Benedict Cumberbatch said there was one role he would not play again, saying that it "upset a lot of people."
The actor, 48, stirred controversy with his portrayal of Al, a character described as a nonbinary fashion model in Ben Stiller's 2016 film, "Zoolander 2." In an interview with Variety, Cumberbatch admitted it was a "difficult one to talk about."
"I've had to apologize for that quite a lot," he said of the role.
His character sparked backlash from LGBTQ activists at the time, who called out the movie's apparent jokes surrounding the character's gender.
"I love that group of people," Cumberbatch continued of director-star Stiller, co-stars Owen Wilson, and Will Ferrell. "It was the chance to sort of be part of something that the first time around was iconic and I was a huge fan of."
However, playing Al "got complicated and it got misunderstood, and I upset people. And I respect that, so I probably wouldn't do that again now."
Cumberbatch previously spoke about the character in a 2022 interview with Variety, saying there was "a lot of contention around the role ... in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor."
Stiller meanwhile, recalled the negative response to the film, calling it "blindsiding" in an interview with People.
"I thought everybody wanted this," Stiller said of the film. "And then it's like, 'Wow, I must have really [expletive] this up.' Everybody didn't go to it. And it's gotten these horrible reviews."
Stiller added that it left him feeling unsettled, not realizing that "Zoolander 2" was "that bad."
"What scared me the most on that one was, l'm losing what I think what's funny, the questioning yourself ... on 'Zoolander 2,' it was definitely blindsiding to me. And it definitely affected me for a long time."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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