Benedict Cumberbatch has become a bona fide movie star after building up an incredible fan base with BBC’s Sherlock and then tackling Marvel blockbusters like Dr. Strange and Avengers: Infinity Wars. He also proved his acting chops with a daring, Academy Award-nominated role in 2015’s The Imitation Game. His latest project, playing the antagonist in Jane Campion‘s The Power of the Dog, is earning him Oscar buzz as well.
Along the road to his superstardom, Benedict discovered a legion of followers constantly swooning over him, but there’s only one true love in his life! The British-born thespian married Sophie Hunter in 2015 and the happy couple have welcomed three children since. Find out more about Sophie here!
Sophie met Benedict on a short film production
Sophie and Benedict met in 2009 while working together on the thriller Burlesque Fairytales, per The Mirror. The spooky short film had Benedict as the lead, while Sophie played one of his sidekicks, Annabel Blythe-Smith. In 2014, the couple would get engaged. On Valentine’s Day 2015, the couple married at the 12th century Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on the Isle of Wight followed by a reception at the famous Mottistone Manor.
She worked briefly as a model
Born on March 16,1978, Sophie Irene Hunter attended the esteemed St. Paul Girls’ School in London, where she briefly dabbled with modeling, working with photographer Michael Roberts, per her IMDB. She later attended Oxford University graduating with a BA in Modern Languages. She also studied physical theatre at L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq.
Sophie is an avant-garde theater director
Sophie’s true talents shine as an avant-garde theatre and opera director. She made her directorial debut in 2007 co-directing the experimental play The Terrific Electric at the Barbican Pit after her theatre company Boileroom was granted the Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, per IMDB. She also directed an Off-Off-Broadway revival of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts in 2010.
She is a devoted mother to their three kids
Sophie and Benedict are the proud parents of three sons: Christopher, Hal, and Finn. The first of the “Cumberbabies,” Christopher, was born June 1, 2015. Two years later, Hal Auden was born. Benedict revealed how he and Sophie were preparing for the arrival of Hal during an interview on Live With Kelly and Ryan. “They say it takes a village for one and it probably takes a city for two,” he joked. The happy couple welcomed Finn in 2019.
Sophie has noble roots
One of Sophie’s grandfathers was General Sir James Michael Gow, the Commander-in-Chief British Army of the Rhine and Commander Northag, the Army Group of Nato. Sophie’s great grandmother, also named Sophie, was the sister of General Jack Seely, who was the first Lord Mottistone, a World War I hero and famous friend of Winston Churchill, according to a Morristone local, per People.