The Toronto International Film Festival announced on Thursday that Emmy and BAFTA winner Benedict Cumberbatch will be the second actor honored with the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, receiving it alongside the previously announced Jessica Chastain.
Cumberbatch is set to appear on the big screen at this year’s TIFF in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and Will Sharpe’s “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” which will respectively be released by Netflix and Amazon Studios. Both films will be making their Canadian premieres at the Toronto festival.
“Benedict has portrayed some of the most memorable characters screened at TIFF, whether it was Alan Turing
in ‘The Imitation Game’ or Julian Assange in ‘The Fifth Estate’; he also has an uncanny ability to take on
interesting, complex roles and make them his own in films such as ’12 Years a Slave’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, all of which screened at the Festival,” TIFF executive director and co-head Joana Vicente said. “He has had a
lasting relationship with TIFF, and his remarkable range and onscreen presence is sure to captivate audiences
at this year’s Festival.”
Previous recipients of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award include Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet and
Sir Anthony Hopkins. Other honorees at this year’s TIFF include “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve, who will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award, and documentarian Alanis Obomsawin, who will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media.
The 46th Toronto International Film Festival will be held September 9-18.
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