Benedict Cumberbatch Irritated By Non-Stop Star Trek Into Dark Questions He Can’t Answer Yet

By Rudie Obias | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Cumberbatch

With all the mystery surrounding Star Trek Into Darkness, J.J. Abrams has done a thorough job keeping plot details and even character names out of the public eye to build anticipation and excitement for the upcoming sequel. This is nothing new. Abrams has done this since his TV days on shows such as Alias and Lost. The teases and often-contradictory hints provided by the producers and writers have gotten under the skin of some fans, but it turns out the actor at the center of much of that speculation is just as irritated by all the secrecy as anyone.

In an interview with EW.com, Benedict Cumberbatch talks about how all the secrecy surrounding Star Trek Into Darkness gets old fast when it means being barraged with the same questions over and over again. Rather than answering (or diverting) questions surrounding the identity of his character, he’s more interested in talking about the actual movie, or elements of his character that he can discuss. Cumberbatch says:

It’s achingly irritating. Believe me, I’d rather talk about the role and the fantastic story and all the things J.J. [Abrams] has come up with. And then everyone would be as excited about the film as I am. But then of course I think I would be on a phone call coming from J.J.’s office.

J.J. Abrams is notorious for maintaining a veil of secrecy around his films until they are finally released. That inevitably means the actors are just going to have to keep fielding the same questions, at least until closer to the film’s release. And irritation aside, Cumberbatch understands that holding back some surprises has its benefits Here’s the actor again:

Mystique is rare now, isn’t it? There aren’t that many enigmas in this modern world. Myself, I quite enjoyed seeing Super 8 and not knowing the story and then being mesmerized by it … [but] we live in the modern world, which is a place of oversaturation and now people, especially Trekkies, want to know everything before they witness it themselves. It’s strange to me.

Recent pictures and synopses have identified Benedict Cumberbatch’s Into Darkness character as “John Harrison,” although that still hasn’t totally killed speculation that he’s secretly playing a version of the iconic Trek villains Khan or Gary Mitchell.

Hopefully, the secrecy surrounding Star Trek Into Darkness will benefit the film and the moviegoing experience. It hasn’t always worked out so well with other Abram properties, such as Lost and Super 8.

Star Trek Into Darkness will hit theaters everywhere on May 17th in 3D IMAX.