Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed he is obsessed with surfing but his hobby led to a painful shoulder injury

Benedict Cumberbatch needed surgery following a surfing injury.

The Thing With Feathers actor, who was seen with his arm in a sling at the Cannes Film Festival in May, damaged his shoulder as a result of "overdoing" his favourite pastime and went under the knife after spending over a year in pain.

He told the Smartless podcast: “I started in my forties and I’m near the end of my forties and I’m still feeling like I’m starting.

“But I had a short operation, so I haven’t done it at all for about six months. But I love it."

Of his injury, he added: “It’s a long time of ill use and a lot of surfing in very bad conditions and overdoing it.

“I had a torn rotator cuff and then also a frozen shoulder on top of it, which I only found when I went into it to do the repair to the rotator, which was a complete tear.

“I lived with chronic pain for about a year and a half.”

The 49-year-old star "really fell in love" with riding the waves when he was stuck in New Zealand amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 after shooting The Power Of The Dog.

He said: “It was a bit scary to begin with, but utterly magical and extraordinary.

“One of the best places on Earth to be, as it turned out. And there was a little right-hand break in Te Awanga in Hawke’s Bay. It was where I learned.

“I really fell in love with it."