‘I was beat by Will Smith at Oscars’: Benedict Cumberbatch is a laugh riot in SNL monologue

Benedict Cumberbatch can currently be seen opening portals and using mystic arts against his foes as the titular wizard in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Recently he also appeared in the variety comedy sketch series Saturday Night Live as a host and talked about things as varied as his mother and wife, Mother’s Day and the infamous Will Smith-Chris Rock slap incident at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Cumberbatch began by saying that most of the sketches he was pitched were about Doctor Strange. “I have been in other films,” he joked. He was told “Like what?”, and when Cumberbatch responded The Power of the Dog, he was told nobody saw that.

“Oh come on, man. I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I mean, I didn’t win. I was beat by Will smith,” he said as the audience cheered. “No, not physically, not physically,” he added to more cheers and whoops.

During the Oscars 2022 ceremony, comedian and presenter Chris Rock had made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, specifically her baldness that is caused by a condition called alopecia. In the joke, Rock said while referring to Jada, “G.I. Jane 2. Can’t wait to see it.”

1997’s G.I. Jane, a war drama, had Demi Moore playing the role of the (fictional) first female Navy Seal who shaved her head. While Smith looked like he was also amused by the joke, moments later he was on the stage and attacked Rock before millions watching the live broadcast around the world.

Cumberbatch also wished Mother’s Day to his mother, who is holidaying in Greece, and his wife Sophie and also cracked jokes about how he and his mother used to give each other funny names. That is how he wound up with ‘Benedict Cumberbatch’.

“Hi, Sophie. It’s me, your husband, Little Benedict. I’m constantly in awe of you. You gave birth to our three beautiful boys and that is itself a minor miracle, and according to you I was off dressing up as a wizard. Although technically it’s a sorcerer. Wizards have robes, I have a cloak, it’s whole thing, don’t worry,” he said about his wife.

Meanwhile, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, directed by Sam Raimi, has begun its global box office weekend with an impressive $450 million. In India, it is nearing Rs 100 crore on just the third day of its box office.

Also starring Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Rachel McAdams, the film further explores the concept of multiverse also seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home.