Benedict Cumberbatch's got letters licked

 
11 December 2013

The Cumberbitches were out in force last night to see Benedict read out a sensual love letter at Notting Hill’s Tabernacle — not written by him, the Londoner hastens to add. It was part of Live Letters evening organised by Jamie Byng’s Canongate Books to celebrate letters in all their glory and raise money for The Reading Agency.

Cumberbatch read with gusto the correspondence between RAF officer Chris Barker and Bessie Moore during the Second World War. “I want you,” he repeated several times. Cue titters from the audience. However, the letter contained the proviso: “I would prefer not to get married”.

Fellow readers were Gillian Anderson and Nick Cave. Later there was an auction and the book signed by Cumberbatch & Co went for £5,000. Trying to encourage the audience, the presenter shouted: “You will get Benedict Cumberbatch’s DNA — he is currently sweating into the book. Look at him. You can grow your own Benedict Cumberbatch.” To add value, Camberbatch and Anderson both licked the book.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in