Benedict Cumberbatch interview: Why ‘How to Live on Earth’ left him ‘turbocharged’

Benedict Cumberbatch is possibly the only person who can get away with using a word like “trepidatious” in conversation. The actor, who captured our collective imagination as Sherlock , and has gone on to comfortably inhabit the MCU , as well as smaller films, used the word when talking about presenting How to Live on Earth.

The Open Planet documentary premiered on YouTube on September 20. Speaking over a video call from London, Benedict says the question, ‘How to live on Earth?’, fascinated him. “I wanted to find out. I’d worked with Fredi (Devas, director) before on a documentary about the Antarctic, (remember penwing, penling?) which I did the voiceover for in New Zealand during the lockdown in 2020.”