Benedict Cumberbatch Says ‘I Upset People’ With ‘Zoolander 2’ Non-Binary Role and ‘Wouldn’t Do That Again’: ‘I’ve Had to Apologize Quite a Lot’

Benedict Cumberbatch recently participated in Variety’s “Know Their Lives” video series and shared some regret over his controversial role in Ben Stiller’s “Zoolander 2.” The “Doctor Strange” actor played a non-binary fashion model named All in the comedy sequel, which was an infamous box office flop in 2016 with just $28 million at the domestic box office.

“I’ve had to apologize for that quite a lot. It’s a difficult one to talk about,” Cumberbatch said about playing a non-binary role. “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.”

Cumberbatch’s role in “Zoolander 2” drew backlash as soon as the comedy’s trailer first released online. LGBTQ activists urged moviegoers not to see the movie because of Cumberbatch’s casting, with one online petition calling for a “Zoolander 2” boycott.

“Cumberbatch’s character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals,” an online petition stated at the time. “This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority. If the producers 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, the film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large.”

Cumberbatch admitted in 2022 to his “Zoolander 2” co-star Penelope Cruz as part of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” that “there was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now.”

“I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor,” he added at the time. “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.”

Stiller has admitted in past interviews that “Zoolander 2″ flopping at the box office was “not a great experience,” and he said on David Duchovny’s “Fail Better” podcast last year that he was blindsided by the disastrous results.

“I thought everybody wanted this,” Stiller said of the “Zoolander” sequel. “And then it’s like, ‘Wow, I must have really fucked 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?’” Stiller continued. “What scared me the most on that one was l’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.”

Watch Cumberbatch full interview on Variety’s “Know Their Lines” series in the video below.