Benedict Cumberbatch in the stripper skit (Surprise Bachelorette Party skit on SNL. Photo / YouTube
Benedict Cumberbatch in the stripper skit (Surprise Bachelorette Party skit on SNL. Photo / YouTube
Benedict Cumberbatch guest-starred on an episode of Saturday Night Live, and it made for a truly bizarre viewing experience.
One sketch, in particular, has divided audiences. The Oscar-nominated actor, dressed in cut-off jeans and a blonde wig, played a dim male stripper who gyrated for a frail grandmother (SNL comedianAidy Bryant) - without realising that she had died just moments before.
Benedict Cumberbatch in the stripper skit (Surprise Bachelorette Party skit on SNL. Photo / YouTube
He arrived dressed as a construction worker, promising a "delivery of some heavy wood" in a thick American drawl, before shimmying around Bryant's character and eating a cherry from her lifeless mouth.
Despite Cumberbatch's energetic performance, responses to the show on social media have been mixed, with many criticising the quality of the writing, while one fan wrote that the skit was "creeping me out".
just saw the snl sketch where benedict cumberbatch plays a male stripper and i no longer want eyes
The skit was branded as "tasteless" by TVLine, while the AV Club's critic wrote that Cumberbatch "came off variously flat and sheepish in what were, admittedly, some of the weakest sketches of the season," adding that the male stripper sketch "went on interminably and awkwardly."
Nonetheless, the sketch did have a few defenders, with one Cumberbatch fan tweeting that Bryant was "a lucky lady."
(l-r) Benedict Cumberbatch, Dexter Fowler, David Ross, Aidy Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Melissa Villase & others during Saturday Night Live filming. Photo / Getty
