The brave Hollywood stars who risked everything to save a life including Dolly Parton and Benedict Cumberbatch

The Sherlock actor might be best known for solving a murder after it's happened, but in real life, Benedict Cumberbatch has prevented harm. In 2018, he and wife Sophie Hunter passed a Deliveroo cyclist being assaulted by four muggers.

Benedict reportedly jumped out of the taxi, with their driver Manuel Dias telling The Sun: "I had hold of one lad and Benedict another. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He was very brave. He did most of it, to be honest.” The gang eventually ran away and gave the delivery rider a hug.  

Dolly proved she wasn't afraid to get hands on when helping others

It doesn't get more devotedly kind than Dolly, and her work extends beyond funding good causes. While she was filming Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, the singer reportedly saved the life of her co-star, Talia Hill, who was then just nine years old.

Talia told Inside Edition: “We were on set, and I was at the hot chocolate station, and they said ‘Go back to your beginning positions’. So, there [was] a vehicle moving, and I was walking, and somebody grabbed me and pulled me back—and it was Dolly Parton.”

Dev Patel is more than just a crush-worthy leading man. In August 2022, the actor broke up a knife fight, de-escalating the situation and remaining on site until the police and ambulance arrived, according to his representative.

But Dev resists being called a hero, with a statement from his team emphasising: “there are no heroes in this situation and sadly this specific incident highlights a larger systemic issue of marginalised members of society not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Kate Winslet might be at home on the big screen, but she's also a devoted mother with some seriously sharp survival instincts. In 2011 a fire broke out at Richard Branson's $70 million mansion, with the actress carrying Richard's 90-year-old mother Eve down the remaining four steps of the burning building.

“I’d just about got outside and the rain was pouring down and I didn’t have my contact lenses in," Eve told The Observer, "but I was making my way out and Kate and her two children were behind me." Time was certainly of the essence, so Kate seemingly decided to speed up their escape!

Tom Cruise might have a reputation as a stunt man and action hero on screen, but in 2021 he put his reaction time to the test. While shooting Top Gun: Maverick, he saved co-star Elisabeth Shue from a helicopter's tail rotor.

Elisabeth started running to the back of the helicopter, without spotting the lethal spinning blade. Tom could only grab her legs and tackled her to the ground. Aerial camera operator Bill Bennett recalled: At that point she turned white, and he pulled her back towards the front of the helicopter and they walked away."

Meryl Streep and Cher bring some serious glamour to the screen, but they're certainly not above getting their hands dirty to help someone in need. While out for ice cream in New York, the friends walked down a street and heard screaming, soon leaping to action. Cher explained on The Late Late Show with James Corden: “We come around the corner and this gigantic man is ripping the clothes off of this girl [...] we run towards this gigantic man and he turns and starts running towards us."

She continued, "We went up to the girl and all of her clothes were torn and she was clutching her bag. So we’re putting her together and trying to get her to look a little bit like she hasn’t just been ravished, and she looks at us, and she goes, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve been saved by Meryl Streep and Cher!’.”

John Krasinski's role as real-life hero came earlier than his star casting on The Office. After he graduated high school, the actor spent six months in Costa Rica where he saved a girl's life. He told Playboy in 2018 that he went on a trip to Manuel Antonio beach, which happens to have an incredibly strong riptide. 

John recalled: “This Costa Rican girl and an American guy were swimming right next to me, and we were knee-deep. I went underwater for a second, and when I came back up he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Literally in three seconds the girl had been swept 150 yards out.” He got trapped in a crosscurrent with her after swimming out to try and help the girl to safety, eventually reaching 20 yards from shore where others were able to help drag them both back.