London, Oct 15 (IANS): Actor Benedict Cumberbatch believes homophobia is "medieval" and says he would fight anti-gay extremists “to the death”.

“People are being beheaded in countries right now because of their beliefs or sexual orientations. It's terrifying. It's medieval - a beheading," the British actor said in the November issue of Out Magazine, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

In his new movie "The Imitation Game", the 38-year-old star plays mathematician Alan Turing, who broke the Enigma code used by the Nazis during World War II and was later prosecuted for being gay.

In his real life, Cumberbatch says he would "take up arms against someone who was telling me I had to believe in what they believed or they would kill me".

"I would fight them. I would fight them to the death. And, I believe, the older you get, you have to have an idea of what's right or wrong. You can't have unilateral tolerance. You have to have a point where you go, 'Well, religious fundamentalism is wrong'," he added.

Cumberbatch admits knowing many actors who are still scared about coming out from the closet.

He said: "I think if you're going to sell yourself as a leading man in Hollywood to say 'I'm gay,' sadly, is still a huge obstacle. We all know actors who are (gay) who don't want to talk about it or bring it up, or who deny it. I don't really know what they do to deal with it.

"Human rights movements and sexual and gay rights movements have made huge social progress in the last 40 years, without a doubt, but there's a lot more work to be done. I think it's extraordinary that every time we get to a point where there's any kind of trouble in society, people are scapegoated very, very, very quickly."