MUMBAI: The Imitation Game actor, Benedict Cumberbatch announced his engagement to Sophie Hunter, a theater actress and director, via a paid-for announcement in The Times newspaper's classified section.

The ad read:

MR B.T. CUMBERBATCH AND MISS S.I. HUNTER

The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London,” read the classified.

According to media reports, a wedding date has not been set yet.

The couple met while shooting the thriller Burlesque Fairytales in 2009. Cumberbatch and Hunter were only confirmed as a couple five months ago, after being photographed together at the French Open.

Cumberbatch's engagement comes two years after his breakup with fashion designer Anna Jones and four year after his longest relationship (10 years) with actress and screenwriter Olivia Poulet that ended in 2010.

Hunter, has had some small roles in films, including Vanity Fair, and won a Samuel Beckett award for her play The Terrific Electrice, which she wrote and directed. She’s since staged productions of Ghosts (Henrik Ibsen), and The Magic Flute (Mozart). She also constructed an installation, Lucretia, inspired by Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia.