Benedict Cumberbatch had to shed weight for 'Sherlock'

After bulking up for 'Doctor Strange', Benedict Cumberbatch recently admitted that he had to let go of the "athletic" body in order to get back with his Sherlock Holmes' character.

Explaining that he was not in "Sherlock shape", the 40-year-old British star told the press, "I was in Doctor Strange shape so I was quite big! I was chunky - in a healthy way, an athletic way - and he's not necessarily, Sherlock," reports digitalspy.com.

"I finished on Doctor Strange and, that night, I got on a plane," Cumberbatch revealed, adding, "The next morning, I woke up and was driven to Cardiff."

Talking of the unparallel worlds of the movies he has acted in, Cumberbatch said he could not believe how much of a "real element" is applied in the Marvel world.

"You're still often flying around on wires in front of a green screen," the 'The Imitation Game' star admitted, "But there's a huge amount of set builds - it's phenomenal."

Cumberbatch will be back on the big screen on New Year's Day, with a new series of 'Sherlock' kicking off on BBC One.