Benedict Cumberbatch reveals how 2004 abduction experience changed his perspective on life: ' I could die at any moment'

Benedict Cumberbatch has opened up about how a chilling "near-death" experience 20 years ago completely altered his view on life.

In 2004, the Marvel actor, 48, was abducted in South Africa and held at gunpoint while filming on location for his miniseries To the Ends of the Earth.

While he's spoken about the harrowing incident before, in a new interview with Variety, he revealed the way he's "still dealing" with the experience two decades on.

READ MORE: New clip from It Ends with Us set released amid legal battle

"It gave me a sense of time, but not necessarily a good one," he told the outlet.

The actor said it made him "impatient to live a life less ordinary, and I'm still dealing with that impatience."

Cumberbatch was driving at night with his friends in KwaZulu-Nata when their tire blew.

While removing the car tire, they were robbed and abducted by six armed men.

READ MORE: Touching moment Tyra Banks shared with Kate Moss at VS show

He recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 that the assailants bound and took them away in a car. At one point, Cumberbatch was thrown in the car trunk.

Cumberbatch and his group were then let out in the "middle of nowhere" and sat on the ground, before eventually being let go.

The actor told Variety the "near-death stuff turbo-fueled" his love of doing adrenaline-inducing activities like skydiving.

"It made me go, 'Oh, right, yeah, I could die at any moment."

He also recalled how at the time he didn't have any dependents, just his parents, but "Now that's changed, and that sobers you."

Cumberbatch has been married to theatre director Sophie Hunter since 2015.

The couple share three children together.

READ MORE: Popular The Police song scrapped for potentially 'distressing' lyrics

"I've looked over the edge; it's made me comfortable with what lies beneath it. And I've accepted that that's the end of all our stories."

The two-time Oscar nominated actor is known for starring as Sherlock Holmes in the titular 2010 series Sherlock, and playing Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, among many other roles.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.