Benedict Cumberbatch received a letter from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about his movie The Fifth Estate, in which the British actor portrays him.
Benedict had asked to meet with the WikiLeaks founder before principal photography had begun on the film, as way to discover Assange’s manner.
In the letter, the founder expressed his gratitude for the contact made by Cumberbatch claiming that it was the first contact anyone from the film had made, but in the end he decided to decline the invitation.
“My assistants communicated your request to me, and I have given it a lot of thought and examined your previous work, which I am fond of” he wrote.
“I think I would enjoy meeting you.
“The bond that develops between an actor and a living subject is significant.
“If the film reaches distribution we will forever be correlated in the public imagination. Our paths will be forever entwined. Each of us will be granted standing to comment on the other for many years to come and others will compare our characters and trajectories.”
Assange continues:
“I believe you are a good person, but I do not believe that this film is a good film.
“The United States government has engaged almost every instrument of its justice and intelligence system to pursue—in its own words—a ‘whole of government’ investigation of ‘unprecedented scale and nature’ into WikiLeaks under draconian espionage laws. Our alleged sources are facing their entire lives in the US prison system. Two are already in it. Another one is detained in Sweden.
“Feature films are the most powerful and insidious shapers of public perception, because they fly under the radar of conscious exclusion. This film is going to bury good people doing good work, at exactly the time that the state is coming down on their heads. It is going to smother the truthful version of events, at a time when the truth is most in demand.
“As justification it will claim to be fiction, but it is not fiction. It is distorted truth about living people doing battle with titanic opponents. It is a work of political opportunism, influence, revenge and, above all, cowardice. It seeks to ride on the back of our work, our reputation and our struggles.
“The film’s many distortions buttress what the prosecution will argue. Has argued. Is arguing. In my case, and in others. These cases will continue for years.”
The trailer for The Fifth Estate can be seen below:
Though this letter was only revealed to the public recently, Cumberbatch previously told the Guardian that he had received the 10-page email from the WikiLeaks founder.
“It was a very considered, thorough, charming and intelligent account of why he thought this was morally wrong for me to be part of something he thought was going to be damaging in real terms – not just to perceptions but to the reality of the outcome for himself,” the actor said.
The actor admitted however that he was worried when he read the script that the film had cast Assange as a sort-of cartoon baddie.
“I think I may get my head bitten off by Disney for saying so, but everyone agreed with that” he said.
Asked for his view, now, on the WikiLeaks film, Assange said:
“People love the true WikiLeaks story: a small group of dedicated journalists and tech activists who take on corruption and state criminality against the odds. But this film isn’t about that. This is a film by the old media about the new media. Viewers are short-changed.
“Step one: write WikiLeaks staff out of the story. Where is our primary spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, three time winner of journalist of the year, who we deployed to war-torn Iraq? Where is our courageous journalist Sarah Harrison who spent 39 days protecting Edward Snowden in a Moscow airport – and is now in effective exile from the UK?
“Step two: write the old media into the story. Instead of the exciting true story, we get a film about a bland German IT worker who wasn’t even there and a fabricated fight over redactions with the old newspapers and the State Department saving the day. The result is a geriatric snoozefest that only the US government could love.”
The letter can be read in full here.
Pics via Gawker and Getty Images
