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“
Thor: Ragnarok
director Taika Waititi shot
the tag scene. Before we struck the set
of that beautiful sanctum window, which
was built in London, Taika went in there
and worked with Chris Hemsworth and
Benedict. We ended up using it as a tag at
the end of the movie.”
Strange Secret #6
During the film shoot, Benedict
Cumberbatch walked into a comic book
store in his full marvel costume.
Actors are well-known to pull pranks on
movie sets, but Benedict Cumberbatch
took it to a whole new level when he
finished shooting his final scene in New
York City. Instead of heading to his
trailer to change, the actor decided
to surprise fans in a nearby comic
book store whilst wearing his full
Doctor Strange wardrobe, including
the iconic cape. “I went into a
comic book store on the last day
shooting in NewYork,” chuckles
Cumberbatch. “I didn’t have any
money, so I didn’t buy any comics
but I offered my services. I said,
‘Look, if the film doesn’t work out,
I’ll come and stock the shelves for
you!’ I was a magical moment; no pun
intended. It was very special, and it was
the last shot. I was running away from
Mads [Mikkelsen, who plays Kaecilius],
and there was the comic book store. It
was incredible.”
Strange Secret #7
Parts of the Nepal set were built in
the UK.
The
Doctor Strange film
shoot started
in Nepal, where the filmmakers shot
several exterior scenes, but the Himalayan
country isn’t the only location where
Nepalese shots were filmed; a Kathmandu
street was recreated in Europe, along with
a Kamar-Taj courtyard. “I did not shoot in
Kathmandu, but I did have a scene where
I crossed the square going down an alley
of the city – and they built it in London.”
reveals Mads Mikkelsen, who plays
Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. “They built
the street at Longcross Studios, and the
attention to detail was incredible. There
was a big tree coming out of the ground,
and it was a real tree. That is movie magic.
Looking down the alley, I anticipated a
small monkey jumping out at any second.
I remember thinking, ‘What is this? This is
amazing.’ The set was stunning.”
Strange Secret #8
Benedict Cumberbatch had a giddy
“superhero moment” when he put on
the costume for the very first time.
When Benedict Cumberbatch stepped
into the role of Doctor Strange, he had no
idea how much a quick costume change
would affect him. “I was giddy when I
first put on the cloak with the rest of the
garb underneath,” the actor admits. “I
was giddy like a child at Halloween! Our
brilliant costume designer, Alex Byrne,
spotted it. She said, ‘Oh, you’re having a
superhero moment, aren’t you?’ I said to
her, ‘Yes, I think I am.’ It was a pinch-
yourself moment. It really was.”
Strange Secret #9
The in-home release includes a number
of never-before-seen deleted scenes.
The Blu-ray and Digital release of
Doctor
Strange
is packed with more than 80
minutes of fascinating, never-before-seen
bonus materials including behind-the-
scenes featurettes, hilarious outtakes and
five deleted scenes. Speaking about the
deleted scenes, Scott Derrickson admits:
“Often, scenes have to be cut from the
movie to improve the timing or the pace of
the story. In
Doctor Strange
, couple
of scenes with Kaecilius were cut
from the movie during the editing
process. One of them was a church
scene where Kaecilius kills a priest. I
really liked the dialogue in the scene,
but the movie was just so much
better without it.” Thankfully, fans can
see the deleted scene – titled Kaecilius
Searches For Answers – in all its glory
with the in-home release of the movie.
Strange Secret #10
Tilda Swinton marveled at the shooting
secrecy in London.
When paparazzi shots of Benedict
Cumberbatch filming the movie in
Nepal surfaced soon after the film shoot
commenced, the filmmakers made extra
effort to keep the remainder of the movie
under wraps. “We didn’t want the Ancient
One’s look to be revealed, but we shot
the character’s first scene on the streets
of London and we were worried we’d be
caught,” explains Tilda Swinton. “Photos
of Benedict and Chiwetel [Ejiofor, who
plays Baron Mondo] shooting on the
streets of Kathmandu leaked within 20
seconds, which was a shame. There were
photographs of them all over the internet,
so we set ourselves the task that nobody
would get to see the Ancient One – but
we had to shoot the scene in the center
of London. Marvel are really scrupulous
and I love the scrupulosity of what I call
the ‘invisibility cloaks’ that we all walked
around in. Initially, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not
going to work. How on Earth are we going
to get through doing this?’ But we did. It
was very early on a Sunday morning. We
shot the scene in the centre of London
and nobody took one photograph.”
we shot the
character’s first
scene on the streets
of London and we
were worried we’d be
caught
•
Doctor Strange
is out on
DVD and Blu-ray
on March 1
continued