THE CHILLING TRUE STORY OF BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH'S KIDNAPPINg
By ANNA HARNES
History - Science
In 2005, Benedict Cumberbatch and two friends were filming in South Africa, so they decided to take a weekend trip to learn scuba diving. Although scheduled to return to the filming location in the morning, Cumberbatch convinced his colleagues to return that evening instead, even though they had to drive on an unstructured road for part of the journey.
Unfortunately, a tire blew, and the three men had to remove their luggage to get the spare. Once they removed the tire, six armed men emerged from the bushes and frisked them, saying, “Where's your money? Where's your drugs?” The men bound the trio, threw them inside the car, and left for a second location.
The men drove the car off-road for at least two hours, and when Cumberbatch complained that his hands were getting numb, they threw him in the trunk of the car. However, he took a chance in the hopes that the men didn’t want to harm them, and said he would have trouble breathing in the small space.
Cumberbatch’s pleas got him out of the trunk, but soon after, they were thrown out of the vehicle and ordered into the classic execution-style sitting position. However, it turns out that the men had arrived at a bank, where they withdrew money with the actors’ debit cards and disappeared — leaving the three men out of sorts in the middle of nowhere.
The actors walked until they came across a drive-in safari where they were able to call the production company and be driven to safety. Cumberbatch processed the trauma by becoming an adrenaline junkie for a time, but he mostly avoids that now to stay safe and healthy for his family.