Benedict Cumberbatch Jokes About Being 'Beat By Will Smith' On 'SNL'

On Saturday, Benedict Cumberbatch and musical guest Arcade Fire took the stage ahead of the “Saturday Night Live” season finale, which is coming up in a few weeks.

His opening monologue paid tribute to his new Marvel film, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which hit theaters on Friday.

Take a look at his approximately four-minute opening monologue in the video below!

“I am thrilled to be back hosting Saturday Night Live,” Cumberbatch said, as per Deadline. “It’s been a really fun, great week. I’ve got to be honest though, because most of the sketch writers this week, they pitched me sketches everyday, and most were about Doctor Strange.”

“It’s great. I love the guy. I love playing the character,” he added. “The film’s doing really well—but I have been in other films.”

He said that SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels asked, “Like what?”

Cumberbatch first named “The Power of the Dog,” which was met by loud applause from the audience. However, Michaels reportedly countered, “Nobody saw it.”

“I said, ‘Come on, man. I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I did okay,'” Cumberbatch argued. “I mean, I didn’t win. I was beat by Will Smith… no, not physically.”

The “Sherlock” actor then turned his attention to Mother’s Day, which took place the following day on Sunday, May 8.

“Of course, I want to wish a very happy Mother’s Day to my mum,” he said. “She’s actually on holiday in Greece at the moment and SNL offered to fly her here first-class, and she said, ‘No, I’m on a beach in Greece. Are you insane?'”

Cumberbatch told his mother he loved her and noted that they had “these weird, funny names” for each other while he was growing up. “I called her ‘Pookie,'” he recalled, “and she called me ‘Benedict Cumberbatch.'”

He later joked, “I went off to a boarding school outside of London—you might have heard of it—called Hogwarts.”

He said that, while he was in school, his mother would write “these amazing letters” to him that were full of beautiful illustrations. “I can’t do that for her here, obviously, but I thought I’d use a bit of this monologue to thank her for all that she’s done for me,” he said as he turned to face the camera.

As sentimental piano music starting playing, Cumberbatch looking into the camera to address his mother directly. “Hey, mum. It’s me, your son—little Benedict,” he said. “Thank you for always being there for me.”

He recalled examples of times when his mother was always there to give him advice. “For instance, when I lost my two front teeth, I was worried about being teased but you said, ‘It’s okay. Just try and smile without opening your mouth,'” he recalled. “It’s great advice, but it also explains why to this day, in every red carpet photograph, I’m smiling like this.” The screen then cut to Cumberbatch grimacing in a photo.

“Seriously though mum, thank you,” he concluded. “You’ve shown me so much love and support, every step of the way. I love you, Pookie.”

Cumberbatch also gave a shout-out to his wife, Sophie, who was in the audience. “I’m seriously in constant, constant awe of you. I mean, for a start, you gave birth to our three beautiful boys, and that alone is a minor miracle, as any woman will tell you,” he said. “Meanwhile, according to you, I was off dressed as a wizard—though technically it’s a sorcerer.”

He argued that wizards have robes and Doctor Strange has a cloak before noting that, if she really thinks about it, their contributions as parents even out. “Because if you think being a mum is hard, try doing this,” he said as he flipped his wrist. “Yeah, I just opened a portal. You’re welcome.”

This is Cumberbatch’s second time hosting “Saturday Night Live” and many fans felt that it was his best.

“Glad to see Benedict on SNL. He has a really underappreciated sense of humor,” one fan wrote.

“This time they wrote a sketch appreciating his own sense of humor a kind of awkward mumbling is so Benedict and that's awesome, felt way better than the previous monologue,” another commented.

“He is a fantastic actor! And he should have gotten the Oscar already; as he was absolutely brilliant in The Imitation Game and The Power of the Dog...” another fan said. “So much talent in such a classy man...”