The Thing With Feathers: Benedict Cumberbatch on grief and his Max Porter adaptation

Benedict Cumberbatch tells Yolanthe Fawehinmi about his challenging role in the film adaptation of the astounding novel

Benedict Cumberbatch at a  screening of The Thing With Feathers, on general release this week. Picture: Kate Green/Getty.

If we were told when we would die, Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t think it would better prepare us for the finality death brings. The 49-year-old BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning British actor, who stars as the grieving Dad in Dylan Southern’s adaptation of Max Porter’s book Grief Is The Thing With Feathers, believes our brains can sometimes protect us from dwelling on our inevitable demise.

“Nothing really prepares you for that sense and reality of loss. You can breed an acceptance of impermanence, whether it’s through philosophy or meditation, but you can’t really know what it’s going to feel like when you reach that end date,” says Cumberbatch, who played Sherlock Holmes in the mystery crime drama Sherlock.