Benedict Cumberbatch's parents begged him not to follow in their actor footsteps

Benedict Cumberbatch's parents insisted he take on a different career path than the family acting business Cumberbatch is the son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham seemingly setting him on a path to stardom However his parents warned him against following in their footsteps with stark advice I was if anything pressured the other way like 'Don't do what we're doing It's a stupid way to spend a life ' he recalled during Monday's episode of SmartLess before adding 'And how family life is a chaotic jumble of loose-end commitments that have to be abandoned at the last minute because dad's got an advert audition ' They did really really well in their careers Mom especially commercially Dad brilliantly as well in the theater He did a lot of the royal court in the early days of kitchen sink drama there But the point is you know they craved me to have the opportunities that they didn't or that they didn't have in their life as my parents And they afforded me an mentoring where I could have gone on to be a lawyer or something of that BEN STILLER REFLECTS ON THE DARK UNDERSIDE OF HOLLYWOOD FAMECumberbatch noted that despite his parents' warning the acting bug had bit It was very much to do with watching them in their prime doing what they did he explained Cumberbatch s father is known for roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel Downton Abbey and numerous British TV series Ventham became a familiar face on British TV with roles in UFO Only Fools and Horses along with guest appearances in Clinician Who plus Holby City MARVEL REALS AVENGERS DOOMSDAY CAST INCLUDING NEW STARS AND ORIGINAL X-MENLIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS The Roses star recalled watching his mom transform just in the blink of an eye into a character And I thought What is that What just happened to my mom Where did she go And yeah I kind of got a taste for that And as an only child I think you're kind of already locked in a bit too quite a solitary imaginary universe CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERCumberbatch's breakthrough role came in with the BBC's Sherlock He won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie in for the episode His Last Vow The role also earned him multiple BAFTA nominations and Sherlock became a defining career moment as he moved into bigger films He has appeared in The Imitation Challenge Specialist Strange Years A Slave and The Power of the Dog