Cruise has gone on the record to say Cumberbatch is a ‘close friend’ and ‘fun to hang out with’. Here’s everything we know about Hollywood’s new bromance…

After a quiet few years with his family, Benedict Cumberbatch is back on the press circuit to promote his new film The Thing with Feathers. He’s the cover star for the January edition of Variety magazine, posing fetchingly in a camel-coloured coat and tenderly caressing a lightbulb. The magazine’s lead feature on him is fairly light on personal details, but it does include quotes from Cumberbatch’s “close friend” — a certain Tom Cruise.

The Mission Impossible star is full of praise for his friend, confiding that Cumberbatch “is extremely talented and fun to watch — and fun to hang out with.” So, are Cruise and Cumberbatch, like, totally besties?

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Both men maintain homes in London, so there’s plenty of opportunities for them to have a fun hang. Cruise has a pad in Bromley’s Biggin Hill, while Cumberbatch lives with his wife and children in north London. They’re opposite sides of the Thames, sure, but what’s a one hour and thirty minute drive when you (presumably) have a chauffeur?

While they’ve rarely been seen in public together, they did make an appearance at Wimbledon last summer. Cruise and Cumberbatch sat together in the Royal Box of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, alongside Cumberbatch’s wife Sophie Hunter. They were spotted chatting animatedly in the same row as Julia Roberts, just a few seats behind Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Cruise and Cumberbatch share a love of tennis… and colourful suits
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A shared love of tennis aside, Cumberbatch has previously name-dropped Cruise during Marvel press junket appearances. Back in 2022 there was a (slightly random) fan theory that Cruise would have a secret surprise role as Superior Iron Man in the film Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Cumberbatch, who played Doctor Strange, teased the idea on a skit for The Tonight Show. When Fallon asked if he could reveal a rumoured cameo without contravening his strict Marvel contract, Cumberbatch hummed the theme song for Top Gun. “Sorry to people that bought their ticked wanting to see two Tom Cruise films in one month,” he quipped. Cruise’s film, Top Gun: Maverick also came out in May 2022.

The British actor kept up the joke in an interview with The Indian Express. “Tom Cruise?” he said. “Yeah he’s in every scene that isn’t in the trailer. It’s the biggest kept secret.” If you’re comfortable enough to joke about a Hollywood star of Cruise’s stature, you’re probably on pretty good terms.

Even if they haven’t shared the silver screen together, all evidence suggests that Cumberbatch is a likely recipient of Cruise’s coveted Christmas coconut cake. The American star is known to gift his A-list friends a festive bundt cake covered in desiccated coconut every holiday season.

Stars such as Kirsten Dunst, Glen Powell, Tom Hanks and even Graham Norton have posted or shared evidence they’re on the cake list, but Cumberbatch eschews social media, so we’re unlikely to find out for certain. Still, Tom is now on the record talking about what a good hang his close pal Benedict is. The CumberCruise bromance is in full bloom.