Coffee House Top 10: Benedict Cumberbatch on playing my husband, Dominic Cummings

We’re closing 2019 by republishing our ten most-read articles of the year. Here’s No. 9: Mary Wakefield’s article on Benedict Cumberbatch playing her husband:

Imagine looking at a photo of a stranger and feeling in response, quite naturally, the sort of happy affection you might feel towards a spouse. Well, it’s weird. In July this year, when Benedict Cumberbatch was filming Channel 4’s upcoming Brexit film (Brexit: The Uncivil War) a friend sent me some photos by text message, tabloid snaps from the set. Benedict plays my husband Dominic Cummings, director of the Leave campaign, and the shots were long-lens and hazy: Ben/Dom pushing his son on a swing; Ben/Dom kissing his wife.

The real son-of-Dom and I were halfway through our Rice Krispies when the photos came through and I remember how taken aback I was. It’s not that they look alike. ‘We have different shaped heads,’ Cumberbatch tells me later. ‘Dom’s taller than me, I think, and he’s got a more prominent jaw.