Benedict Cumberbatch Filmed His ‘Star Trek’ Audition on His iPhone

Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t just have one of the most unique names in the acting community, he’s also had quite an impressive career over the last several years.

Not only does he star as the lead detective in Sherlock and recently completed starring in Danny Boyle‘s recent stage adaptation of Frankenstein, but Cumberbatch will lend his voice to The Hobbit and star as the villain in the upcoming Star Trek sequel.  The busy actor paused to share a humorous story about how he was cast in Star Trek with the New York Times.

Cumberbatch jokes about how he got his role in the Star Trek sequel.  While in his native England for Christmas he was alerted that producer/director J. J. Abrams wanted him to send a videotape audition for “the not-so-good guy” role.  However, Cumberbatch couldn’t find anyone who would film his audition, pointing out, “We observe this little Judeo-Christian cult holiday called Christmas, whereas, you know, some kids in this part of town [Los Angeles] with their Crackberrys, don’t.”

Stressed out over the opportunity and his lack of preparation, Cumberbatch actually filmed his audition on his friend’s iPhone, revealing, “I was pretty strung out, so that went into the performance.”  Cumberbatch promptly mailed his audition to Abrams — and promptly found out that Abrams was on vacation, too!

Nonetheless, Abrams not only viewed the audition several days later and cast Cumberbatch, telling him that his frazzled audition was, “one of the most compelling audition readings I’d ever seen.”  It’s no surprise considering how talented Cumberbatch is that even his quickly-shot home movies are impressive!