Julian Assange attacks Benedict Cumberbatch for portraying him in film

[cali]

Wikileaks just published the letter Assange wrote Cumberbatch asking him not to play him in movie. Cumberbatch responded on Reddit forum.



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.
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."

Cumberbatch’s long response, characterized as “proof against a Benedict Twitter account,” in part reads:

<snip>

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/11/benedict-cumberbatch-responds-to-julian-assanges-claim-that-new-film-assumes-the-appearance-of-the-truth-in-order-to-assassinate-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29

Benedict Cumberbatch Charms Reddit, Responds to Assange

With Julian Assange and WikiLeaks waging a war against the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring The Fifth Estate, the actor used his Reddit AMA today to combat Assange's charges against the film, in between igniting fan girl and boy fantasies of course.

Earlier this week, WikiLeaks—in addition to releasing The Fifth Estate script with their annotations—released a letter Assange wrote to Cumberbatch in January after Cumberbatch tried to initiate a dialogue while researching the role. "You will be used, as a hired gun, to assume the appearance of the truth in order to assassinate it," Assange wrote. "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."

When asked about the letter on Reddit and whether it affected how he portrayed the activist or made him second guess his work on the film, Cumberbatch explained that it "galvanized me into addressing why I was doing this movie." He continued:

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.


<snip>

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/10/benedict-cumberbatch-charms-reddit-responds-assange/70457/

[MADem]

1. Debauched? Assange knows all about THAT, I'm sure....

He also knows how to lie like a rug, as we see in the Atlantic piece: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/10/benedict-cumberbatch-charms-reddit-responds-assange/70457/

WikiLeaks has tried to make it seem as if Cumberbatch was unhappy with the way he portrayed Assange in the film, cherry picking quotes from various interviews, including one in The Guardian which said that "when Cumberbatch first read the script, he worried that it cast Assange as some kind of cartoon baddie." But Cumberbatch clearly stands by the film and his performance, writing that he "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" and that he is "proud to be involved in tackling such a contentious character and script." The film received tepid reviews at the Toronto Film Festival, though Cumberbatch's performance was lauded.

Darn the bad luck for the denizen of the Ecuadorian Embassy! He must be getting tired of take-away meals, too!

[cali]

2. I don't feel quite the way you do about Assange

Personally I find him rather repugnant, but I believe he provided a very useful service. Not sure that's true at this point, but it was once.

In this ludicrous dispute, he's sure to come out the loser.

[MADem]

3. So long as he refuses to face the music, he'll be regarded as repugnant by many.

I can't get behind a guy who abuses women and then tries to pass them off as "government agents" to his fans. I can't get behind a guy who persuades people to put up a small fortune in bail money and then "bails" on them, leaving them stuck with his bills.

I've seen guys like that working their game--I've regarded them as bullshitters at best, and he's hardly the 'best' of the genre. I wonder how much longer the Ecuadorians will be willing to host the little narcissist...!

[bemildred]

4. Yawn. nt

[cali]

6. I think it's an interesting exchange. and I'm always amused

by people interested enough to post in a thread that they claim bores them.

[bemildred]

8. That's how boredom is, you wind up posting about trivia just for something to do. nt

[geek tragedy]

5. Did Smaug or Khan object to Cumberbatch's portrayal of them? nt

[msanthrope]

7. They both had more dignity. nt

[Frank Cannon]

9. It's a testament to Cumberbatch's skill...

that I read that paragraph with his voice in my head.

Can't wait for the next season of Sherlock.