Benedict Cumberbatch (Extended) | A Sign Of The Times

Summary

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The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Benedict Cumberbatch (Extended) | A Sign Of The Times

Date: November 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features a lively mix of Stephen Colbert’s signature monologue, sharp political humor, a viral goat story, and an introspective, engaging interview with acclaimed actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The conversation delves into Cumberbatch’s new film "The Thing with Feathers," the artistic choices behind iconic roles like Smaug, experiences during the pandemic, and reflections on grief and parenting. The episode blends political satire with genuine conversation and moments of levity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Political Satire & Current Events (01:35–10:49)

• Epstein Files Vote & Political Hypocrisy

  • Colbert discusses the congressional vote to release the Epstein files, questioning Trump's motives for previously blocking the release and joking about the unpredictable nature of political decisions.
  • Memorable satirical commentary about Trump, congressional shenanigans, and the proposed timing (joking about a "pervert Advent calendar").
  • [03:31] Colbert: “If they f*** around, they'll find out. Release all the files. Don or Chucky Shoom's will cut a bitch.”

• Nancy Mace’s Isolation & Political Quips

  • Refers to Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s media appearance and jokes about political loneliness and inviting her dog to future parties.

• Mockery of Political Events

  • Colbert skewers Trump for hosting a state dinner for Mohammed bin Salman after the Khashoggi killing.
  • Jokes about Apple releasing a product called the "I Didn’t See Anything" in response to ignoring human rights records.

• Midterms & Redistricting

  • Discusses attempts by Republicans to manipulate House seats in Texas and California, lampooning political gerrymandering and its spectacular backfire in Texas.
  • [08:47] Colbert: “If only there had been some sign that Texas is something you shouldn't mess with.”

• RFK Jr. Anecdotes

  • Pokes fun at RFK Jr.'s alleged drug use and rumors of brain worms; jokes that “Oops, all farts” is now the US nutritional advice.

• Airline Delay Compensation Rollbacks

  • Colbert addresses the reversal of a Biden plan to compensate for airline delays, with extended metaphors comparing the policy to dental visits involving mice.
  • [10:50] Colbert: “If I'm stuck at the airport for nine hours, I demand the right to suckle right out of the Cinnabon frosting nozzle.”

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2. Refreshing Change of Subject: The Viral Detroit Goat (11:52–18:07)

• Goat Escapades in Detroit

  • Shifts from hard news to a viral story: an escaped goat named Smokey causes chaos in Detroit and a man’s over-the-top fear goes viral.
  • [13:26] Colbert: “In terms of overreacting, I think that guy is the goat.”
  • Benedict Cumberbatch playfully interjects: [14:24] “Demon.”

• The Psychedelic Healing Shack

  • The story reveals the goat came from the “Psychedelic Healing Shack,” leading to jokes about the intersection of goats and psychedelic drugs.
  • [16:24] Dr. Bob (quoting): “You know, they're just gentle creatures and they're biblical and they're very healing.”
  • Colbert riffs on possibilities of family life with therapeutic goats.

• Legal Troubles and Quirky Local Color

  • Quick digression into Dr. Bob's legal trouble involving mushrooms and marijuana, with Cumberbatch and Colbert bantering about goat ownership as a lifestyle choice.
  • [17:25] Colbert (half-joking): “Quick note to my wife, Evie, I think I know what we're doing come June, darling… How many goats do you want?”

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3. Extended Interview with Benedict Cumberbatch (19:14–31:16)

A. On Acting and "The Thing with Feathers"

• Personal and Emotional Layers

  • The film’s focus: A father grieving his wife’s sudden death, raising two children, and the arrival of a symbolic “crow” (grief itself).
  • Cumberbatch discusses the emotional weight and ongoing nature of grief.
  • [20:04] Cumberbatch: “But if I'm lucky, once or twice a week, I think she's gonna be back in a minute. She's gonna be back.”
  • [26:06] Cumberbatch: “It takes place over three sort of chapters. One is about the dad's point of view, then about the children's… And then this entity that is… eventually comforting… which comes alive in the book.”

• Literary Allusions & Symbolism

  • Discussion of Emily Dickinson’s “the thing with feathers” as hope, and how the film pivots to grief.
  • [26:47] Cumberbatch: “Max, I think, changed it to grief as a thing with feathers, because it is literally a thing with feathers.”

