It sounds like Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who play Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the BBC’s Sherlock series, disagree on the role of fan expectations.
Back in March, Freeman said this, on the topic of people’s expectations and how they can take the fun out of making the show:
“People’s expectations, some of it is not fun anymore. It’s not a thing to be enjoyed, it’s a thing of, ‘You better f**king do this, otherwise you’re a c**t’. That’s not fun anymore.”
And now, in a new interview, Cumberbatch was asked what he thought of Freeman’s comments. The interviewer asked Cumberbatch if the fans’ obsession with Sherlock has killed the fun for him, as well.
“Mmm, not really ’cause I didn’t engage with it that much,” came the response from Cumberbatch. “I’m very grateful for the support, but that’s about it.” He believes that fandom “takes on its own thing. But that happens with every franchise or entity like this.”
Then Cumberbatch said this:
“It’s pretty pathetic if that’s all it takes to let you not want to take a grip of your reality. What, because of expectations? I don’t know. I don’t necessarily agree with that. There is a level of it [where] I understand what he means. There’s a level of obsession where [the franchise] becomes theirs even though we’re the ones making it. But I just don’t feel affected by that in the same way, I have to say.”
Whichever way you look at it, this seems to be a fairly sizeable difference of opinion between the two Sherlock stars. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like Cumberbatch simply shrugs off vocal fans and their ever-growing expectations, while Freeman feels affected by them to the point that they take away the fun of the work.
As it stands, Cumberbatch and Freeman are both busy with other projects and a new series of Sherlock is yet to be formally announced.
More as we hear it.