Note: My favorite assignment of the summer is this slightly cheeky look at the world’s fascination with British actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The feature was published in the July 2017 print and digital editions of Premiere, the True Visions customer magazine.
3 Things Fueling the World’s Benedict Cumberbatch Obsession
The Benedict Cumberbatch obsession is real, and it is global.
He’s the man every woman wants to marry. He’s the guy every man would rather be. And with each passing day, he moves a tiny bit closer to becoming the perfect human being. Seriously.
Here are 3 things fueling the world’s Benedict Cumberbatch obsession.
He treats his fans like VIPs. If you ever get to attend one of his movie premieres, be sure to check out who’s the last person still there at the end of the evening — Benedict Cumberbatch. He always stays late so he can say thank you to his fans, listen to their stories and pose patiently for photos. 
He taught English to Tibetan monks. Before starting university, Cumberbatch spent a year exploring Buddhism:
“I was teaching English to 12 Tibetan Buddhist monks in a Nepali home near Darjeeling. It was hard to teach them. But they were all such warm, intelligent, humorous people. And they taught me a lot more than I could possibly ever teach them.”
He’s not afraid to be controversial. Every actor knows that getting involved in divisive issues can quickly kill a film career. But Benedict Cumberbatch is not a man who keeps silent to “play it safe”. In fact, he uses the media’s fascination with him to draw attention to important humanitarian causes, including the Syrian refugee crisis and poverty in the developing world.