Who is Sophie Hunter? Everything you need to know about Benedict Cumberbatch's fiancée (2024)

Fans of Benedict Cumberbatch had their hearts broken when the starannounced his engagement to girlfriend Sophie Hunter (in a teeny tiny newspaper ad in the U.K. Times).

“The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London,” the announcement, which ran on Wednesday, read.

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But who exactly is the lady whostole his heart?

Sophie Hunter,36, grew up in Hammersmith, west London as the eldest of five children. Her father Charles was an insurance executive who laterbecame aprofessional card player, while her mother Sophie worked as an administrator. Her parents are now divorced.

The actor-directorcomes from a distinguished family line: Her grandfather is the late General Sir James Michael Gow GCB, Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath, according to The Daily Mail.

Hunter is an Oxford University graduate, British actress and theatre director —and she’s got a decent singing voice, to boot. After studying Modern Languagesat Oxford (where she and artist Conrad Shawcross, while romantically engaged, were crowned one of London’s “It” couples), she moved to Paris to study at the prestigious Jacques Lecoq school of theatre for two years (other students of the school have includedSacha Baron Cohen, Toby Sedgwick andSteven Berkoff). Hunter then movedto New York City to train at the Saratoga International Theatre Institute with Anne Bogart, an award-winning theatre and opera director, as her mentor.

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Hunteris wellknown for her work as a theatre director: In 2013 she directed69° South (The Shackleton Project), about the voyage of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, using stilts andmarionette puppets. In 2007, Hunter received the Samuel Beckett Award —awarded to writers who show promise in writing for the performing arts —for writing and directing the playThe Terrific Electric at the Barbican Centre in London.

Hunter has also had a number of small roles in film and TV, including the2004 Vanity Fair, in whichshe starred alongside Reese Witherspoon, as well as TV’sTorchwood and Midsomer Murders.

In fact, Hunter and Cumberbatch met while shooting the 2009 fairytale thrillerBurlesque Fairytalesdirected by Susan Luciani— but the two were only confirmed as a couple five monthsago,after they were photographed together at the French Open.

Hunterhasalso directed several operas, including Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. She’s even recorded her own French language album in 2005 with Guy Chambers, which was called the Isis Project —sonamed for Guy’s daughter Isis.

According toThe Independent,Hunter also co-founded theLacuna Theatre Company in London, is an associate director at Manhattan’sBroadhurst Theatre and is an artistic director at the Boiler Room in Los Angeles. She also works closely with New York’sPhantom Limb company, where she is a collaborating director and dramatiston marionette and puppetry production.

All in all, not a bad match for the thinking woman’s crumpet.

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