Before They Were Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Hawking

Now that the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards have been announced, it’s time for an annual tradition here at The Back Row: “Before They Were Stars” clips for this year’s nominees! Benedict Cumberbatch has garnered his first career Oscar nomination for his performance in The Imitation Game, but it’s pretty ironic that one of his competitors is Eddie Redmayne, who has been nominated in the same category for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Why is that ironic? Because Benedict Cumberbatch’s first major lead role was portraying Stephen Hawking in a 2004 British made-for-TV movie entitled Hawking.