Even the "Nice to meet you" purrs sonorous through the line.

The voice is one of Benedict Cumberbatch's trademarks and his best tool.

Hardly any other actor succeeds in embodying a wide variety of characters without changing his appearance.

Rather, he slips into the role with every fiber of the body, adjusts gait, posture, gestures and works with the whole range of his voice.

For the role of the marine attorney Stuart Couch in the Guantanamo drama "The Mauritanian" he put on an American accent.

And it is so dominant that it is almost relieved to see during this interview phone that it is still in command of the Sherlock Holmes British.

So the first question has to be about his voice.

Maria Wiesner

Editor in the Society department at FAZ.NET.

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    I was very surprised by your accent in the film.


    Oh, I hope in a positive way !?

    Absolutely!

    But many British actors are happy when they can plausibly rehearse a single American accent.

    However, they change the regional colors with each role, emphasizing the surgeon's origin from the east coast in the superhero film “Dr.

    Strange ”, sometimes you speak with a southern accent as a slave trader in the historical drama“ 12 Years a Slave ”, sometimes with Boston slang in the mafia film“ Black Mass ”.

    How important is working with the voice to you?

    Well, the accent this time belongs to North Carolina, but that part had a very special tone, something tough and muscular. Almost like swallowing your tongue while talking. It has many dark L-sounds and is far more glottal than normal English. I also had a pretty bad cold when we started shooting, my voice was deeper and I had to incorporate that into the role. When my voice returned to its normal pitch towards the end of the shoot, I had to keep it down in front of the camera. But I've always enjoyed playing with the voice, it's part of the transformation like the make-up you put on for the role. Here it was essential for me to guarantee the authenticity of the role. I met Stuart and his wife.He's a very funny man, very dry, very robust, very generous. He was touched that we wanted to tell his side of the story and helped us to be authentic. I wanted to transport that. The scriptwriters went to great lengths to match his language and character. He uses a lot of euphemisms and aphorisms and actually says sentences like "a low crawl through hell in a gasoline suit".He uses a lot of euphemisms and aphorisms and actually says sentences like "a low crawl through hell in a gasoline suit".He uses a lot of euphemisms and aphorisms and actually says sentences like "a low crawl through hell in a gasoline suit".

    In the last sentence, which relates to the suffering of the victims in the burning twin towers, Cumberbatch changes back to the North Carolina accent, with the dark sounds of "low crawl" being as smooth as a panther straight from the depths of the throat sneak up. But Cumberbatch not only appeared in front of the camera for “Der Mauritanier”, he was also on board as a producer from the start. The film is based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi (played by Tahar Ramin). After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the American government detained him in Guantanamo for 14 years. For years he waited for an official charge and the opportunity to defend himself against the terrorist allegations in a trial. Stuart Couch, played by Cumberbatch, is the military lawyerwho is supposed to prepare this charge against Slahi and comes across inconsistencies. The film is based on Slahi's memoir, which was published under the title "The Guantanamo Diary". Cumberbatch had read an excerpt from it in a British newspaper and was sure he had to tell this man's story.

    Why is this story so extraordinary?