• Manifesting Grief on Screen

  • The crow is portrayed by a sculpted costume and physical actor—NOT CGI.
  • [27:55] Cumberbatch: “Eric Lampert… was wearing that weight on his head and on stilts to give it this otherworldly height… Because he just pushes himself in there like grief does…”
  • The crow’s voice is David Thewlis; on set, the actor did a Thewlis impression for cue lines.

• Working with Child Actors

  • On maintaining the emotional safety of child co-stars, and the challenges of producing as well as acting.

  • [29:07] Cumberbatch: “You have to protect them and reinforce this idea that this is just storytelling. We're all pretending here we're different people in reality… and then there are days when they are children and they were seven when they did this and they just didn't want to do it.”

  • Humorous anecdote: Director Dylan Southern bargains with kids, eventually allowing them to write “poo” on his forehead with lipstick so they would cooperate.

  • [30:30] Cumberbatch: “He had to walk around with that… Like the Joker… in front of a crew being called weak man… I thought, I don't know if I could imagine Ridley Scott getting the shot this way.”

B. Reflections on Iconic Roles & New Zealand

• Smaug Performance in "The Hobbit"

  • Details of doing motion capture for Smaug, initially only hired for voice work but Cumberbatch insisted on embodying the character in full motion.
  • [21:10] Cumberbatch: “I really want to do motion capture with you… I think I need to do that because this thing is in its body, it's not just this kind of cut off entity.”
  • Describes the set as “a group of guys in a room that looked like a kind of IRS office… Formica everywhere, fake, horrible carpet.”
  • [22:21] Cumberbatch: “It was like doing very strange, you know, one man pub theater in London…”

• Bond with New Zealand

  • Shares how "The Hobbit" and later "Power of the Dog" led him to discover and appreciate New Zealand’s landscape, Maori culture, and pandemic response.
  • [23:39] Cumberbatch: “It's astounding. It is like an Eden. And from tip to top, it is utterly, transformatively different from the South, south island to the north… And the southern alpinisme…”
  • Pandemic story: got “stuck” in New Zealand filming; ultimately grateful for safety and freedom.
  • [24:44] Cumberbatch: “They shut down so fast and so that it was utterly free of it within the community.”
  • [25:11] Cumberbatch: “I picked up a beer and went, oh, shit, that's not my beer… But it was this realization, we thought, okay, well, look, the rest of the world is still pretty all over the place… and we decided to keep ourselves there and have a holiday of it.”

C. Reflections on Grief and Parenting

• Link between Grief and Love
  • The depth of loss and the way hope and grief are intertwined—“Grief is interchangeable for love, I think… you can't love without loss.” (27:20)
  • The hope that “there is something on the other side of grief.” (27:34)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Political Irony:
  [03:31] Colbert: “If they f*** around, they'll find out. Release all the files. Don or Chucky Shoom's will cut a bitch.”

• On Playing Smaug:
  [21:10] Cumberbatch: “I really want to do motion capture with you… I think I need to do that because this thing is in its body, it's not just this kind of cut off entity.”

• On Discovering New Zealand:
  [23:39] Cumberbatch: “It's astounding. It is like an Eden. And from tip to top, it is utterly, transformatively different from the South, south island to the north… And the southern alpinisme…”

• On Grief:
  [20:04] Cumberbatch: “But if I'm lucky, once or twice a week, I think she's gonna be back in a minute. She's gonna be back.”
  [27:20] Cumberbatch: “It changes form. And… grief is interchangeable for love, I think, you know, you can't love without loss.”

• On Making “The Thing with Feathers”:
  [29:07] Cumberbatch: “You have to protect them and reinforce this idea that this is just storytelling. We're all pretending here we're different people in reality…”

• On Directing Kids:
  [30:30] Cumberbatch: “He had to walk around with that… Like the Joker… in front of a crew being called weak man… I thought, I don't know if I could imagine Ridley Scott getting the shot this way.”

