'An actor at core,' Cumberbatch avoids the precious

NEW YORK — Here is how Julianne Nicholson got to know Benedict Cumberbatch when they played ill-fated lovers in August: Osage County.

"He came to my apartment and we watched American Horror Story and we scared ourselves (senseless) on the couch in Oklahoma. We'd hang out. We'd go for walks," she says. "He does have those eyes and that accent, but he's incredibly goofy, which makes me adore him even more."

Oh, yes, those orbs. And that precise diction, honed while studying classical acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. And it's all put to critically lauded use in The Imitation Game, opening Friday (in New York and Los Angeles), in which Cumberbatch stars as misunderstood genius Alan Turing, the man responsible for cracking the seemingly impenetrable Nazi Enigma code.

The shoot took eight weeks and when it was done, Cumberbatch, 38, says he grieved for Turing, a gay man whose life was ruined when he was forced to endure hormone injections to "cure" him.

"I just couldn't turn it off," says Cumberbatch. "His legacy, all of it. He was so inspiring. I had such a strong urge and motivation to play this role. Not just because he's the father of computer science and not just because he's a war hero. Not just because he's a gay icon who, after quietly admitting his nature, had to suffer the horrific consequences."

To play Turing, Cumberbatch wore dentures, at his own behest. Certainly, no one else demanded that of him.

"It felt important to Benedict — no one knows what his teeth looked like," says director Morten Tyldum. "That's how detailed he was. Alan Turing was a runner. Benedict ran every morning.

"He's so far from being this blasé star. He's an actor at core. He never sees himself as a film star."

Cumberbatch brought that same dedication to the animated Penguins of Madagascar, in which he voices the spy wolf Agent Classified.

"He was trying different barks and howls to see what got the funniest reaction. He was really going for it. He was so physical. He'd be throwing in ad libs and riffing," says Penguins co-director Simon J. Smith. "He'd come in after doing 10 hours of Sherlock and he was always the same effervescent, polite person he always is."

Indeed, Cumerbatch doesn't seem overly precious about his life, joking about the perks of being wealthy and pampered, and how aware he is when he asks for something extra: "You count your luggage more than you ever normally would when you have people carrying it for you. I've been so spoiled by people doing things for me."

Partially, it's because he stays almost stupidly busy, currently playing monarch Richard III in The Hollow Crown for BBC Two, and prepping for a turn as Hamlet on the London stage. His beloved BBC series Sherlock will be back in 2015. Plus, he's engaged to director/actress Sophie Hunter, who joined him for the first time on the red carpet at the New York premiere of TheImitation Game.

"I wanted her to enjoy it. It was sort of a test run or something of that ilk. We're going to be doing this for our whole lives, so this is what it's going to be like. She was very cool with it and loved it," says Cumberbatch, who broke his engagement news in a newspaper placement.

Sadly, he won't be revealing his personal life on social media. He'd like people to know that any accounts in his name are fakes. And if you see him at a restaurant, please don't try to snap a clandestine iPhone photo — he always spots the cell stalkers and he'd rather you just ask politely.

"I find it hard enough in my day-to-day life to give myself a context that's private or removed from constant observation. I want to keep a diary so my grandkids can have it, but I have no interest in publishing it," he says. "We're all paparazzi now. I have no appetite for it. I can't relate to the need to expose people. Now, it's so easy."

He also doesn't understand the obsession with selfies. "What a tragic waste of engagement," he says. "Enjoy the moment. Do something more worthwhile with your time, anything. Stare out the window and think about life."