Benedict Cumberbatch turned down a role in the Absolutely Fabulous movie
The Sherlock star was too busy to join Patsy and Eddie's big screen caper, reveals Joanna Lumley, but his mum Wanda Ventham cameos instead
Absolutely Fabulous is poised to make its big screen debut and it's going to be one star-studded flick.
The movie boasts appearances from the likes of Jon Hamm, Kate Moss, Rebel Wilson, Emma Bunton, Lulu, Harry Styles, Joan Colins, Dawn French, Mark Gatiss, Alexa Chung, Graham Norton and Bruno Tonioli. Plus many, many more.
But it almost played host to another fan favourite... Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch.
"Our director, is trying to lock down the casting of cameo roles between takes and sometimes I have to sit with her in a nice chair, eating a delicious Brie baguette, and throwing out names like ‘Benedict Cumberbatch'," star Joanna Lumley revealed, writing in The Telegraph about the making of the movie.
"Although Benedict Cumberbatch, it turns out, is busy for the next five and a half years. What is it with actors? We are offering tiny, tiny, tiny roles that will take up minuscule amounts of time and it’s, ‘Oh no, sorry, I’m busy doing films,’ or, ‘So sorry, I am going round the world with all my actor friends for the next two years,’ or a simple, ‘I’m dead'," she continues.
Although luckily, while the 39-year-old Doctor Strange actor was too busy, not everyone in his family was.
Lumley also reveals that Cumberbatch's mother, the actress Wanda Ventham (who has also appeared in Sherlock as, you guessed it, Sherlock's mum) does star in Absolutely Fabulous: the Movie. She plays Edina's rich aunt Violet who hosts a casino party in the South of France during the movie.
Absolutely Fabulous: the Movie will be in UK cinemas 1st July
