Cumberbatch: "I want to show Assange is force to be reckoned with"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Benedict Cumberbatch has taken to Reddit to pen an open letter to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Digital Spy said.

Assange apparently wrote a letter to Cumberbatch before The Fifth Estate - in which the Sherlock actor portrays Assange - started filming in January, allegedly in response to a private message that Cumberbatch had sent to the activist requesting that the pair meet.

Assange's original letter attacked the movie, directed by Bill Condon, labelling it "distorted" and fictitious, adding: "By meeting with you, I would validate this wretched film, and endorse the talented, but debauched, performance that the script will force you to give."

On Reddit Friday (October 11), Cumberbatch responded by saying that Assange's response "galvanised" the actor into addressing why he was making the film.

"He accuses me of being a "hired gun" as if I am an easily bought cypher for right wing propaganda," wrote Cumberbatch, who also branded Assange "extraordinary" in the letter.

"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."

The 37-year-old Star Trek: Into Darkness actor continued: "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 Fifth Estate is a powerful, if dramatised, 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.

"But a true force to be reckoned with, achieved the realisation of the great ideal. I'm proud to be involved in tackling such a contentious character and script."