THE TELEGRAPH
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
2:51PM BST 16 Aug 2015



Benedict Cumberbatch was encouraged not to enter the ‘tough business’ of acting by his drama teacher Martin Tyrrell, according to fellow schoolboy thespian.

The Oscar-nominated actor, pictured in The Sunday Times today playing Petruchio in a school production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre, greatly impressed in the performance.

However he was advised not to pursue a career with his “dazzling” talent, according to Alexander Gifford, who performed alongside the young Cumberbatch in the play.

Mr Gifford, now a theatre director and playwright, told The Sunday Times: “Benedict was the complete star of the acting scene at Harrow and funnily enough I remember in that show...it was like he had gone to a whole new level and had a vitality on stage and an uninhibited freedom that was dazzling.

"I do remember our drama teacher, Martin Tyrrell, advising him not to go into acting because it was such a tough business.

“We were a really rich crop of young actors. We had Laurence Fox and Patrick Kennedy, and that was down to Mr Tyrrell. Benedict stood out as being preternaturally gifted."


Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11806074/Benedict-Cumberbatch-told-not-to-go-into-acting-by-leading-Harrow-drama-teacher.html