The new issue of Time Magazine, out now, features its list of The 100 Most Influential People. Among those making the cut is Star Trek Into Darkness and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, who falls into the Artists category and is desribed in a brief essay by actor Colin Firth as follows: "When I was about 25 years old, I worked with two very good actors. The encounters were brief, but I’ve remembered them both with great admiration. Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both embodied qualities which one is fogyishly tempted to look at with nostalgia. Along with very considerable talent, they had elegance, glamor, wit, kindness and decency. I didn’t know at the time that they were married or that they had a son of about 10 who was quietly gestating all the same attributes. And now, 30 years later, the boy has been let loose. He has taken the form of Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s rare to the point of outlandish to find so many variables in one actor, including features which ought to be incompatible: vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy. I take no pleasure in feeling humbled, but there’s no getting around it. He must be stopped."
Also on Time's list, in the Pioneers category, is Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron. Celebrating his achievement is Cumberbatch's recent boss, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness producer-director J.J. Abrams. Of Cuaron, Abrams wrote: "There is much to admire in Alfonso Cuarón. His talent, his humor, his 'What? I just woke up looking this handsome!' demeanor. We can certainly admire his tenacity, which has allowed him to make some of the most arresting, visually stunning work in recent cinema. Or, perhaps mostly, we can admire the fact that in addition to bringing authenticity and emotion to pre-existing universes (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Alfonso is making original films, creating new worlds and introducing us to characters not based on a corporation’s fave existing IP (intellectual property). Like a certain character you may have seen floating alone in space, Alfonso doesn’t have much company in the rarefied air in which he, lucky for us all, lives and creates. Here’s to his staying in orbit."
