In the space of just four months last year, Benedict Cumberbatch became both a husband and a father. The actor, who married wife Sophie Hunter in February 2015, and welcomed his son Christopher that June, has clearly never been happier – but shockingly there are some conspiracy theorists who believe his new family is all for show.
“There are people who believe that my wife is a PR stunt and my child is a PR stunt,” Benedict revealed in a new interview with Vanity Fair. "I think really it's to do with the idea that the 'Internet's boyfriend' can't actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. 'It's impossible he belongs to anyone but me.' And that's what stalking is. That's what obsessive, deluded, really scary behaviour is."
© Photo: RexBenedict Cumberbatch and wife Sophie Hunter have been married since February 2015
The 40-year-old star also opened up about his life as a newlywed and new dad to 16-month-old Christopher 'Kit' Carlton. "Having a baby – it's massive," he said. "And on a very unexpected level. Suddenly I understood my parents much more proudly than I ever had before."
He said that welcoming little Kit allowed him to better prepare for his role as Hamlet at London's Barbican Theatre. "I was expecting with Hamlet that it might be a hindrance to be a father, because it's all about being a son," he commented. "But it's the opposite. You understand much more about being a son, becoming a father."
The happy couple are parents to 16-month-old Christopher 'Kit' Carlton
The impact fatherhood and marriage has had on Benedict is very apparent to those around him. Tilda Swinton, who co-stars with him in Doctor Strange, spoke with admiration for the new dad and husband to the publication.
"My fondest impression of him is as a new husband besotted by his girl, and a new father enchanted by his boy," she said. "I think he knows what he wants – and has – a life first and foremost, that his life suits and nourishes him and that it makes the world go round."
