Benedict Cumberbatch Says He Regrets Playing Non-BinaryZoolander 2Character: ‘Wouldn’t Do That Again’

Mar. 15, 2025

Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Zoolander 2’.Photo:Wilson Webb/Paramount Pictures/Everett

Wilson Webb/Paramount Pictures/Everett

Benedict Cumberbatchis reflecting on a controversial previous screen role — one he “wouldn’t do” now.

InBen Stiller’s 2016 comedyZoolander 2, Cumberbatch, 48, played All, a character described as a non-binary fashion model. “It’s a difficult one to talk about,” the British actor said of the role in a video interview withVarietypublished in January.

“I’ve had to apologize for that quite a lot,” he said when quizzed about whether he remembered one of his lines inZoolander 2. The character’s unveiling in a 2015trailerprompted backlash from LGBTQ activists at the time, who spoke out against the movie’s apparent jokes surrounding the character’s gender.

“I love that group of people,” Cumberbatch continued of director-star Stiller, costarsOwen Wilson,Will Ferrelland more, who reunited after 2001’s hitZoolander. “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.”

(Left-right:) Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Benedict Cumberbatch and Kyle Mooney in ‘Zoolander 2’.Alamy

Alamy

But, he added, playing All “got complicated and it got misunderstood and I upset people. And I respect that, so I probably wouldn’t do that again now.”

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Benedict Cumberbatch at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of ‘The Thing with Feathers’ on Jan. 25.Rich Polk/Variety via Getty

Rich Polk/Variety via Getty

Last April, Stiller, 59, recalled that the negative response to the long-awaitedZoolander 2was “blindsiding”in an interview with PEOPLE. “What scared me the most on that one was l’m losing what I think what’s funny, the questioning yourself … It definitely affected me for a long time.”

source: people.com