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Important Timestamps

• 01:35–10:49 – Political Monologue (Epstein files, Trump, Nancy Mace, RFK Jr., airline delays)
• 11:52–18:07 – Escaped Detroit Goat & Psychedelic Shack Segment
• 19:14–31:16 – Extended Interview with Benedict Cumberbatch
  • [19:32] – Dramatic/Emotional “Thing with Feathers” discussion
  • [20:49] – Smaug & The Hobbit motion capture story
  • [23:39] – New Zealand reflections
  • [26:06] – Deeper exploration of the film’s themes (grief, hope, and love)
  • [29:07] – Working with child actors and production anecdotes

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Tone & Style

• Colbert: Whip-smart, sardonic, playful, emotionally astute.
• Cumberbatch: Sincere, reflective, witty, self-effacing, warm, and openly emotional.
• The exchange is marked by genuine rapport, mixing comedic banter with candid insights.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode offers both classic Late Show satire on the week’s bizarre political headlines and a rewarding, thoughtful conversation with Benedict Cumberbatch. Whether you’re here for the laughs, the cultural commentary, or the emotional resonance on grief and creativity, this episode covers it all—with timestamps to find your favorite segments.

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Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome friends and neighbors. Welcome to the Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Now we're just. Y' all gonna spoil me. Now we're just over a week away from Thanksgiving, but ladies and gentlemen, I am already thankful because last night around 5:30, the US House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to make the Justice Department release the Epstein files. Okay, Congress. As per the Constitution, Congress then left the bill on Trump's desk like a flaming bag of poop. Very, very hard to put gold leaf on that. So what's he going to do now? Remember, Trump already tried to do everything possible to keep this from ever happening. As president, he could have released the files at any moment. He didn't and never explained why. And when the discharge petition to release the file started, he sent his minions to warn all the Republicans that voting to release the files would be seen as a He even had the head of the Justice Department drag Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room to pressure her to drop her support for the Discharge petition. And when all of that failed, and it looked like he was going to lose, Trump suddenly flipped and said everybody should vote for it. And they did. Hence the poop flambe. So tonight's soup du jour. So is he gonna sign it? Is he gonna not sign it? Or change his name to Senor Ramon and flee to Acapulco? Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has his theories. The President has said he'll sign it, but who the hell knows with him, he can change his mind on a whim. We gotta make sure we get all of the Epstein files.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

All.

[Stephen Colbert]

They can't around with this. Yes, yes, yes, they cannot. If they around, they'll find out. Release all the files. Don or Chucky Shoom's will cut a bitch. Now his head is slowly. His head is slowly sliding down his torso. If the President does sign it, the bill requires Pam Bondi to make unclassified documents related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell publicly available within 30 days. That's December 19th. Just in time for the release of my pervert Advent calendar. Ooh, what do we got today? Oh, what do we got today? Ooh, there you go. Today's chocolate looks like Jared from Subway now. Yeah, it's a bad idea for an Advent calendar. One of the four Republicans who initially forced the vote on the Epstein files is South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace, seen here after somebody told her glasses would make her look smarter. How many can you fit? Yesterday, Mace went on the Newsmax, where the anchor asked her if there was a cabal of elites in Washington who protected one another.

[Commercial Announcer]

I'm not part of the powerful.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not part of the elite. I'm an island of one. I don't get invited to parties.

[Commercial Announcer]

I don't have any friends.

[Stephen Colbert]

