Benedict Cumberbatch responds to Julian Assange's claim that new film 'assumes the appearance of the truth in order to assassinate it'
British actor Benedict Cumberbatch -- best known for his portrayals of "Khan" in Star Trek Into Darkness and "Sherlock Holmes" on the BBC's Sherlock -- took to reddit's "Ask Me Anything" forum as part of his publicity tour for The Fifth Estate, in which he plays Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
One of the first questions addressed Assange's open letter to Cumberbatch, in which the Wikileaks founder wrote:
You will be used, as a hired gun, to assume the appearance of the truth in order to assassinate it. To present me as someone morally compromised and to place me in a falsified history. To create a work, not of fiction, but of debased truth.Not because you want to, of course you don’t, but because, in the end, you are a jobbing actor who gets paid to follow the script, no matter how debauched.
Your skills play into the hands of people who are out to remove me and WikiLeaks from the world.
Cumberbatch's long response, characterized as "proof against a Benedict Twitter account," in part reads:
To have the man you are about to portray ask you intelligently and politely not to do it gave me real cause for concern, however, it galvanized me into addressing why I was doing this movie. He accuses me of being a "hired gun" as if I am an easily bought cypher for right wing propaganda. Not only do I NOT operate in a moral vacuum but this was not a pay day for me at all. I've worked far less hard for more financial reward. This project was important to me because of the integrity I wanted to bring to provocative difficult but ultimately timely and a truly important figure of our modern times. The idea of making a movie about someone who so far removed from my likeness or situation who brought about an ideal through personal sacrifice that has changed the way we view both social media, the power of the individual to have a voice in that space, and be able to question both the hypocrisies and wrongdoings of organizations and bodies of powerful people that rule our lives... This resonated deeply with my beliefs in civil liberty, a healthy democracy, and the human rights of both communities and individuals to question those in authority. I believe that the film, quite clearly, illuminates the great successes of wikileaks and its extraordinary founder Julians Assange. As well as, examining the personalities involved and what become a dysfunctional relationship within that organization. While the legacy of his actions and the organizations continue to evolve and only history will be the true judge of where this is leading us. The Fifth Estate is a powerful, if dramatized, entry point for a discussion about this extraordinary lurch forward in our society. I wanted to create a three dimensional portrait of a man far more maligned in the tabloid press than he is in our film to remind people that he is not just the weird, white haired Australian dude wanted in Sweden, hiding in an embassy behind Harrods.
Cumberbatch also tackled less significant issues, such as whether he and the current Doctor, Matt Smith, engage in "cheek bone polishing parties."
"We like nothing better than buffing our Zygoma," he replied. "And imagining a horny time traveling long overcoat purple scarf wearing super sleuth nordic legend f**k fantasy. Get to work on that, internet."
When asked about his "weirdest encounter with a fan," Cumberbatch wrote that it involved "Ted Danson at a pre-Oscar party screaming across a floor of people like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ray Liotta, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, et al while pushing past them and knocking their drinks. 'OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT'S F**KING SHERLOCK HOLMES!'"
