Benedict Cumberbatch Gives the Most Heartfelt Acceptance Speech at the British Film Awards - Read it Here!

Benedict Cumberbatch hits the red carpet with his fiancee Sophie Hunter at The Moet British Independent Film Awards held at Old Billingsgate Market on Sunday (December 7) in London, England.

The 38-year-old actor was joined at the event by his The Imitation Game co-star Keira Knightley and her husband James Righton.

Benedict won the Variety Award on stage that evening, and gave a long, heartfelt speech on stage.

“So no matter how lonely or scared or ‘independent’ I feel standing up here, there are legions of people who supported me to a point where I can just get up in the morning and do my job,” Benedict said. “My home team: my mother and father and my fiancée Sophie. This belongs to all of you. Making you proud is a wonderful engine to do what I do.”

FYI: Keira is wearing a Simone Rocha dress.

Click inside to read Benedict’s whole acceptance speech and see 15+ pictures…

“Oh holy crap. Thank you so much, it’s a very strange experience to be in your own audience. It’s a ridiculous honor to be here, not least because of the output and the standard of previous recipients. I feel this is a very premature way to acknowledge mine, but it will inspire me to work harder to feel like I deserve it, and that won’t really be difficult because I love my job. I love my industry, I love the people I get to work with, a lot of whom are in this room, I love the communities and the families that each job brings together, and I love how proud we can all be in taking stock of moments like this, and how proud we can be as filmmakers in the UK who in spite, or maybe because of not having a studio system, is a world leader.

“And it’s not just the people in this room we should be celebrating, it’s the armies of craftsmen who are the envy of the world and keep the world coming back for more business here. Chippies, electricians, riggers, drivers, security men, location scouts and managers, costume assistants, runners and camera and sound crews, casting directors, a few of whom are here tonight, and thank you very much for my career, costume assistants… I’ve said that already, but they really are amazing, they do the worst hours of any of us and do deserve a shout out, even if it’s twice, in the same speech… yes, and even our caterers deserve a shout out.

“So no matter how lonely or scared or ‘independent’ I feel standing up here, there are legions of people who supported me to a point where I can just get up in the morning and do my job.

“My home team: my mother and father and my fiancée Sophie. This belongs to all of you. Making you proud is a wonderful engine to do what I do.”

“My god, I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous in my life. [No one wrote his speech] this is all my own mumbling outpourings.

“All of us as freelance artists and filmmakers crave autonomy, and to be independent and free from outside controls, anything that makes us dependent on politics or money or an outside authority. For me some of the most exciting moments in cinema are always when the odds are against you and authenticity is still achieved, the work triumphs in a spirit of independence. I’m thrilled to have had my success in some of the Goliaths of the film industry, and I’m very happy with some of what you’ve seen tonight, but I owe coming into that sphere to the Davids of this world…in that overstretched analogy.

“Congratulations to everyone here, and happy Christmas.”