I have a dog.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

That is.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is so sad. I don't agree with Mesa's politics, but South Carolinians gotta stick together. Nancy, next time I throw a party, I would like to invite your dog. No one. No one. No one should have to spend that much time alone with Nancy Mace. Now, last night, Trump also threw a big, fancy party honoring Mohammed bin Salman, despite the fact that Saudi security forces murdered and dismembered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which Trump's own CIA concluded that bin Salman ordered. So naturally, they punished him by giving him a state dinner. Same reason Anna Wintour invited the Babadook to the Met Ball. Slay King. The salute to the murder man was attended by a gaggle of Richie Riches. Like soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. This is a dream come true, I gotta tell ya. It is an honor to meet you, Ronaldo McDonaldo. My Spanish isn't that good, but let me just start by saying don d' esta el micribo. Also. Also in attendance were some tech giants like Elon Musk and Tim Cook of Apple. In honor of ignoring Bin Salman's human rights record, Apple is releasing its new product, the. I didn't see anything. One of the reasons. Okay, why not? One of the reasons Republicans defied Trump en masse on the Epstein files is that the midterms are looming. And for some reason, I heart pedophiles don't poll too good. Trump had this brilliant plan to keep his House majority by ordering Texas to redraw its district map in hopes of picking up five House seats. In response, Governor Gavin Newsom got a ballot measure passed that could give Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats in California. Okay, even Stephen. But yesterday, federal judges blocked Texas from using its new House map in the 2026 midterms. Wow. So that's. They get nothing and California gets 5 more. So Trump's brilliant scheme ended up giving him the opposite of what he wanted. If only there had been some sign that Texas is something you shouldn't mess with. Oh, hey, I remember earlier this year, right, when a reporter named Olivia Newsy had to resign from her job at New York magazine cuz it was revealed that she was having an affair with RFK Jr even though they never actually hooked up and it was just all over text. Well, she has written a book apparently about it, which is even longer than my explanation just there. And it has given us insight into the man in charge of your health and your human services. For example, Even though Bobby Jr. Has claimed to be sober for decades, he told Newsy that he still uses psychedelics and even smoked dmt, a drug which gives users what feels like a near death experience. That's dmt. Not to be confused with the other experience that feels like dying, the dmv. Fun facts about dmt. Not only does it make users skate the razor thin edge of this mortal coil between life and death, it also causes powerful hallucinations. Or as some users describe it, it opens a gateway to a strange realm populated by mysterious entities like elves and dwarves. But listen, listen, listen, kids, you don't need drugs for that. You just need the Lord of the Rings. And maybe some drugs. Also, you know that worm in RFK Jr. S brain that we all assumed has been ratu tuing him around this whole time. Well, apparently a doctor he trusted concluded the shadowy figure was likely not a parasite at all. So on the plus side, he doesn't have a brain worm. On the minus side, all that worm space is being taken up by something far more dangerous. RFK Jr. S brain. And that brain, that brain. Keep in mind, that brain is. That's not just shadows and drugs. Did you know that it's attached to a body. And that body is fueled by something called the carnivore diet. And now, as head of Health and human Services, Bobby's recommending Americans increase their consumption of butter, cheese, milk, and red meat. It's a nutritional regime scientists call. Oops, all farts. Oops, all farts. I feel like I've been talking awfully fast in this monologue. Slow it down. In another questionable policy, this weekend we learned that the Trump administration has ditched a Biden plan to compensate travelers for airline delays. They are always looking for great ways to make bad things worse. It's like your dentist saying, okay, we're gonna fill that cavity, but I'm also just gonna pop a mouse in your mouth, let it run around for a while. Be super funny. Hold still. We don't want you to think your tongue is a grub.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Okay?

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Get back in there, buddy. Now, the Biden plan is popular with all consumers out there who had been hit with flight delays. Cause it came with penalties as high as $775 for delays that lasted at least nine hours.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, getting $775 is bad. But I'll tell you, if I'm stuck at the airport for nine hours, I demand the right to suckle right out of the Cinnabon frosting nozzle. We got a great show for you tonight. More late show pod show after this. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes. So you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today.

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[Stephen Colbert]

You know Folks, I've been doing this job for about a decade, and I've seen some crazy stuff come over the transom. But once in a while, you come across a headline that no amount of experience could possibly prepare you for. One that shakes you to your very core. Well, ladies and gentlemen, today I learned. Escaped goat causes chaos in Detroit. Scared man jumps on car. Yes, and to that I say, escaped goat causes curiosity in host. Man sick of Trump jumps on story. This is the Late Show's refreshing change of subject. Tonight's refreshing change of subject is an eternal story. It is what happens when man and car meet goat. For more, we go to Fox 2, Detroit's barnyard news leader. Here's an interesting one tonight. What does a loose goat and psychedelic healing shack have in common? I have no idea and I do not care. Go on. Now, you might have seen this floating.

[Commercial Announcer]

Around social media this weekend. A video that's gone viral of a guy here on Detroit's west side. He was running and screaming from a goat.

[Stephen Colbert]

In terms. In terms of overreacting, I think that guy is the goat. Because those, my friends, are some surprisingly panicked square. An animal you normally find at a petting zoo. But it makes a little more sense when you isolate the goat's audio. Excuse me, sir. Can I talk to you about Bitcoin? I know what you're saying. You're saying, Steve, that goat screaming guy sounds like one of those screaming goats. To find out if that's true, we asked an exper. Checks out a little higher, but. Checks out but running in terror and then leaping atop a vehicle in the face of a domesticated vegetarian. How scary could this goat actually be? Okay.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Demon.

