Benedict Cumberbatch recently appeared at London’s British Film Institute for the season two premiere of his hit BBC America series Sherlock, but he generated headlines talking about his prep work for playing the voice of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's two-part film series of THE HOBBIT.
The 35-year-old Cumberbatch told The Telegraph that he visited the London Zoo in order to be ready for filming his scenes.
“I went a little reptile on it,” he said. “I’m starting to look at animations and Komodo dragons at the London Zoo. They have some amazing ones. Snakes, too. So I’ve been going there to see how the skeleton moves differently what the head movements are like.”
Cumberbatch can currently be seen as a conservative English aristocrat leading a British Calvary regiment in World War I in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the acclaimed play War Horse. Cumberbatch also stars opposite Gary Oldman and Colin Firth in the spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Fans, do you watch Sherlock? Are you more excited to see Cumberbatch in the new season of Sherlock or hear him as the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit? Either way, Cumberbatch looks to build his fan base in 2012.