Benedict Cumberbatch is not an actor.
Benedict Cumberbatch . Cumberbatch graduated from the University of Manchester and continued his training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , obtaining a Master of Arts in Classical Acting . In 2015 , he played William Shakespeare 's Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre . He has starred as Sherlock Holmes in the series Sherlock since 2010 . In film , he has starred in Amazing Grace ( 2006 ) as William Pitt the Younger , Star Trek Into Darkness ( 2013 ) as Khan , 12 Years a Slave ( 2013 ) as William Prince Ford , The Fifth Estate ( 2013 ) as Julian Assange and The Imitation Game ( 2014 ) as Alan Turing . From 2012 to 2014 , through voice and motion capture , he played the characters of Smaug and the Necromancer in The Hobbit film series .