[Stephen Colbert]

I stand corrected. The terrified man on the car was not alone in his goat phobia. Reporters interviewed his brother, Jupiter Star, sadly not his real name. About what happened next. Just looked through the window, making sure he was okay. And my mom running outside with a knife, trying to. Your mom brought a knife? Yeah, she brought a knife trying to get it to him. But she's so scared of animals. Yes, she's scared of animals. Even ones from petting zoos. And well she should be. Never forget FDR's immortal words. The only thing we have, bunnies. Stab, stab, stab. Now, it turns out that our goat friend here is named Smokey, and he escaped from a local business.

[Commercial Announcer]

The brothers investigation into the loose goat led them down the street from their house to the Psychedelic Healing Shack.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, let's. Let's pause the video right there. That goat was from the Psychedelic healing Shack. I'M going to go ahead and say that if I'm tripping balls, the last thing I want to see is this. There you go. Okay, so who owns this shack and its medicinal goat?

[Commercial Announcer]

Cue Dr. Bob.

[Stephen Colbert]

I kind of look like a goat. Okay, okay, let's pause again. No, you don't, Dr. Bob. You look like the uncle who brings cookies to Thanksgiving. That are not for the kids. By the way, for the record, Dr. Dr. Bob there. Smokey, is not Dr. Bob's only prescription strength goat.

[Commercial Announcer]

The doc took in Smokey and Perfect and Angel.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, they're just gentle creatures and they're biblical and they're very healing.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

It was up to me. They might be in the house, but.

[Stephen Colbert]

My wife's not going for that one. Okay, pause a third time, please, Wife. Can we. Can we see a picture of Dr. Bob's wife? Okay, side note, just a little side note, in the process of researching the story, we found out some other fun facts about Dr. Bob and his. For instance, last year, the Detroit police raided the building and seized 99 grams of psilocybin mushrooms and 10 grams of marijuana. What? You're telling me that the owner of the psychedelic Healing shack had drugs? How would the police have known? Who possibly ratted him out? It certainly wasn't Angel. He's perfect. And it certainly wasn't perfect. He's an angel. Unfortunately, in the wake of his legal troubles, Dr. Bob recently put the psychedelic Psychedelic Healing Shack up for sale. Quick note to my wife, Evie, I think I know what we're doing. Come June, Darling, on a scale of 1 to 3, how many goats do you want? This has been a refreshing change of subject. We'll be right back with Benedict Cumberbatch.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen. Oh, how lucky for all of you because my first guest tonight is an actor you know, from Sherlock, the Power of the dog. And as Dr. Strange in the Marvel Universe. He now stars in the Thing with feathers.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

There's times when I get angry with her, you know, how could you die on me? She's the stoic one. I mean, she'd have made a much better widow.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, it's inconsiderate of her.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Her mum keeps ringing me to remind me of things, you know. Do you remember when she. I know why she's doing it, but. I don't want. I don't want her turned into a series of anecdotes because it just reminds me that she's gone.

[Stephen Colbert]

But she is gone.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Yeah, but if I'm lucky, once or twice a week. I think she's gonna be back in a minute. She's gonna be back.

[Stephen Colbert]

Please welcome back to the Late Show, Benedict Cumberbatch. I didn't know you were a dancer. I had no idea you were a dancer.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Neither did I.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have something in common that I can't believe we haven't talked about before. Because, you know, it's the thing I like to talk about more than anything else. And we were both in the Hobbit. The Desolation of Smaug. Yeah, okay. Now I even interview you as Smaug on the Colbert Report.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

I remember that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Which was one of the highlights. That's one of the reasons we had to end the show because Smaug just busted down one of the walls.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Sorry.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, I know of that studio. It's extremely rude, very expensive, and people may understand. It's not a voiceover to computer animation. No, it was a captured performance. That's you with the whole outfit on.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Thank you. I remember calling Peter after I got the job and saying, I really want to come down and work with you in New Zealand. He said, oh, that's great. Yeah, yeah, fantastic. We'll record the voice and it'll be fantastic. No, I really want to do motion capture with you. He said, oh, no, no, you don't need to do that. And I said, I really want to do that. I think I need to do that because this thing is in its body, it's not just this kind of cut off entity. And bless him, he let me do that. And I probably think none of it really took off the film, but it did give. I mean, you know, they were amazing about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

It gives you a prowling quality that's translated into your voice, I imagine.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

We did it over about three days. It was supposed to be two weeks work. I'd done one day on Star Trek in the US and I had to fly down to New Zealand just to do it for two weeks. And we got it done in three days. And at the end I was like, okay, well shall I just do the whole thing as a run? Because we're just being in small segments. You went, what? I was. It was only 5 pa. It's not much compared to sort of running an entire bit of Hamlet or whatever Shakespeare play you care to mention that runs for two and a half plus hours. And he went, you really want to do it?

