The Author And The Artist: J.r.r. Tolkien And Benedict Cumberbatch
What makes J.R.R. Tolkien such a good author? What draws people to Benedict Cumberbatch’s acting? Though both are compelling in different ways, they hold more similarities than one might realize. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch compare and contrast from how, where, and when they grew up to their connection through their occupations. Although J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa and Benedict Cumberbatch in London, they both grew up in England. Tolkien was orphaned at eight years old, while Cumberbatch was raised by both of his parents. In fact, Benedict was raised in a household by two actors, Timothy Carlton and Wanda, which allowed him to gain insight in the world of theatrics, and eventually inspire him to pursue that profession. Another contrast between the two is that while Tolkien met the love of his life at a very young age, and married and twenty-one years old, Benedict Cumberbatch waited for the right person, and married Sophie Hunter in 2015, at the age of thirty-eight. Furthermore, although they both grew up in the same nation,
J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, just like his mother, in contrast to Cumberbatch who identifies himself as a Buddhist, according to the Huffington Post. Benedict Cumberbatch voices the dragon, Smaug, and a necromancer in the film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” which is based upon the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Cumberbatch had said in an interview that his father had read him Tolkien’s stories when he was a young child, so he grew up being a fan of him and his literary works. In addition, Cumberbatch also has recently been casted to narrate a documentary called, “There’s A Hole In My Bucket” which is about J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson, Royd Allan Reuel Tolkien who is on a journey to complete a bucket list of fifty things that his dead brother, Mike, left for him to accomplish.
Moreover, both John Ronald and Benedict has received many nominations and awards based on their works; Tolkien for his writing and Cumberbatch for his acting and performances. According to IMDB, Tolkien has received 7 nominations and 3 wins, in comparison to Benedict Cumberbatch who has gotten 109 nominations and 32 wins. To name a few, J.R.R. Tolkien has won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and Benedict Cumberbatch won the Laurence Olivier award and an Emmy award.
In the summer of the year 1930 is when J.R.R. Tolkien started writing “The Hobbit”, a children’s fantasy novel which became one of his first breakthrough novels. In modern day, 'The Hobbit' is the fourth top-selling single-volume book of all time, approximating to about one-hundred million sales since it has been published. J.R.R. Tolkien has numerously been called the “author of the century” due to his amazing literary works. Additionally, Benedict Cumberbatch’s breakthrough was in 2010, when he starred as Sherlock Holmes in the British Broadcasting Corporation, also known as BBC, television series “Sherlock” which was based upon the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Cumberbatch won an Emmy award for his acting in 2014, during the third season of “Sherlock”.
In conclusion, although John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch were born in two very different centuries, there are still similarities that remain between them. Tolkien died on the 2nd of September in 1973 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom in result of having a stomach ulcer, however Cumberbatch is still alive and well, and continues to improve himself in his work as an actor.
References
- Child, B. (2011, June 20). Benedict Cumberbatch joins The Hobbit as Smaug. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com: :https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jun/20/benedict-cumberbatch-the-hobbit-smaug
- Benedict Cumberbatch. (2019, May 15). Benedict Cumberbatch Retrieved from www.biography.com:
- https://www.biography.com/actor/benedict-cumberbatch
- Murray, L. (2019, January 19). Benedict Cumberbatch. Retrieved from www.britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-Cumberbatch
- Grater, T. (2018, October 17). Benedict Cumberbatch to narrate Tolkien great-grandson doc 'There's A Hole In My Bucket' (exclusive). Retrieved from www.screendaily.com: https://www.screendaily.com/news/benedict-cumberbatch-to-narrate-tolkien-great-grandson-doc-theres-a-hole-in-my-bucket-exclusive/5133693.article
- Benedict Cumberbatch. (n.d.). Benedict Cumberbatch. Retrieved from www.imdb.com: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/awards?ref_=nm_ql_2
- Kuruvilla, C. (2016, March 25). Benedict Cumberbatch On How Meditation Helps Give him 'Grace And Ease'. Retrieved from www.huffpost.com: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/benedict-cumberbatch-on-how-buddhism-influences-his-acting_n_56f5
