Benedict Cumberbatch Sparks Debate After Saying He Regrets Nonbinary 'Zoolander 2' Role

Since gaining worldwide attention for his contemporary take on the world's most famous detective in Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch has become one of the world's most popular actors.

With two Academy Award nominations, joining the MCU as Marvel's iconic Doctor Strange and impressing audiences on stage as the title roles of both Frankenstein and Hamlet, it would be an understatement to call Cumberbatch's career prolific.

However, there is one role that Cumberbatch looks back on with anything but pride.

During an appearance on Variety's YouTube series "Know Their Lines," the two-time Oscar nominee found himself facing what turned out to be an unhappy memory from his film career:

As part of the series, Cumberbatch was handed a card with a line of dialogue on it, and was challenged to guess if he could correctly identify the matching film.

Cumberbatch correctly identified lines from Sherlock, Doctor Strange, The Grinch, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Power of The Dog, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and The Imitation Game, sharing his happy memories that came with each of those performances.

However, Cumberbatch had a bit more trouble identifying the film in which he uttered the line "All Is Done Here."

When he finally did realize what film it was, his memories were less than happy.

The film in question was 2016's Zoolander 2, the sequel to Ben Stiller's 2001 male model-centered comedyZoolander.

Cumberbatch admitted that he "had to apologize for that one a lot" and it was a "difficult one to talk about."

While Zoolander 2 did not repeat the critical or commercial success of it's predecessor, earning scathing reviews and grossing a mere $28.8 million in the US, Cumberbatch's unease with the film was more personal.

Cumberbatch played a non-binary fashion model named All in the film.

The Sherlock star went on to say that he accepted the role with excitement, believing he was joining the legacy of a beloved comedy film, but found himself deeply regretting his decision when his casting ended up causing a significant amount of backlash:

"I love that group of people and 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."

"But it got complicated and it got misunderstood and I upset people."

"I respect that, so I probably wouldn’t do that again now."

Almost from the minute the first trailer dropped for Zoolander 2, the LGBTQ+ community immediately expressed their anger and concern at the casting of the cis-gender, heterosexual Cumberbatch as a nonbinary character.

An online petition was even formed by LGBTQ+ activists urging moviegoers to boycott the film, receiving over 25 thousand signatures, claiming:

"Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals."

"This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority."

The petition also went on to point out that there were any number of queer, trans, or nonbinary actors that could have been cast as All, which the producers seemed to willfully ignore:

"If the producers and screenwriters of 'Zoolander' wanted to provide social commentary on the presence of trans/androgyne individuals in the fashion industry, they could have approached models like Andreja Pejic to be in the film."

"By hiring a cis actor to play a non-binary individual in a clearly negative way, they film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large."

Cumberbatch had earlier expressed his regrets in accepting the role during a 2022 appearance as part of Variety's "Actors on Actors" series.

Speaking with his Zoolander 2 co-star and Penelope Cruz, The Imitation Game Oscar nominee admitted to seeing no trouble in accepting the role at the time, but in the passing years realized his casting was ill-advised:

"There was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now.”

“And I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor."

"But I remember at the time not thinking of it necessarily in that regard, and it being more about two dinosaurs, two heteronormative clichés not understanding this new diverse world."

"But it backfired a little bit."

Cumberbatch's appearance on "Know Their Lines" coincides with the Trump administration making the U.S. a less than hospitable home for the transgender community, with an executive order banning transgender women from competing in sports, and references to the trans community wiped from several government websites.

With this in mind, Cumberbatch's apology was bound to prompt many reactions:

Several Reddit users applauded the actor for admitting his mistakes, and apologizing to anyone he might have hurt as a result, even if some felt his apology wasn't entirely necessary:

"This is how a healthy society works. Someone does something unintentionally offensive, they acknowledge it, they apologize for the upset they’ve caused, they advocate for change and better education." - If_you_have_Ghost

"This is what celebrities and good name figures should do."- More_Cell_601

"It was pretty cringe, glad he apologized."- DJSauvage

"I don’t think an actor should ever be made to feel like they should apologize for taking a roll, but it’s good that he recognizes some people took issue with it and acknowledged that. He mentions in the article he thinks the role should have gone to a non binary person instead, I don’t necessarily agree with that either. Acting roles should go to whoever the producers/directors believe would be best for that role, not necessarily because of who they are. That being said, he’s awesome for recognizing there may be non binary actors who would have been great in that role."- phobox360

"I thought he played the role quite well for the type of movie it was. But I also understand the hurt it can bring. I still cringe every time I think about silence of the lambs."- Shag_Nasty_McNasty

While some users on X (formerly Twitter) were less appreciative of Cumberbatch's apology and regret, bringing into play ongoing conversation regarding casting and representation in Hollywood, and others pointing out that the quality of the movie was far more offensive than Cumberbatch's casting or performance:

Cumberbatch isn't the only one involved in Zoolander 2 with regrets.

The film's director and star, Ben Stiller, shared on David Duchovny’s "Fail Better" podcast that he did not see the film's critical and commercial failure coming, and getting over the disappointment was not easy:

"I thought everybody wanted this.”

“And then it’s like, ‘Wow, I must have really f*cked this up."

"Everybody didn’t go to it."

"And it’s gotten these horrible reviews."

“It really freaked me out because I was like, ‘I didn’t know was that bad?'"

“What scared me the most on that one was I'm losing what I think what’s funny, the questioning yourself … on ‘Zoolander 2,’ it was definitely blindsiding to me."

"And it definitely affected me for a long time."

Safe to say, Zoolander 2 proved to be no laughing matter for anyone.