[Stephen Colbert]

I said, yeah, let's give it a go.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

So I did it. And they were like, what? And that was. I thought, oh, this is fun. It was like doing. It's like doing very strange, you know, one man pub theater in London to a group of guys in a room that looked like a kind of IRS office. Not that I know what that is, but you know, the kind of Formica everywhere, fake, horrible carpet. And then these little cameras capturing me in my gimp suit doing all. All the craziness that I thought was necessary and I was just lost in it like a child. And then, you know, we did have to do a lot of the voice over again because when you're crawling around like that, you know, his voice is something like, you know, I can smell you, I can hear you. It's like that. It's very. Damn. Cheers. Can you cut the triple chin? I did there. Cause that's.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, sure.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

When you're pretending to be smelling ugly and it's all wrong. So we had to sort of amalgamate the voice with the movement again. But what a trip. And it made me have the first experience I had of New Zealand. I was.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, you'd never been down with them? No.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

And I was set free for like a week and a half afterwards.

[Stephen Colbert]

Cause you finished so soon.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Finished so soon. I wasn't needed back on the last Star Trek. I'm so in love with that country.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lovely people, first of all.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Lovely people.

[Stephen Colbert]

They still have sort of a pioneer mentality where they take care of each other.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And everywhere you look, it's like the world was just born.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

It's astounding. It is like an Eden. And from tip to top, it is utterly, transformatively different from the South, south island to the north. The tropicality, tropicality, tropicality of the north. I don't know why I went posh for that, trying to correct myself. And the southern alpinisme, Je quoi montane of the south is exquisite.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the Maori culture.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Maori culture, there's that. No, it is a phenomenal place of culture and tradition and nature and immersion in landscape and can do attitude. And like you said, there's this sort of pioneering Outback thing to it.

[Stephen Colbert]

And also very English at the same time, Very British at the same time. They just drown you in tea down.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

There a little bit. And they've got a good sense of humor and. Yeah, they rock.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you been back?

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

I haven't, no. I did, but for Power of the Dog. I went back for what was supposed to be about, you know, three months filming. It turned into eight. Why? Because it was in 2020.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, you got stuck down there for the pandemic?

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, that wasn't a bad place to be.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

I mean, as it turned out, it was. It was phenomenal.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right. Because they got things back going pretty fast there.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

They shut down so fast and so that it was utterly free of it within the community. And I remember sort of two weeks after lockdown had lifted, after the three months that everyone went through, pretty much, we were at a bar watching a jazz band, and I picked up a beer and went, oh, shit, that's not my beer. Having drunk from it, I thought, oh, no. And I thought, oh, no, it's okay. I could drink someone else's beer.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's what we all missed most.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Drinking something backwater.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Drinking someone else's backwash. I know, I know. I never did apologize for drinking someone else's backwash, but it was this realization and we thought, okay, well, look, the rest of the world is still pretty all over the place. Especially back in the uk. It was a mess and we were with small kids and we decided to keep. Keep ourselves there and have a holiday of it. Oh, that's lovely.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more Benedict Cumberbatch, everybody. We are back, ladies and gentlemen, with the star of the Thing with Feathers, Benedict Cumberbatch. Were you familiar with the book before you?

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Very. Yeah, ten years previously. I mean, it's sort of.

[Stephen Colbert]

For those who haven't read, please tell the people what it's about, it's a.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Story of a father experiencing the loss of his wife, very sudden death, and bringing up two small children, and the year after that. And it takes place over three sort of chapters. One is about the dad's point of view, then about the children's point of view, and then this entity that is this mad realization and overwhelming and unruly, unwelcome and eventually comforting creature, crow, which comes alive in the book. He's a Ted Hughes scholar, and the crow poems are his obsession. He's writing about them. And this work becomes the way that grief manifests within the family, both for him and the children.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, I'm familiar with the thing with feathers being hope, according to Emily Dickinson.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Is the thing with feathers. Is the Emily Dickinson quote correct? And Max, I think, changed it to grief as a thing with feathers, because it is literally a thing with feathers. That's how it manifests. And it's about a poet. So it's a misquote from a poet. I think it's to upend the idea that grief is a systematic stepping stone process to being resolved. Anyone who's been through it, and we all do in our life, it's part of the human condition. You. It can blindside you with as much strength as it does when you first encounter it two years down the line, three, four years down the line. Or it can be.

