Proving himself a real-life superhero, Benedict Cumberbatch - best known as the star of Sherlock and Marvel's Doctor Strange - intervened when he saw a cyclist attacked by four muggers in London. He dragged them off the cyclist, and defended himself with the kind of skill only an actor who's played a superhero could display.
One of Hollywood's rising talents, London-born Benedict Cumberbatch has gained international renown as the star of BBC drama Sherlock, a modernized retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous novellas. He's since moved on to become one of Marvel's biggest stars, playing the future Sorcerer Supreme, and had a major role in Avengers: Infinity War. But no one outright expected Cumberbatch to be a hero in his own right when he stumbled across a mugging.
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According to The Sun, Cumberbatch had taken an Uber from his London home and was traveling close to Sherlock Holmes's fictional residence of 221B Baker Street. Looking out the window, the actor saw a mugging in progress, with four men attacking a Deliveroo cyclist. He leaped from the car and raced to the cyclist's help, yelling for the thugs to "Leave him alone." Cumberbatch dragged the four muggers from their victim along with the help of the driver Manuel Dias. When they attempted to fight back, he defended himself, and they fled.
The Uber driver certainly helped save the cyclist, but he admits that he was struck by the surreal nature of it all. As he told The Sun, "Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street." The driver was clearly impressed with how well Cumberbatch handled himself in a real-life fight; no doubt all that superhero training with Marvel has paid off in terms of developing Cumberbatch's physical endurance and fighting skills. As the driver explained:
"I had hold of one lad and Benedict another. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He was very brave. He did most of it, to be honest. They tried to hit him but he defended himself and pushed them away. He wasn’t injured. Then I think they also recognised it was Benedict and ran away."
Cumberbatch is proving to be one of Hollywood's most remarkable figures. Just a few weeks ago, he publicly called for equal pay for his female co-stars, and he's pledged to do his part to push for gender equality in the film industry. He suggested, "Ask what women are being paid, and say: ‘If she’s not paid the same as the men, I’m not doing it.’" It seems that isn't the limit of the actor's belief in justice, though, as he's clearly willing to intervene when he sees someone vulnerable under attack. What's more, the actor doesn't seem to be comfortable grandstanding in this; the incident happened in November, according to the Independent, but details were only published last night, and Cumberbatch was reluctant to comment.
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Source: The Sun, Independent