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Benedict Cumberbatch is set to play Richard III for the BBC, while his Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman prepares to tackle the same role in the West End.
The British actor, 37, will star as the infamous monarch in the second TV series of Shakespeare’s History Plays, the broadcaster confirmed in a tweet.
The new BBC adaptation will be produced by the Bafta-winning team behind The Hollow Crown , including Sam Mendes , with Dominic Cooke directing in his screen debut.
“I can’t wait to work with (director) Dominic Cooke again to bring this complex, funny and dangerous character to life,” Cumberbatch told The Telegraph .
Executive producer Pippa Harris praised Cumberbatch’s “range and dexterity as an actor” which she claimed make him “the perfect choice to bring one of Shakespeare’s towering characters to television”.
The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Show all 12 1 /12The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The role that catapulted him to global fame: As a modern-day Sherlock Holmes in BBC drama Sherlock
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch stars alongside Keira Knightley in Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Cumberbatch bore an uncanny resemblance to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate (2013)
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch As Stephen Hawking in the 2004 BBC television film following the physicist's early years at Cambridge University
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch dresses ominously as Richard III for The Hollow Crown: War of the Roses
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature and Cumberbatch as Dr Frankenstein at the National Theatre in 2011
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Cumberbatch took on the role of tortured artist Vincent van Gogh in Alan Yentob's 2011 BBC drama-documentary Van Gogh: Painted With Words
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch as the idealistic Christopher Tietjens in 2012's Parade's End
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Looking sharp as John Harrison in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch With Adelaide Clemens in BBC Edwardian period drama Parade's End
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch Alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor in Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, which won Best Film at the 2014 Oscars
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The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch The many faces of Benedict Cumberbatch As confectionery millionaire and rapist Paul Marshall in Atonement (2007); Sherlock creator Steven Moffat said he wanted Cumberbatch for the detective series after watching the film
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BBC’s drama controller Ben Stephenson added that he is “one of the world’s most brilliant and in-demand actors”.
The news comes just days after Freeman was announced in the title role for Jamie Lloyd 's theatre production later this year.
Cumberbatch too will soon appear on the London stage, playing Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015.
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