Benedict Cumberbatch is an actor.
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch CBE ( born 19 July 1976 ) is an English actor who has performed in film , television , theatre and radio . Cumberbatch 's television work includes appearances in Silent Witness ( 2002 ) and Fortysomething ( 2003 ) before playing Stephen Hawking in the television film Hawking in 2004 . From 2012 to 2014 , through voice and motion capture , he played the characters of Smaug and the Necromancer in The Hobbit film series . Cumberbatch portrays the Marvel Comics character Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , first appearing in the film Doctor Strange ( 2016 ) .