BWW Profile: Benedict Cumberbatch Oscar-Nominated Star of Stage and Screen

By now, you may know his voice, and you probably know his face, but you definitely know his name. To the delight of everyone with an internet connection and a Netflix account, "Benedict Cumberbatch" has finally become more than just an overly abundant collection of silly syllables. It's become a household name (insert obligatory "no matter how kooky of a name it may be" joke here). Today, he's easily one of the busiest men in Hollywood. A bonafide movie star. An Oscar nominee. And that's great. Because I'm a huge fan. You should be too. Here's why.

It only takes a quick perusal of Cumberbatch's resume to notice how vast and diverse it is. The 38 year old Brit has worked in just about every medium available to an actor, starting on the stage at 13 when he played Titania in a school production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A humble beginning, maybe, but his stint as the Shakespearean faerie queen would spawn a pretty illustrious theater career. In 2005, he was nominated for a Laurence Oliver Award for his performance in the West End's "Hedda Gabler," an award he would eventually win 7 years later for his work in Danny Boyle's production of "Frankenstein" at the Royal National Theatre, where he played both Victor and the Creature, alternating with co-star Jonny Lee Miller.

In addition to stage work, Cumberbatch has also done his fair share of voiceover work, including radio plays across the pond--the perfect showcase for arguably his greatest asset. His voice, and his ability to manipulate that voice, has become one of his most recognizable traits--just Youtube his impressions of anything or anyone from Alan Rickman to Chewbacca, if you don't believe me. The BBC Radio sitcom "Cabin Pressure," which originally aired in 2008 and ended this past Christmas with a two-part finale special, follows the ups and downs of the struggling MJN Air's quirky flight crew, is something of a fan favorite, and a must-listen for fans of British comedy. Cumberbatch also voiced the Angel Islington in the radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" (2013), starring alongside the likes of James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer--and it was super creepy in a super fantastic way. Cumberbatch's vocal talents would eventually reach the States, most notably in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2014), with his trademark baritone quite literally saking the walls of cinemas all over the world as the titular Tolkienian dragon.

It's impossible to talk about Benedict Cumberbatch without mentioning the most important item on his extensive IMDB page. While stages and sound booths are all well and good, the small screen is, quite possibly, singlehandedly responsible for Cumberbatch's sudden rise to superstardom, at least in the US. We all know what I'm talking about. One word. Two syllables. All together now: "Sherlock." Easily Cumberbatch's most popular role to date, one that would earn him critical recognition in the US, including Golden Globe nominations, and most recently an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries (2014). The concept of Steven Moffat's "Sherlock" is simple enough--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective meets modern London--but the series, which first aired in the UK in 2010, has grown into full-fledged pop culture phenomenon, and only after 9 episodes. That's right. 9. It's every Netflix marathoners dream, as all three seasons can be watched in a single weekend--or a single day, if you're feeling ambitious, or y'know, lonely. There's something to be said for a series that is released in the briefest of spurts over the course of literally years and still remains unfalteringly popular. Personally, my greatest enjoyment in watching the show comes primarily from Cumberbatch's performance, which, is something of a marvel, quite frankly. That, paired with his onscreen chemistry with co-star and pal Martin Freeman, the Watson to his Holmes, makes for some consistently solid TV. Filming of a "Sherlock" Christmas special just recently wrapped, and if the first three seasons are any indication, good things generally come to fans who wait.

While Cumberbatch's SHERLOCK Holmes is certainly iconic, and has since become everything from a sex symbol to a Lego (no seriously, that actually might be happening), there's always that fear of *gulp* typecasting. It's true, Cumberbatch has a habit of playing intellectuals of varying degrees of prickliness. His performance as Stephen HAWKING in the 2004 TV movie "Hawking" put him on the map across the pond, after all. In addition, he's also played Vincent Van Gogh in the lesser-known "Van Gogh: Painted with Words" (2010), and trust me it's worth a Youtube search. Even his role as the villainous and bone-chilling Khan in "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013) continued this common theme--but he's, like, an alien, so, that's different, right? So maybe he does have a habit of playing mentally gifted individuals, but he's damn good at it, so I certainly won't be the first in line to stop him. And anyway, look where it's gotten him now: just about every conceivable award nomination for his performance as WWII mathematician Alan Turing in Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" (2014). And yes, folks, that includes the coveted Academy Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

Cumberbatch's career is a fun one to follow, possibly because nobody seems to be having more fun than Cumberbatch himself--we've all see his award show photobombs--and it's incredibly satisfying for me to see it finally take off in earnest. What started as a slow-burning candle on screens in the US, from small roles in "Atonement" (2007) and "The Other Boleyn Girl" (2008), to higher profile performances in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (2011) and "Twelve Years a Slave" (2013), has officially exploded. Because he's literally everywhere right now. And he shows no signs of stopping, with projects lined up to the last syllable of recorded time, including a return to the UK stage later this year as Hamlet in a production that broke ticket-selling records to a ridiculous degree--I'm talking "beating out Beyoncé and Jay Z's On the Run tour" ridiculous. Most recently, Marvel announced that Cumberbatch would be playing the title surgeon-turned-sorcerer in the highly anticipated "Doctor Strange," scheduled for release in fall 2016.

Nope. He's not going anywhere. Embrace the Batch. Or maybe don't, because that kind of sounds like a disease when you put it that way. Just watch these clips instead.

Will you be rooting for Benedict on Oscar night? Let us know your thoughts on him nomination, and the Oscars in general in the comments below.

The 87th Academy Awards telecast will air live coast-to-coast on Sunday, February 22, 2015 (8:30 p.m.ET/5:30 p.m.PT) on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. And be sure to visit BWW TV for live coverage of the 2015 Oscar telecast.