Culture Benedict Cumberbatch says playing non-binary character in Zoolander 2 ‘backfired a little bit’

Benedict Cumberbatch says playing non-binary character in Zoolander 2 ‘backfired’

‘There was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now,’ actor said

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Benedict Cumberbatch has said that playing a non-binary character in Zoolander 2 “backfired”.

The actor appeared in the 2016 comedy sequel as a character named All, a non-binary fashion model.

His casting at the time caused controversy. LGBTQ activists led a boycott of the film, with a petition amassing up to 25,000 signatures.

The petition criticised the decision to play the character “as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals”.

It continued: “By hiring a cis actor to play a non-binary individual in a clearly negative way, the film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large.”

In a new Variety interview alongside Penélope Cruz, Cumberbatch admitted: “There was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now.

“And I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor.”

He continued: “But I remember at the time not thinking of it necessarily in that regard, and it being more about two dinosaurs, two heteronormative clichés not understanding this new diverse world. But it backfired a little bit.”

Cruz, who was also in the film, supported Cumberbatch, telling him: “It was funny what you did.”

Cumberbatch is set to receive an Oscar nomination. for his performance in Jane Campion’s Netflix film The Power of the Dog, The nominations will be announced on 8 February.

 

[Kramer on the phone]

if Zoolander 2 came out when people still gave a fuck about the cast it would have been better. Instead it became a pretty good marker for when no one cared about any of them. Owen Wilsons two films before this one had an average budget of $7.5 million. Ben Stiller's just mainly done cameos or films about the jewish experience. Will Ferrell is such a has been his production partner cut him out of his life. He's stuck doing crap on streaming now. At this point he's basically synonomus with the 2000s/bloomberg era comedy. Like how Dan Aykroyd and Steve Guttenburg were huge in the 80s, had a lot of supporting roles in the 90s and no one's seen them since.

I just hope he saved all that money, because he'll be lucky to get paid more than minimum or to have anything beyond a guest role.

 

[milk]

if Zoolander 2 came out when people still gave a fuck about the cast it would have been better. Instead it became a pretty good marker for when no one cared about any of them. Owen Wilsons two films before this one had an average budget of $7.5 million. Ben Stiller's just mainly done cameos or films about the jewish experience. Will Ferrell is such a has been his production partner cut him out of his life. He's stuck doing crap on streaming now. At this point he's basically synonomus with the 2000s/bloomberg era comedy. Like how Dan Aykroyd and Steve Guttenburg were huge in the 80s, had a lot of supporting roles in the 90s and no one's seen them since.

I just hope he saved all that money, because he'll be lucky to get paid more than minimum or to have anything beyond a guest role.

They also put all the good jokes in the trailer, so watching the film after the fact is just disappointing.