Men Of The Year: Benedict Cumberbatch

This year, our definitive Sherlock finally took Hollywood by storm. Nothing can stop him. OK, maybe his cheekbones…

Having made his mark with his Belstaff-bedecked Sherlock Holmes, Cumberbatch has been on our radar for a while. But it was 2013 that saw him enter the A-list orbit, instilling intergalactic gravitas to Star Trek Into Darkness as supervillain Khan, as Necromancer Smaug in The Hobbit, and picking up Oscar-baiting roles in 12 Years A Slave and August: Osage County.

With his Harrovian manners and equine bone structure, Cumberbatch was destined for Hollywood glory. It’s led to him playing the cleverest (Hawking), craziest (Van Gogh) and leakiest (Assange) men in history. It also hints at a weight of presence that he’s playing two Twenties explorers next year: George Mallory in Everest and Amazon archaeologist Colonel Percival Fawcett in The Lost City Of Z.

In the meantime, he has two festive outings with Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and of course, bringing Holmes back from the dead in Sherlock: The Empty Hearse. Looks like Cumberbatch just stole Christmas.

(Image: Paramount)