Benedict Cumberbatch recalls insults that almost ended Olivia Colman friendship

By Web Desk
August 30, 2025

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman star together in the film, ‘The Roses’

Benedict Cumberbatch reveals friendship with Olivia Colman hit a ‘speed bump’

Benedict Cumberbatch just opened up about how his and Olivia Colman’s friendship hit a “speed bump” after they insulted each other at the set of The Roses.

The actor and the actress star together in the movie, which a recreation of the original 1989 movie The War of the Roses.

In a new interview, the stars revealed how the fully embraced the story of a lawyer and his wife deciding to divorce, that leads to a fierce legal battle.

The pair follow in the footsteps of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner who originally played the roles of Theo and Ivy.

Now, even though the real-life friends largely enjoyed insulting each other on set, there was a point it got too much.

Benedict explained: “There was one speed bump where it started to get a bit toxic, and I was like, ‘I might need to check in with you as a friend, because this is getting a bit nasty now.’”

The Sherlock Holmes star further mentioned, “But after that, it was just a lot of fun insulting each other and making it up [to one another].”

“I can't remember exactly what it was, but I just thought, ‘Oh, if we're doing a scene and having a moment together, chatting on set and doing it, and then I'm going off and doing things — I just need to clear the air and [remind myself] it's okay, we're good, we're here, we're helping each other,’” he further mentioned.

“It's all the same as it was before the gloves started coming off. So, the short answer is it was a lot of fun, but I did — I had a blip,” Benedict stated.

Olivia chimed in and mentioned that she knew all along the scenes were “pretend,” adding: “After that, we'd just go "aww" and we would always have a little cuddle at the end of a scene.”

The dark divorce comedy, The Roses, is set to be released on August 29 and is based on the 1981 novel.


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