‘Sherlock’ Cast Benedict Cumberbatch Blamed For Series Premiere Delay? British Actor’s Meteoric Rise In Hollywood Due To ‘Beautiful Ugly’ Theory?

Is "Sherlock" cast Benedict Cumberbatch to blame for the series season 4 premiere delay? The British actor, who's reportedly the embodiment of the French's "beautiful ugly" theory, is reportedly busy with other commitments such as the "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."

In a Yahoo! report, both "Sherlock" cast Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson) are busy filming "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" which created scheduling conflicts for the BBC series about the legendary fictional detective.

The 37-year-old actor dished out to Den of Geek about playing Smaug the dragon in Peter Jackson's trilogy.

"He's just legendary in the world of 'The Hobbit,' and he is the ultimate dragon," he said. "He's an extraordinary creation in the book. And what we've all managed to achieve - especially the people at WETA, the post-production and sound facilities in Wellington - is extraordinary."

However, "Sherlock" cast Benedict Cumberbatch could hardly be blamed for the delay in filming of season 4 as showrunner Steven Moffat is also busy with "Doctor Who" starring Peter Capaldi.

Steven Moffat told IGN  that they're working on the schedules for "Sherlock." "I just started with Capaldi on the new series of 'Doctor Who.' You know, we'll do what we can, but with no sacrifice in quality -- that's the thing. If people have to wait two years, they'll have to wait two years."

Meanwhile, The Atlantic suggested that the meteoric rise of "Sherlock" cast Benedict Cumberbatch in Hollywood could be attributed to the French expression jolie laide or "beautiful ugly."

"Jolie laide is Sarah Jessica Parker and Benicio del Toro and Jessica Paré," Sophie Gilbert wrote for Atlantic. "It's why Solange is visually more intriguing than Beyoncé, and why Meat Loaf, however improbably, was a sex symbol for much of the 1980s."

"Sofia Coppola is often cited as the female embodiment of jolie laide, but as it relates to men, there's no more obvious example in contemporary culture than Benedict Cumberbatch," the publication added.