Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott play nemeses on BBC’s Sherlock, as the titular Great Detective and Jim Moriarty, but in real life, it seems there isn’t any bad blood between them. Not even a little bit of theatrical competition.
You see, both actors recently landed arguably the most coveted role out there when they each played the lead in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in different London productions. Cumberbatch portrayed the Prince of Denmark back in 2015, in a highly acclaimed adaptation at The National Theatre, while last year, Andrew Scott took on the part at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
If you think Cumberbatch would feel uneasy about his Sherlock co-star playing Hamlet so soon after him though, you’d be wrong, as Scott was keen to dispel this idea when it was put to him in an interview with The Guardian. He revealed that the pair didn’t have a “rivalry” about it as they both know it’s a character that’s been played by many actors over the years, with each giving it their own interpretation.
“There was no rivalry. It has to be your own thing, you have to bring who you are to it – so it shouldn’t be similar.”
In any case, Cumberbatch should be used to his colleagues playing the same roles as him. Famously, the Doctor Strange actor starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Marvel’s blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, giving us two Sherlocks on screen for the price of one. Much like this situation with Scott, Cumberbatch has commented that he wasn’t put out to be acting with another Holmes as he understands the Great Detective is one of the most performed characters in screen history.
Unfortunately, we’re not sure that Cumberbatch and Scott will get the chance to act opposite each other ever again. Sherlock has been put on an indefinite hiatus following season 4, with the cast and crew giving varying opinions on if it’ll ever return or not. At the moment, it doesn’t look likely, but we live in hope.