Benedict Cumberbatch may spend September in Osage County.
The film adaptation of the award-winning play “August: Osage County” continues to fill out its large cast. Today The Hollywood Reporter says that Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks for a role. Cumberbatch is best known for his work in the BBC series “Sherlock.” Cumberbatch has been nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the title role.
John Wells is directing the adaptation of Tracy Letts’s dark comedy. Meryl Streep stars as Violet Weston, the matriarch of a dysfunctional family that reluctantly comes together when their father seemingly disappears. When they get together, bitter verbal sparks fly. Cumberbatch would play “the sensitive son of Streep’s sister, Mattie Fay Aiken (Margo Martindale). She castigates and belittles the man, who believes his father is Charlie Aiken (Chris Cooper), but the truth is he’s the product of an affair.” Julia Roberts and Abigail Breslin are also in the cast.
Outside of his TV work, Cumberbatch has appeared in a number of films, including last year’s “War Horse,” but has been booking bigger roles in important movies in recent months (“Sherlock” hit the US and producers are just discovering it, I guess). He’s in the upcoming “Star Trek” sequel, does Smaug’s voice in “The Hobbit” movies, and just finished filming “Twelve Years a Slave,” the Steve McQueen film starring Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt.
“August: Osage County” is aiming for a late September start in Oklahoma.
