By Alexandria Viernes

He’s a mum’s boy, everyone!

This week, Benedict Cumberbatch was spotted at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with a much older looking woman. But don’t fret, Cumberbatch Fans, this woman is no mysterious woman but in fact, Benedict Cumberbatch’s very own mum.

The mother and son duet were featured in the UK’s Huffington Post entertainment section with some lovely high quality images of the pair looking at some lovely flowers. For thosse who don’t know, The Chelsea Flower Show is a 5 day garden show held in Chelsea, London, by the Royal Horticultural Society. It is considered one of the most famous garden shows in the world. How delightful and thoughtful of Benedict Cumberbatch to take his own mum as a date to the garden show!

At this rate, it seems like there’s no such thing as bad publicity for this actor.

So far, the only form of “bad” publicity I’ve seen on Cumberbatch is the fact that he looks like Butt-head from Beavis and Butt-head (Leave it up to Buzzfeed to notice these things), and that’s not even that terrible….

….except for the fact that I now can’t look at Cumberbatch the same way ever again because all I see is Butt-head. Thanks, Buzzfeed.

There’s also the “mysterious woman” that the Internet has been trying to hype for the past couple weeks — I suppose that that could be referred to as “bad” publicity.

Cumberbatch’s PR manager is doing a fantastic job — there seems to be nothing bad to say about the Sherlock actor.

This article is a slight juxtaposition from the latest articles that have been posted about him lately. Most of the recent articles about Cumberbatch cover all of his upcoming projects and fancy events he goes to, where they highlight his fashion, or what celebrity he’s seen talking to. This article definitely did not fail to recognize all of the events that Cumberbatch was a VIP guest at, including the MET Gala and Windsor Castle charity event. It did however, mention the lack of his appearance at the annual BAFTAs. But of course, the actor was probably too busy being a VIP guest at other important events.

However, with news like this, it showcases the man in yet another great, humble light. Perhaps it’s the media trying to argue that at the end of the day, despite all the fancy parties and famous lifestyle, the actor doesn’t let the glitz and glamor of the celebrity life come in the way of spending time with his very own mum.

By Alexandria Viernes

Add Literature festivals to the ongoing list of projects and events that Benedict Cumberbatch attends. The Telegraph UK was one of the first to reveal that the Sherlock star himself will be a guest speaker at the upcoming annual Hay Festival in Wales on May 31^st. The Hay Festival is a literature arts festival that brings together great writers, scientists, economists, politicians, comedians, and general public speakers for ten days in Wales. Cumberbatch will be appearing alongside British journalist Simon Garfield and author Shaun Usher of Letters of Love, where they will be discussing different letters from the past in a panel called “Letters Live.”

Benedict Cumberbatch speaking at the Cheltenham Literary Festival Photo credit: http://www.benedictcumberbatch.co.uk

This isn’t the first literature festival where Cumberbatch has been featured. He spoke at the Cheltenham Literary Festival (seen above), where he appeared before about 2,000 people… But there he did not necessarily speak about literature. He mainly talked about his time on Sherlock, about appearing in The Hobbit, both of which, of course, were important works of British literature before they became visual entertainments. However, on the panel at the Hay Festival, Cumberbatch won’t be focusing on his own accomplishments. In the Hay Festival’s description of the panel, it is described as a discussion that captures the “humor, seriousness, sadness and brilliance that makes up our lives” with inspiration from To the Letter by Simon Garfield and Letters of Note by Shaun Usher, both collections of interesting letters from important literary and historic figures. So it looks like the audience will not be getting any updates on Cumberbatch’s projects, but rather his own personal insight on the letters alongside Garfield and Usher.

So where does Benedict Cumberbatch fit in amid these speakers?  He graduated from the University of Manchester, and has an MA in Drama and Classical Acting. He certainly has acted in some of literatures greatest plays. But so have many other British actors. Why is he, out of all British actors, chosen to speak on the panel? What makes him qualified to speak with published writers and authors about literature? More importantly what about him makes people interested in hearing what he has to say about letters from the past?

I wonder if having such a well-known actor is merely a ploy to bring a more widespread attention to this literary festival, considering Cumberbatch’s celebrity. Apparently when it was announced that he would be speaking at the Hay Festival, the tickets for his panel sold out in 12 hours, making it the second fastest selling of tickets the festival has seen since Irish playwright Seamus Heaney spoke there in 2006. But still, Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, not a well recognized actor from BBC. So what do you think? Why did the Hay Festival turn to a more popular icon for their choice in speakers this year? More importantly, what about Cumberbatch makes people want to listen to him?

Alas, the power of Benedict Cumberbatch strikes again.

By Alexandria Viernes

From establishing his place on the list of Time Magazines most Influential People of the year to securing a role on BBC’s Richard III series, Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be generating loads of good news over the past couple of weeks.

According to The Telegraph, the Sherlock actor has joined a team of celebrities to help back up a young teens battle with Cancer. The article mainly focuses on the teenager, Stephen Sutton (pictured below), who’s battle with Cancer has been documented over the internet and gaining the attention of celebrities and musicians like Cumberbatch, Coldplay, Jason Manford, Simon Pegg, and Russell Brand to join him in his battle to raise money.

Well, this just adds to ever rising good reputation for Cumberbatch. A lot of celebrities often get involved in charities and fundraisers– sometimes it’s for publicity, other times it’s because they are truly interested in giving to a charity that they care about. In this case, it could be both. Now, I’m not saying that Cumberbatch is only joining a fundraiser to help build his media attention. Clearly, he doesn’t need any extra media attention or a reason to build his reputation– he is, after all, considered one of Time’s most influential people in the world.

However, I am saying that getting involved with fundraisers like this definitely help build Cumberbatch’s already growing reputation. In general, people like seeing celebrities putting their high status to good use through charities and fundraiser like Sutton’s story. Celebrities are role models to a lot of people, and by getting involved with helping others, they can encourage the public to do the same.

Whether you are a fan of the celebrity or not, knowing that they are involved in events like this automatically puts them in a better light and earns them some respect.

For example, as someone who doesn’t essentially enjoy Taylor Swift or her music, It’s hard for me to dislike her because I remember that she’s one of the most charitable celebrities in the world– and I respect that she chooses to dedicate a lot of time towards helping others. The same case goes for those who aren’t essentially fans of Cumberbatch– people will respect him for his actions.

And for those who are fans: they be rpoud to see their icon getting involved with Sutton’s battle. Whether or not this is a plot by Cumberbatch’s publicist to build his presence on the media or if Cumberbatch is genuinely interested in helping out (I think the latter is true), either way it will certainly bring an even more positive reflection on the influential actor while at the same time bringing even more attention to Sutton’s story.

With that said, A++ Benedict Cumberbatch, you GO, Benedict Cumberbatch!!