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Benedict Cumberbatch: The ‘Sherlock’ Star’s Too Busy For ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ Movie Cameo, But His Mum, Wanda Ventham, Is Cast

By Nicole Giacobone
Published on: 11:38 PST, Jun 27, 2016

Apparently, Benedict Cumberbatch is so busy, he couldn’t be a sweetie darling for Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. The Sherlock actor was approached to appear in the Absolutely Fabulous movie, but sadly had to decline.

Ab Fab star and series co-creator Jennifer Saunders submitted a work diary to the Telegraph over the past weekend, where she wrote down bits of information over the film’s production. One of those diary submissions included a bit about Cumberbatch, and how the Doctor Strange star wasn’t able to film a cameo for the movie that opens on July 1 in the U.K. and July 22 in the U.S.

Ab Fab, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous movie
‘Ab Fab’ stars Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders. [Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images]
Saunders teamed up with Absolutely Fabulous director Mandy Fletcher on the film’s prep work, and both women suggested several actors that could make celebrity cameos in the film, including Cumberbatch.

“We were throwing out names like Benedict Cumberbatch. It turns out he’s busy for the next five and a half years. What is it with actors? We’re offering tiny, tiny, tiny roles that will take up minuscule amounts of time and it’s, ‘Oh no, sorry, I’m busy doing films.'”

Cumberbatch’s schedule has been busy for the past several months. The British actor started filming Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie in November 2015 and finished his scenes in the beginning of April.

After finishing with Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch went straight into filming the fourth season of BBC’s Sherlock.

San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) happens next month, although there haven’t been any major announcements that the Sherlock star will be in attendance. It would be shocking if Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange, doesn’t make an appearance at the Doctor Strange panel during SDCC. He is the major star of the potential franchise, and Marvel likes its stars to heavily promote projects from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It could be that Marvel Studios are waiting until the last minute to make any surprise announcements. After all, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has made not-so-subtle hints that he will be attending SDCC, as Marvel makes its return to the comic convention after last year’s absence.

The Sherlock star, who has received multiple award nominations for the 2014 film, The Imitation Game, isn’t too big a star to make a cameo in films. Cumberbatch appeared in Zoolander No. 2 earlier this year as androgynous supermodel, All.

While All was supposed to bring laughs to the audience, people were not amused with the transphobic dialogue that surrounded the character. Cumberbatch himself never commented on the controversy, and Zoolander No. 2 received mostly negative reviews from critics with reports that the film had more celebrity cameos than jokes.

While Benedict Cumberbatch is not in the Absolutely Fabulous movie, his actress mother, Wanda Ventham, has a role in the comedy film. Ventham makes an appearance as Aunt Violet, Edina’s rich aunt who lives in the South of France.

Ventham is not a household name in the U.S., but American Sherlock fans are familiar with the U.F.O. actress thanks to her small role in the third season of the BBC’s drama hit. Ventham, along with husband Timothy Carlton, played Sherlock’s parents in “The Empty Hearse” and “His Last Vow” episodes.

Fans of Benedict Cumberbatch will have to wait until November to see him in action as Doctor Stephen Strange, since that is the only major role Cumberbatch has scheduled for the silver screen this year. Cumberbatch has two voice roles in post-production: Magik, that has a scheduled December release, and the 2018 animated version of The Jungle Book, where Cumberbatch voices the character of Shere Khan.

The fourth season of BBC’s Sherlock will not air until at least sometime in 2017. The series had one special, “The Abominable Bride,” which aired on the BBC in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. on January 1. The episode is now available on Netflix.

[Photo by John Philips/Getty Images]

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