Benedict Cumberbatch: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. Alexander Masters - Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007)

Long before he and Tom Hardy were household names, they starred together in the supremely affecting BBC drama Stuart: A Life Backwards, which is far from the appreciated gem it deserves to be. It seems now to only be discovered by fans purely accidentally having been made for TV (though having the twin titans of the BBC and HBO pushing it should count for me).

The film is all about Hardy's performance on the surface: it is far showier and far more of a construction, but Cumberbatch's understated, subtle balance. He plays Alexander Masters - the author of the stunning book the film is based on - complete with a disarmingly authentic Scottish accent and he's brilliant.

It's through his eyes we watch Stuart's story unfold, and his empathy and sympathy and disgust that we feel rawest as the tragic figure's life unravels its mysteries. It was quite the announcement performance for both men.