

Updated Jan. 24, 2025, 5:21 p.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

Benedict Cumberbatch shared his terrifying experience of being kidnapped in South Africa, and how it changed him.

South Africa is a country of many unique experiences, which is why so many tourists love visiting our nation. Unfortunately, among those experiences is the crime, and Benedict Cumberbatch recently shared his scary kidnapping experience in South Africa.

In an interview with Variety, the Doctor Strange actor shared that he was kidnapped while filming the BBC miniseries 'To the Ends of the Earth' back in 2004.

According to Cumberbatch, he was driving home after diving with some friends when their tyre burst. After pulling over, they were robbed and abducted by six assailants.

They were driven around for hours by the thieves before they were let out of the car and tied up. Benedict recalls being forced to sit in execution style. Thankfully, the thieves decided to let them go and they fled the scene.

Cumberbatch says this experience changed him.

“It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily a good one,” he says, shifting in his seat. “It made me impatient to live a life less ordinary, and I’m still dealing with that impatience.” 

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The experience also made him an adrenaline junkie, making him appreciate every moment and experience because he could cease to exist at any moment.

“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.”

This wasn’t the first time he shared this experience with the world though. In a 2013 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he spoke in more detail about this terrifying ordeal and how scared he was.

“I was scared, really scared. I said: ‘What are you going to do with us? Are you going to kill us?’ I was really worried that I was going to get raped or molested or just tortured or toyed with in some way, some act of control and savagery.”

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Thankfully, he survived that experience, and it made him a better person. Shortly after his 2013 interview, he married theatre director Sophie Hunter.

Currently, they have three sons, and he’s focused on being the best dad he possibly can be.

Let’s be honest though – if your dad is Doctor Strange and Doctor Who, he’s already the best dad in the world.

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