[Stephen Colbert]

It just.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

It changes form. And it's. The hope, I guess, in Emily Dickinson's poem is also about love. And grief is interchangeable for love, I think, you know, you can't love without loss. That's kind of where you put your risk at your heart, at.

[Stephen Colbert]

I love the sense that the mixing of those two metaphors, because to me, it says that there is hope, that there is something on the other side.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Of grief, and there's. That there's a redemption, which, again, is love.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is the manifestation of the thing with feathers in the movie. That is not a CGI giant mancrow. That is a complicated costume.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Well, look, first of all, this amazing sculptor created this maquette for us. Hicks is her name. And she's just this brilliant. She works in anthropomorphic forms. So these kind of half man, half creature. And Eric Lampert, this incredible physical actor, was wearing that weight on his head and on stilts to give it this otherworldly height and presence in these very small domestic environments. Because he just pushes himself in there like grief does. And he was extraordinary. And then he was doing. We always wanted David Thewlis to do the Voice, who does provide the voice for Crow, which is the all encompassing presence of him in the film. But we hadn't secured him at the time, but Eric knew about it and did his best David Thewlis impression. So I'm acting with a man who's about sort of 8ft tall with a crow head, going and talking like David Thewless, like Manchester, you know, just. And trying to give a very sort of nuanced psychological portrait of a man losing his mind in grief. And the losing my mind bit was quite easy, but nuances were, yeah, well.

[Stephen Colbert]

What does that mean to you as a father, to be performing? Like, how does you connect to that character in a different way?

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

I just always love children. I've always been very broody. I was made a godfather ridiculously early. I love being around kids. I think they can teach you so much. I get so much out of being around them. And I've always felt paternal to children or actors that were younger than me when I started out. What's it like with these boys? Well, yeah, they're twin actors. Well, they hadn't done anything before this. The Boxhall brothers, and they are. Henry and Richard are the names. They are exquisite in this, but it was like capturing lightning in a jar. And so to get them to do that, not only you have the usual produce, I produce this as well. So you have the safeguarding issues, which of course are taking care of their hours, their meals, their education, all the stuff that a child should have in a normal working day. And also then they're in this world of grief. So you have to protect them and reinforce this idea that this is just storytelling. We're all pretending here we're different people in reality. This is just, you know, we're having a game. And then there are days when they are children and they were seven when they did this and they just didn't want to do it. You know, they were like, no. We had the most remarkable first time feature director on this, and he's a brilliant man called Dylan Southern. He's done rockumentaries before. He's a brilliant artist and a father himself. And he would bargain with them, coax them and do whatever he could to get the shot. But in this instance, he went, okay, yeah, I understand you might not want to do that. Well, okay, if I do something for you, can we have a trade off? And they went, yeah, all right. Can we write on your forehead? And they wrote with lipstick poo on his head, on his forehead. And he had to walk around with that. And lipstick sort of smeared on his mouth like the Joker. Even more drunk, just all over the place. And at the same time, in front of a crew being called weak man. And I thought, I don't know if I could imagine Ridley Scott getting the shot this way. This is a man who's willing to compromise a lot and has the integrity of his humility intact to make this work. And, you know, like anything on a small, small budget, independent film, you're working out of necessity, which, as we know, is the mother of all invention. And great things came of it, including that anecdote, I guess. But, you know, poor man.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, Benedict, thank you so much for being here. Lovely to see you again. The Thing with Feathers is in theaters November 28th. Benedict Cumberland batch, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. As a raider scavenging a derelict world, you settle into an underground settlement. But now you must return to the surface where art arc machines roam. If you're brave enough, who knows what you might find. Arc Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure video game. Buy now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC rated T for teen.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

Now streaming on Paramount Plus.

[Stephen Colbert]

Dearest Eva, I think about you all the time. Once I find you and your daughter, then I will kill you. Those words and those threats were absolute psychological terrorism. Surviving 12 years of terror. You be prepared for my arrival. Oh, my God. He found our house.

[Commercial Announcer]

And he was coming.

[Stephen Colbert]

My nightmare stalker.

[Benedict Cumberbatch]

The Eva LaRue Story.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now streaming on Paramount Plus.