Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that becoming a father has helped him to improve his performance of Hamlet on stage.
The British actor’s first child with wife Sophie Hunter, Christopher Carlton Cumberbatch, was born in June this year.
Speaking to Melvyn Bragg on The South Bank Show, the Sherlock star said that he "used to think you had to be childless to be a Hamlet" but his views have now changed.
He said: "I thought that it may be a difficult ingredient to play with but it's miraculous – as I'm sure you know being a dad – that your thinking about how you were parented shoots up as well."
Being a father has also left him with less time to agonise over his performances each night, given that he has a baby to rush home to.
"I drop it all very, very quickly because I have to eat and sleep. That's honestly the truth. And get home, to a newborn."
Cumberbatch added that the play left him tired and hungry, confessing he was eating an "awful lot" to keep up with the amount of physical energy it required.
The actor, who has been credited with introducing the 400 year-old play to a new generation of fans, commented: "It's really thrilling to think it might be getting to a new audience, is getting to a new audience. That's a terrific thing and that does stay with me."
