'It wasn't out of desire' Benedict Cumberbatch on sexually experimenting as a teenager
BRITISH actor Benedict Cumberbatch has suggested that he experimented sexually with boys at boarding school as a teenager.
The 38-year-old actor spoke quite openly about his days at Brambletye School in West Sussex during an interview with gay lifestyle magazine OUT.
"While there was experimentation [at Brambletye], it had never occurred to me as 'Oh, this is that'," he said.
"It was just boys and their penises, the same way with girls and vaginas and boobs. It wasn’t out of desire."
Gay rights is a subject that Benedict feels very passionate about, and it just so happens that the topic of sexuality is at the forefront of his latest role.
Human rights movements and sexual and gay rights movements have made huge social progress in the last 40 years, without a doubt, but there’s a lot more work to be done
The 'Sherlock' stars in 'The Imitation Game' playing mathematician and logician Alan Turing who helped to crack the Enigma code during World War II.
Unfortunately, in 1954 Turing committed suicide after he was convicted of "engaging in homosexual relations", but he was posthumously pardoned by the Queen last year following a long campaign.
"It’s an insult for anybody of authority or standing to sign off on him with their approval and say, ‘Oh, he’s forgiven'," Benedict said of the outcome.
"The only person who should be doing the forgiving is Turing, and he can’t because we killed him. And it makes me really angry. It makes me very angry."
Benedict went on to speak about the fact that Hollywood is still very much against movie stars being openly gay.
"I think if you’re going to sell yourself as a leading man in Hollywood to say 'I’m gay,' sadly, is still a huge obstacle," he explained.
"We all know actors who are [gay] who don’t want to talk about it or bring it up, or who deny it. I don’t really know what they do to deal with it."
He continued: "Human rights movements and sexual and gay rights movements have made huge social progress in the last 40 years, without a doubt, but there’s a lot more work to be done.
"I think it’s extraordinary that every time we get to a point where there’s any kind of trouble in society, people are scapegoated very, very, very quickly."
The full interview with Benedict can be seen in the new issue of OUT magazine which is available to purchase on October 21.