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Upper class to me means you are either born into wealth or you're Royalty.
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Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame.
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I never was obsessive about anything I watched when I was a kid, except maybe 'The A-Team' and 'Airwolf'... And I loved 'Knight Rider' and then later 'Baywatch.'
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My first agent dissuaded me from calling myself 'Cumberbatch.' I had six months of not very productive time with her, so I changed agents. The new one said, 'Why aren't you using your family name? It's a real attention-grabber.' I worried, 'How much is it going to cost to put my name in lights?' But then I decided that's not my problem.
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We all want to escape our circumstances, don't we? Especially if you are an actor.
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I'm quite sensitive to people noticing me. There are times when I'm relaxed, then others when it does make me self-conscious.
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It's difficult because nothing's preordained by plan and you can't control it. That's one of those joys and thrills and nerve-racking realities of being an actor. A lot has to do with luck, no matter what your talent or contribution can be.
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There's so much in the 21st century that is stymied by bureaucracy and mediocrity and committee.
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I am a PR disaster because I talk too much.
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I've always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise. You are never what you seem.
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I wish my 15-year-old self had known about my allure to the opposite sex!
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I'm not loyal to one genre. I want to mix it up.
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There's no shame in stealing - any actor who says he doesn't is lying. You steal from everything.
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'Sherlock' fans are, by and large, an intelligent breed, so they've gone through my back catalogue and got what I've done, why and how I've done it. There is some obsessive behaviour, but I worry for them rather than me.
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As an actor, you are aware of how a role can seep into your real life.
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Being a posh actor in England you cannot escape the class-typing from whatever side you look at it.
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The world of 'Sherlock Holmes' and the world that we live in now is big enough to take more than one interpretation.
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I'm interested in art for all. I don't want it to be only the sons and daughters of Tory MPs who get to see my plays.
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I was thrilled with how the first series of 'Sherlock' was received. It was such great fun to film, which makes it so rewarding when something you enjoy is so well received.
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I was happy as an only child, but I've always wanted to be part of a bigger family.
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I got live tweeted once by someone who was opposite my home in some rented accommodation. He was actually describing on twitter what I was doing. 'I took a shirt off, I went to the window, I put a shirt back on... ' And I've got blinds in my flat!
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I was always performing, doing silly voices. The teachers realized I could go one of two ways: be creative or destructive.
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I'm a Prince of Wales Trust ambassador, so I'm all about giving youth an education, a voice and a chance to not take the wrong road.
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There's a huge raft of roles that actors in our culture perform, and you can see any one of about three Hamlets in a year. It's not something to be completely daunted by.