Cumberbatch would have been 'barrister' if not actor

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch says his parents would have been happy if he ended up pursuing law.

With both parents Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton being actors, Cumberbatch saw them working "very very hard" as parents and actors, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"(Acting is) a very odd, peripatetic, crazed, out of your control work and social schedule. It's very hard to plan a family life, let alone know where the next pay cheque is coming from so they worked very very hard as my parents, and actors, to afford me an education whereby I had the opportunity and the privilege to try and channel myself towards other goals," he said speaking on late-night news show "Tavis Smiley".

"For a while, I wanted to be a barrister because there's definitely a crossover with criminal law - with trying to persuade an audience and a jury and a judge of the case and your client's story so I did go down that root for a little bit. I think they would have been very happy if I ended up there," he added.

After his father saw him performing in a play, he had some choice words for him which further pushed his acting ambition.

"Much to dad's amazing selflessness as a man, and I hope to echo that when my time comes to be a dad, he said to me in a car park after a play I'd done at Manchester University, when I was a student there, he said, 'You're better now than I was or ever will be,' which is a huge thing for a man to say to his son.

"He said, 'I think you're going to have a great career and I can't wait to watch you and support you as you fly'. And I was like, 'My God'. And so, the primary motivation for me in my life is to make them proud," Cumberbatch said.